This has been a very powerful season here for us at Casas. We have been overwhelmed by the support we have received from individuals and churches. A couple of weeks ago, we spent our Friday morning staff meeting sharing all of the encouraging responses each one of us has received, both individually and corporately. It was during that meeting that my mind was led to Hebrews chapters 11 and 12. The writer of Hebrews lays out for us all of those that have gone before us and reminds us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. You are our great cloud of witnesses! God used this time to remind us that we are not alone in this fight. Even as each of you and your churches are dealing with the effects of this COVID-19 pandemic, you still reached out to partner with us. We are so humbled and encouraged by your support. We are no longer focused on securing funding for our staff, and we can now return our efforts to continue to fulfill our mission of building and serving! Thank you so much for the provision to refocus our efforts.
As I write this letter, there are builds happening in the Dominican Republic and Guatemala. Next week, we will be adding builds in Mexico, and the week after that, we will be adding builds in Nicaragua. Through our Hope Restored campaign, we have been able to continue opening doors for local pastors to share the love of Jesus Christ through the building of a new home for a family in desperate need.
We pray and are making preparations for the possibility of teams to be able to travel to some of our locations this summer. We have many teams that postponed their spring or early summer trips in the hopes of being able to return later in the year to bless a family with the gift of a new home. If you believe that you are not going to be able to reschedule in 2020, then we ask that you consider donating those funds so that our staff, interns, and pastors can continue to build homes to open the door for the story of Jesus Christ to be shared.
At any time, you can visit our webpage to see how we are progressing towards our revised goal of building 200 homes this year and to get status updates on travel restrictions for each of our locations.
Thank you so much for being a part of this Casas por Cristo family. From all of the missionaries and pastors here at Casas, thank you for allowing us to get back to the business of sharing the love of Jesus Christ with those families in need within our communities. God bless you and thank you!