News from Travis

Language School

Per usual, life has been a whirlwind this year. Since February, I have not spent more than two weeks in a row in my own home. This has proved to be a challenge, but it has also been incredible being a part of so many wonderful experiences. This summer kicked off for me with a three week trip to Guatemala. I spent the first two weeks of my trip attending language school in San Pedro Laguna. My time there was very challenging. But it was also very helpful to step away from everything else and concentrate solely on learning Spanish. While I am far from fluent, I learned a ton and am now much better at apologizing for my brutal Spanish skills. In addition to spending two weeks in one of the most beautiful places on the planet, my favorite part of this journey was the relationships that I was able to build with my host family, teacher, and fellow students from all over the world.

Thursday Church Build

Following my two weeks in San Pedro, I had the opportunity to build a new home for Celso and his family with my friends from Thursday Church and my dad. Every time I build with these guys it brings way too much laughter and joy. Around eight years ago Celso had been in an accident involving a bus and is no longer able to work. Since that time his family has been struggling to make ends meet by raising and selling chickens and eggs. Blessing this family with a home was the perfect end to my time in Guatemala.

Bethel Christian Church Build

My final build of the summer was for Jose and Tommasa with Bethel Christian Church from Bethel, Missouri. This was Bethel's first project with Casas, and it was a wonderful inaugural build. Having spent most of his life in Nevada, Jose, the father of the family receiving the home, spoke fluent English. This was a special treat for the whole team as everyone was able to really get to know him throughout the week. He had been in Las Vegas legally, but eight years ago, he allowed his visa to expire and was then given 24 hours to leave the country. Jose went from making a good living in the US to trying to survive with a factory job in Juárez making a mere $50 per week. It has been a ridiculously hard transition for him, but he is also extremely grateful to God for providing for him and his family.

Property Development

In addition to being out in the field nearly half of the time this year, I have been incredibly busy in the office with our property development project. It has been a very long process, but we are finally nearing the end of the design phase and are ready to head into the fundraising and construction phases of the project. We are excited about having a professional office headquarters. While we are very happy to be graduating from the hundred year old houses we currently utilize as our offices, the truly exciting portion of this project is where it will allow us to go. We have simply maxed out our current space. Having these new facilities will give us the space and resources that we need to see our ministry expand for many years to come. Following this project, we will have the potential to multiply by four. These buildings will allow us to have over 100 full time missionaries (50 in our El Paso headquarters) and space to provide materials for 16 locations, allowing us to save nearly one third on material prices. Needless to say, this is a very exciting time here as we break ground and dream of where God will take our ministry in the future.

On the Road Again

Every year, August brings with it a very welcome calm around Casas. Our interns finish their time here and attempt to return to normal civilian lives, the teams return to their native lands, and all of Casas slows down. This allows for a time of visiting family, friends, and enjoying a bit of relaxing before we jump into all of our fall projects. This year, we were able to take a trip to Colorado to visit with friends and sneak up into the mountains for a few days of much needed solitude. We owe a gigantic thank you to our friends at Fellowship of the Rockies for making this journey possible. We are phenomenally blessed to have you all in our lives. Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you again.

Shortly after our trip to Colorado, we made a quick trip back to Illinois to spend a little time with our families and home church supporters before the new kiddo is born. Violet especially loved being spoiled by her grandparents, swimming, and playing with all of the green things. As always, it was wonderful getting a chance to catch up with so many people, although it seems like there is never enough time to visit with everyone we long to see. Thank you all so much for your continual love and support. Hopefully, we will see you all again next spring.

News from Roberta

In the Office

As a Team Coordinator, I love that I get to help facilitate mission trips for volunteer teams across the United States. This summer, I had the opportunity to assist our volunteer teams in planning their mission trips to build 114 homes across all of our locations. As a result, 465 individuals now have a secure home to live in, a connection to their local church, and have heard the gospel. It's impossible to quantify the impact these homes will have in the churches and communities where they were built. But, I get excited thinking about all the people who will hear the gospel and know the grace of Christ as a result. Thank you all for your part in building the Kingdom with us across the globe!

In México

I was able to take Violet across the border into México for three builds this summer. It's such a joy to share our ministry with her. She loves getting to play outside all day, get dirty, see daddy, and hang out with the teams and families we serve. I always love taking a break from the office to spend time on the work site, even if the triple digit heat is intense. Getting to know the families and teams reminds me why I do what I do every day in the office. Having Violet there also makes it easier to connect with the teams and families. Somehow, having a child to care for breaks down barriers pretty quickly.

