It was 7:30 p.m., and water from a seasonal downpour streamed across our living room floor, coming dangerously close to some bags of concrete. The gap between the wooden part and the concrete part of our under-construction house is not yet sealed. Worse yet, the gutter actually dumps water from the roof straight down the wall onto our floor. Our contractor, Noah, had told us several times that he would fix the gutter “tomorrow,” but we were still trying to keep books, bedding and building supplies dry during rainy-season downpours. So Jonathan called Noah and invited him to come and see our indoor flood. Noah came and good-naturedly added a few clay roof tiles to the biggest gaps in the roof and again promised that he would take care of it the next day. This time he followed through with his promise and completed the fix.

Noah is a worker who tries to please. From our first meeting with him, he let us know that he wanted to make a house that we would be happy with. Sometimes he looks at us and laughs because we have asked for something he’s not used to, but he always seems to try to do what we ask, and in the end he seems to like our innovations. We’ve had times of language confusion and some minor disagreements about what looks “pretty,” but we have enjoyed working with him. As we have spent time together, we have also had some interesting conversations about things like our mutual belief that Jesus will come again and why we eat a vegetarian diet. As we continue to develop our friendship, please pray that Noah will hear God calling him to work on His construction team, building up Christ’s Kingdom.

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