Healthy Lives Start at Home

How it all Started

In February 2018, my wife, Tonja, and I decided to get out of our comfort zone and travel to Guaymas, Mexico to visit long-time friends who are missionaries there.  We had never been on a missionary journey before and little did we know that our lives were about to change forever.

The Journey of a Lifetime

In our travels through Mexico we saw many interesting things such as cactus, a Federale roadblock, the beautiful Gulf of California in San Carlos, and the expansive differences of a third world country versus America. We quickly came to realize there is not a middle class in Mexico. People are either wealthy or poor, but mostly poor. There were little pockets of residential areas or villages with little shacks for homes in the desert areas where we traveled.  Poverty was evident all around.  We tried to imagine ourselves living in the desert on beans and tortillas with no air conditioning, a curtain for a front door, dirt floors, and no hot water.  There just seemed to be no hope and no way out for many of the people we encountered.

A Mission was Born

On that trip we asked ourselves every day, “What can we do?” We helped a local church feed children who had little to eat. We treated another group of children in a small village to some homemade lasagna. Everywhere we looked there was hopelessness.  There is so much work to be done and so many people in need of help.  Growing up in the construction industry, God has allowed us to build all types of buildings and to develop an understanding of the metrics of building and renovating. How uplifting it is to come home after a hard day’s work to a safe, sound, and secure home and to be able to rest and prepare for the day ahead. A safe, sound, and secure home is something, if we are honest with ourselves, that all of us have taken for granted at times. We were introduced to three Mexican missionary families who were struggling to build or renovate their homes. God put it on our hearts that we could make a difference for them, their children, and for their children's children by helping them complete the work necessary for them to live in their homes. Since February 2018, we have stayed committed to the mission of loving God and serving others that was given to us on that trip. 

What did we do?

While in Mexico we began doing what we could to help these families.  Upon returning to the United States, we felt as if we were on a mission and the desire to be of service to the Lord and to others became stronger and stronger.  Out of this desire and in an effort to expand and continue the mission, The Carpenter's Hand Missions, Inc. was born.  The Carpenter’s Hand Missions, Inc. is organized in accordance with the Florida Not-For-Profit Corporation Act.                               

What is happening now?        

It is our desire that souls will be saved, lives will be changed and everyday needs are met.  Internationally, with your help, our mission has completed (3) homes for families that provide assistance to local churches and Doctors without Borders; constructed a concrete patio for a missionary family in Mexico to hold Bible studies and community gatherings at their home; provided air conditioners for a small church in western Mexico; provided an air conditioner for a Pastor's home in Mexico for a reprieve from the summer heat; provided a vehicle to a missionary family in Mexico for delivering community needs and the much needed good news of the Gospel; provided food for a feeding program at an orphanage in Mexico; providing food and education for a child in Uganda through Amani Milele; and so much more. Locally, with your help, our mission has constructed a handicap ramp for an elderly couple; assisted with funding a meals ministry for the elderly; provided the homeless with food gift cards, bible tracts and other necessities; given monetary donations to widows with great needs; provided cooked meals for the elderly; provided personalized backpacks for foster children; assisted with storm cleanup after Hurricane Michael; provided food and paper goods to an therapeutic home for children in Jay FL; and so much more. We believe that somebody, somewhere is depending upon us to do what God has called us to do. 

Contact us to learn more.