A Look Back at Building Homes

Have you thought about building a home for someone in need?  Joining other KCC members and friends this June promises to be a meaningful experience.  I am confident that the trip will provide blessing and wisdom because that it what the trip has done in the past.  Check out this reflection from former KCC Senior Minister, the Rev. Lou Wargo, from April 21, 1997.

Last Saturday I joined 8 others from KCC on a sojourn to Tijuana. It was part of our joint venture with Esperanza, the UCC churches of the Southern Association
and the people of Canon K. On this trip we were jointed by folks from Community Congregational (UCC) Pacific Beach and Ocean View UCC.  All of us went to work. However, I don’t think any of us were quite prepared for how hard the work would be.  I certainly wasn’t.

For most of the day we mixed concrete and hauled it in buckets to the top of the building where it was used to pour a concrete roof. At one point during the day I “broke ranks” and went for a
drink of water. From my vantage atop a pile of concrete blocks, I beheld an amazing sight. I saw a group of people working as hard as I have ever seen any group of people work. There in the “bucket brigade” were males and females, teenagers, “middle agers” and some a bit beyond middle age. There were Hispanics, Filipinos, Japanese, Caucasians — all focused on a single task. When
one person dropped out to rest, another moved into their place. No one barked commands. People just seemed to know what needed doing and did it.

Though I learned more about concrete that day than I ever felt the need to know, I learned something else. When people of faith put their minds (and muscles!) to it, there isn’t much they can’t get done. We mixed and moved more concrete that day than I would ever have thought possible. I think if Jesus had happened by Canon K last Saturday, he would have been pleased by what he saw because he would have seen people, his people, working together…There was a Church at its best!  And while I returned with some sore muscles, I also returned with a nourished spirit. When we work together, we really can make a difference!

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