Teams from The Brook build homes in Guatemala

Members from The Brook built houses near San Raimundo, Guatemala. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – This summer, 48 adults and teenagers, mainly from The Brook, built houses in Guatemala. While the houses were modest, the new homeowners’ appreciation was exuberant.

“When the last nail is in, the floor is swept and the keys are handed to the family, they have a three-room house about the size of most families’ garages,” The Brook lead pastor Rev. Brian Mayfield said. “It is incredibly humbling to see how grateful and content (the Guatemalans) are with something we would consider greatly inadequate.”

Each house costs $8000, which covers all supplies.

Their work was affiliated with Casas por Cristo, an El Paso, Texas organization that Mayfield first worked with 10 years ago in Juarez, Mexico. “Using a Casas team leader, they will take a team of 12 to 18 people and build a 24-by-18-foot house in four days.” For information, visit casasporcristo.org.

“Our faith is put into action when we take action for the sake of others and for the sake of the Kingdom of God,” Mayfield said.

A few years ago, Casas por Cristo expanded its work from Juarez and Acuna, Mexico to Guatemala. The Brook teams stayed in San Raimundo, Guatemala and worked nearby. This area is about 1.5 hours from Guatemala City.

Some of the volunteers’ skills were beneficial for the needed work, such as roofing, carpentry and electrical. However, “you don’t need any home improvement skills whatsoever. In fact, there are times when you almost have to ‘unlearn’ our way of doing things from here in America,” Mayfield said.

Foreign missions allow a congregation to ‘grow,’ Mayfield said. “Jesus calls us to ‘feed the hungry and clothe the naked.’ We’re called to love, care for and take the Gospel to people everywhere — in Madison, across our country and around the world. We grow from this because God honors the obedience of His people.”

Members at The Brook already are planning new mission trips for 2014.

For more information, call 256-837-6633, visit thebrookchurch.com and Facebook/The Brook.