Parkview Christian Church Build

It was wonderful to build with Parkview's youth again this summer. It's always really special when I get to serve with the same people who helped to shape and mold my faith. We built for Pastor Noemi who has been serving in ministry for many years but has never once received a paycheck for her labor. She said through tears at the dedication that this home was God's way of paying her for all the work she has done for Him over the years. She's going to share the three-room home with her husband, adopted daughter, brother, sister-in-law, and another couple that help to guard the church property. She was so excited about all the housewarming gifts that Parkview gave her, especially the turquoise towels, which are her favorite color. She plans to paint the home and send me some pictures when it's completed. One of my favorite moments from the build occurred at the dedication when Zane Kemper said to Noemi, "I pretty much killed myself trying to stucco this house for you, but it was all worth it in the end, and it's the best way I know how to show you love." It's so great to see our team members catching on to the vision of Casas por Cristo.

Patoka Christian/Antioch Christian Church Build

Patoka and Antioch joined forces to provide a home for Fabiola, Julio, and their four children. We really enjoyed getting to spend some time with the Schnautzes, old family friends, and some great folks we've never met before from Southern Illinois while getting to serve this family. Fabiola and Julio were very sweet and thankful for the team's hard work. Their faith in Christ was obvious to us as they served us food and kept us full of delicious Mexican coke out of the glass bottle. It was really hot, so I bathed Violet in a bucket to keep her cool while chatting with Fabiola and her adorable ten month old son, David. Fabiola's existing home was a small concrete block room with just enough space for a couple of mattresses, a tiny bathroom, and little kitchenette.

We attached the Casas home to the back. Now this family's life and future will be a little more comfortable. Fabiola and her husband both used to work full time. The double income made their lives more manageable. However, when Fabiola was working nights, Julio began to have seizures while he was home alone caring for the kids. After that, Fabiola had to quit work in order to care for everyone. Julio is able to work now, and under the care of a doctor, his seizures are under control. But Fabiola is no longer able to work, which made the blessing of an addition to her home a huge relief. They never would have been able to provide the extra space for themselves.

At Home

I have kept pretty busy this summer between caring for Violet, trying to stay healthy during this pregnancy, playing music at church, and searching for a new home for our family in El Paso. I spent the first four months of pregnancy dealing with intense nausea and vomiting. But, praise God, I'm finally feeling much better! The doctor says our baby boy is healthy and doing well. We cannot wait to meet him this November. I've really enjoyed spending time swimming in the baby pool, running through the sprinkler, and walking to the park with Violet this summer. She is developing quite the funny little personality. She thinks she's the boss. Haha! In addition, we finally sold our home in Mt. Carmel under a contract for deed, which means we can stop renting a home here and settle down into a home of our own once we find the right place.

On My Heart

A friend of mine from college recently lost a child in a tragic accident. The terrible news broke my heart for her and her family. I felt pretty shaken after finding out, I think especially because I'm a mother now. I was reminded that we are not promised tomorrow, and that life is such a gift that God allows us to enjoy for however long or short it may last. That's why it's so important to know Jesus and live for Him while I can. I'm so thankful that my friend and her family know the deep love and grace of Christ. I can't imagine any other way to get through such a horrible tragedy. Our church has been studying through the wisdom literature this summer, currently focusing on the book of Job. Job endured some of the worst suffering I can imagine, and yet his response in chapter one was to trust and worship God.

When life doesn't make sense as the people I love are suffering, I have to find my peace in trusting God and recognizing how fragile my life is and how gracious God is to have given it to me. I also take comfort in knowing that He has overcome death, and we have a better future with Him to look forward to.

Our Finances

We know that God is our ultimate provider, and that He will give us what we need to live on. Thank you to all of you who help to pay our salaries so we can continue to serve as missionaries. It is a huge encouragement to have you on our team. In our last newsletter, we asked for some extra help financially since our support account had dipped into the negative numbers (-$1,187), and we were withdrawing a few hundred more per month than we were bringing in. Thank you all for responding so generously! We are now back in the positive numbers in our support account (+$4,686). We are still withdrawing $500 more per month than we typically bring in. We withdraw $5,000/month and bring in $4,500 on average. But the surplus will help cover the difference for now. If you don't already, please consider joining our team and supporting us monthly.

Partner With Us

We would love for you to join us in our mission to partner with local pastors to share the love of Christ by building homes for families in need. There are three ways you can get involved. First, organize a group of volunteers to come on a trip to build a home with us. Second, consider becoming a monthly or a one-time donor. All donations are tax-deductible and go to fund our salaries as missionaries. Click the donate button below to give online or send a check to our PO Box with our names in the memo line. Third, please pray for us. Subscribe to our newsletter below to stay informed of our prayer needs. We are deeply humbled and honored that we have the opportunity to participate in God's story of redemption for families in México, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. Thank you for helping us write this story!

Prayer Requests

• A successful delivery of a healthy baby boy this November.
• Healing for Travis' injured back.
• That Travis' Spanish will continue to improve.
• That we would find a good home for our family at the right price in El Paso.
• Effectiveness in our ministry to volunteer teams and families.
• Spiritual refreshment as we come off a very busy summer.