The Fonseca Family Builds Their Own House...with Help!

Julio Fonseca is a construction worker in Tegucigalpa, one of thousands. Several years ago Julio could not find work so he moved his family to the country. This meant withdrawing his children from AFE. But work was also scarce in the country. With no other option, the Fonsecas came back to Tegucigalpa, this time to work in the garbage dump. Their two older children (once AFE students) came back to Tegucigalpa with children of their own.

When the Fonsecas returned, we immediately accepted the four school-age children into AFE (the young girls with babies preferred to stay home to take care of their babies). Tania, Maria, and Julio became students again and children available to sponsor. Around the same time a team from Washington Cathedral visited AFE and fell in love with the Fonseca children. Tania’s sponsor learned that the family of nine huddled together in a one-room shack susceptible to the elements.

Tania’s sponsor did not have a lot of money herself, but she did have retirement savings. She leveraged that savings to provide a house for the Fonseca family. The $5,000 cost to build a house included salaries for laborers. AFE hired Julio to build his own house, along with his oldest son. But the construction was not limited to the Fonseca family. Other fathers who had received house-help from AFE joined in. And a team of young people from Washington Cathedral came to Honduras to help as well.

The Fonseca house truly was a community-of-God endeavor…a community that stretched across several nations. It began with a church mission trip, moved to Sponsorship, then to providing the stability of a home. It was beautiful to see the Washington Cathedral teenagers taking pictures of the Fonseca children as they marveled at their “mansion” (as they called it), knowing that they would share this experience with the children’s sponsors, who are also part of the church.

Isn't it amazing what happens when we all get

together and push? Washington Cathedral has adopted the Fonseca family. If your church would like to become involved in a similar endeavor, contact reyangeldiaz@gmail.com.