Brian Reilly, an AAL member and a U.S. Army officer, says he appreciates doing something outside the scope of his daily routine. Though, as a homeowner myself, I've certainly had some previous experience. But even home-owning experience doesn't prepare the group for what they find. There often is no indoor plumbing. A typical outhouse is simply a hole in the ground.
Few families have electricity.
Those that do, Brian recounts, drape a wire over a high wire to ignite enough electricity to fuel a single lightbulb. Kids play on them. Members of Messiah Lutheran Church join workers from other congregations to build a home for a needy Mexican family. Workers from Messiah make two trips to Mexico each year to build homes. But the Mexican poor have so little and so very much less opportunity compared to most American poor.