We heard of Baba and Joyce's plight in March 2008. Their home had been completely destroyed by Hurricane Dean six months earlier. They and two of their sons were living in the crawl space beneath a church in the Rollinsfield community. Baba had a few materials the government had made available and was cutting saplings in the forest to use instead of 2 x 4 lumber. He had made good progress but had insufficient resources and skills to complete the project before his eviction from the church crawl space later in March. We did not have a work team available, but we decided to fund the remaining materials and the labor to get the house completed prior to his eviction.
When we talked to Baba and Joyce, we learned they had been living as husband and wife for over 20 years, but had never gotten married. We had discussions about God and marriage and strongly encouraged them to get married before we returned in the summer.
Well, the house was completed, and soon we were being asked when we were returning because they wanted us to be present at their wedding. This past summer, we were special honored guests at their wedding. The wedding was quite special for us. All four of Baba and Joyce's children were present and they were extremely happy.
A byproduct of this is that our taxi driver, who we have been encouraging to marry, was very moved by the whole process and has decided to expedite his wedding plans.
Hurricane Gustav's eye passed right over Baba and Joyce's home and the roof was lost. We helped them to obtain the replacement tin and to buy 2 x 4's and hurricane ties this time to strengthen the roof structure.
God has used us to help this family to improve their living situation, to walk closer with the Lord, to get married, and to be an example to others, such as our taxi driver. As someone said there, God wants to give us a lot of blessings, but sometimes, we only seek a few on our own terms. We need to seek without restrictions and accept all of God's blessings.
