This story illustrates how a group of likeminded folks with a servant’s heart can make anything happen when the Holy Spirit is involved. Be it The University of Cincinnati, a roving band of Mennonites, or a community in need of shelter with a willingness to help but limited funds, an overwhelming sense of volunteerism can make anything happen.

Homes from the Heart, with the University of Cincinnati and the University of California Los Angeles, just wrapped up a building initiative unlike anything we’ve done before.  We had over 60 volunteers on teams in El Salvador, Haiti, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.  Stay tuned for stories from our student volunteers!

Homes from the Heart cofounder Bob Miller died recently at his home in Kansas City, Missouri. Bob was a giant among generous people. His priorities in order were God, family, work. His legacy lives on through the thousands of people his generosity has benefited. Bob was a strong backer of building homes for those struck by disaster, first in El Salvador following the 2001 earthquake, and more recently in Haiti.

July 1st marked the arrival of a new group called Global Sustainability Project.  All linked as UCLA alum, the group brought with them ideas and projects to work on development in our community in San Luis Talpa.  The week was much different than our usual teams, since for the most part the group planned it out themselves.

The love and patience showed by everyone there was a yet another reminder of how important it is for us to care for the least of these, who are so often forgotten.  We know the love shown to those kids and the rare chance for them to spend a day away from the orphanage was a blessing from God and we can’t thank Him enough for such an opportunity.

Referred to as the “Cincinatti Teacher’s Group”, a hodge-podge of mostly University of Cincinnati alumni, met up for a week in El Salvador filled with both hard work and fun.  Joining them was a team from Vineville Baptist Church, ranging in age from 14-76.  Each group brought different experiences, strengths, and talents that made for a fun-filled week for all.

A group of 10 UC students from the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity made their way down to El Salvador June 11th-19th for a week of working with concrete, concrete…and more concrete.  Quickly settling into the jobs of shoveling, lifting buckets, and transferring concrete into the molds, the group put in a hard day’s work pouring walls.  Every member of the team was willing to serve and help anywhere they were needed, and their ability to do some of the harder tasks was a huge factor in getting the work done.

The team found out about the Fuller Center’s building projects in El Salvador through one of their coaches. Lance Durbin, who coaches wide receivers for the championship team has been working with Highlands students for several years as a volunteer with the local Younglife program as well as the football program. Lance began coming to El Salvador with Serve Beyond Cincinnati, a group from the University of Cincinnati, in December 2007. He later led other groups down to work with the Fuller Center and recently spent 2.5 months volunteering in El Salvador. Lance says he is proud that several of the things he is most passionate about in life have come together through this project which will ultimately come together as shelter for a deserving family in El Salvador.

Students from the University of Cincinnati once again visited El Salvador for an Alternative Spring Break. Between March 20 – 27, ten students chose to spend their break from school building homes and getting dirty while having many adventures along the way. The students were representatives of the UC service group Serve Beyond Cincinnati which has been sending groups to El Salvador through the Fuller Center since December 2007.

Positive feedback from their experience has not stopped. Even after a difficult week, Carson Shook, who will graduate this year from East Lyme High School in Connecticut, found that after returning home “there are some things that make you realize how great life is, and how little you need to be happy, and what people truly care about you…I miss El Salvador.”Many of the participants on the trip were experiencing a foreign world for the first time. In El Salvador it is easy to find people generally living happy lives despite the fact many of the structures people call homes would not be suitable for a tool shed in the United States.

In the quest for relief Zuze Bonderer made several appeals for trees from local government agencies. Fuller Center staff have had a long term relationship with Consejo Nacionál, a Salvadoran Federal agency that deals with adolescent needs throughout the country. Carman Cordoba, a Director of Consejo Nacionál, directed us to the Alcaldias (City Hall) of San Salvador and Soyapango, the capitol and the second largest city in El Salvador. We wrote letters describing our organization and the need for trees in our projects. After running through the procedures we had success when the Alcaldia of Soyapango donated about 65 trees and small shrubs and San Salvador donated 75.