Cross Catholic Outreach Ready to Welcome Families in Nicaragua into Safe Homes

We are so thankful to all the Cross Catholic Outreach supporters who generously responded to the “Transforming Lives in San Isidro” campaign for?safe housing?and?nutritious meals.

We told our donors how families in San Isidro,?Nicaragua, were living in mud dwellings that were literally crumbling to pieces around them. These homes would also flood when it rained and were magnets for vermin and disease. It was impossible for these families to keep up with repairs while also working long hours in the fields. Many Nicaraguan families were also struggling with?hunger?and were unable to meet other critical needs.

In response, our donors reached the full funding goal to shelter families in Nicaragua. The funds were needed for:

• 75 stormproof concrete-block houses.
• 1.6 million Vitafood meals.
• Operating costs for a broad network of feeding centers — specifically the 89 centers in Nagarote and La Paz Centro.

The 75 benefiting families have been selected, and our local ministry partner, Rainbow Network, expects to hold the dedication ceremony for the new houses this fall.

These dedication ceremonies are more than just part of a process for transferring the houses to their new owners. They are joyful celebrations punctuated by music, traditional dance, balloons, and opportunities to honor each individual family. Along with the house keys, each family also receives a Bible and a housewarming gift — typically a decorative item to help them settle into their community.

Rainbow Network purposely does not assign a specific house to a given family until the dedication ceremony, at which time the beneficiaries pull numbers at random. The idea is that if any house could belong to anyone, this encourages families to work equally hard on each one when they contribute their sweat equity to the project.

The Masis/Cruz Family

Santos Rosa García Masis and her husband Francisco Cruz are among the 75 families slated to receive new homes this year.

Santos and Francisco live with their two children, 5-year-old Cesar and 14-year-old Priscila, and Santo’s sister in the rural community of Winston de Castilla. Together, these five family members have been sharing a single room owned by a relative. The floor of the room is dirt, and the walls are a flimsy combination of tarp and rusty sheet metal. This makes life especially hard during storms. The bad weather often causes leaks and turns the floor into a mud puddle.

This family desperately needs a cleaner, more durable, more dignified home, but it isn’t possible for them to build one on their own. Francisco works as a bricklayer, earning only about $280 in a month — more than a day laborer’s wage, but still not nearly enough to provide for a family of five.

Soon, Santos and Francisco’s life will change for the better. They will have a solid floor under their feet and reliable protection from the rain. These blessings are an answer to prayer!

Nicaragua is one of many developing countries beset by a lack of safe, secure housing; and around the world, Cross Catholic Outreach is partnering with local churches and organizations to address this need.

The Obando/Huerta Family

Johana Lisseth Masis Obando and her husband Berman Huerta live in an extremely tiny, one-room dwelling that not only shelters the couple, but also their four children: Jonathan, 12, Nathalia, 8, Francely, 4, and Brandon, 7 months.

Ever since Johana heard about the housing project coming to her community, she prayed to God her family would be chosen. Her greatest desire is to provide a better home for her children, but she knows that kind of expense is not an option. Johana’s husband earns even less money as a miner than Francisco Cruz earns as a bricklayer, which means any investment in home improvements would mean sacrificing the family’s basic needs.

Johana thanks God her prayer has been answered. She will soon receive a new home! We too are grateful for this godsend because her family was among the neediest in the community. We are also happy to learn that Johana is very active with Rainbow Network, participating in community meetings, preparing food for the lunch program and making sure her children attend Rainbow’s school reinforcement activities.

Nicaragua is one of many developing countries beset by a lack of safe, secure housing; and around the world, Cross Catholic Outreach is partnering with local churches and organizations to address this need.

Our current housing projects can be viewed on our?website, where you can also learn about our partners.