The Transforming Impact of Welcome: From Strangers to Family

I am sure that for both families, it was not easy. But it happened and it will be the best lesson of love, compassion, mercy, and goodness. They weren’t the richest family to be able to give, but they are a family with the biggest hearts to be able to give what they gave us. 

What happens when two families, from different worlds, take a leap of faith? This is a story of courage, compassion, and the unexpected blessings that come when we say “yes” to love. 

Lisa Fernelius, a member of the Women of Welcome community, never imagined how one trip to Honduras would transform her life forever. What started as a mission trip turned into a life-changing act of love when an asylum-seeking family reached out in their time of need. Read her story here.

Today, we invite you to see the other side—a mother’s courageous journey from Honduras to finding a new family in Minnesota.

 

A Step of Faith

My family and I traveled from Honduras to Texas. We had planned to stay with family in New Jersey. However, that did not work out. We were currently staying in Texas, though it was a small apartment with many people. 

The people were staying with gave us time to live with them while while we looked for our own place. The time had arrived to move but with the little money we had, we had to spend it on immigration appointments. We only had $1,000 and we wanted to buy a trailer. The trailer’s roof was bad and caving. It didn’t have lights or water and the bathroom had a tree growing in the middle of it. Desperate, and not knowing what to do, I asked Lisa for help. 

An Invitation

She didn’t even speak Spanish, but I hoped she could help. I met her at an event in Honduras and I never thought I would ask for her help. However, out of the desperation that I had, she had looked for a person who spoke Spanish to be able to communicate with me. Then she was able to help me for a couple of days and then she made an offer, “Do you want to move to Minnesota?” And I was like “Where is that?”  

I talked with my husband and he said that things were not going well for us where we were at. How are we going to go there? We don’t speak English and we don’t know them. So we had to think about it for a little bit and later I told him, God has a plan even though I didn’t know what it was and I was terrified. 

A couple of days later, I had a family in Minnesota who was on their way to pick us up. When they arrived, we were waiting for them with my one suitcase in hand with our things. That was our life in that moment—just one suitcase. 

They arrived and only one of them spoke Spanish. My mind wouldn’t stop thinking, and my heart was beating faster. 

Journeying Together

This beautiful family turned out to be our angels who helped us by letting us live in their home. They made accommodations that made them uncomfortable so that we could have a place in their home and their hearts. I am very grateful to God who changed our plans to make them his plans. We thought it would only be a couple of months, and those months turned into years. 

I am sure that for both families, it was not easy. But it happened and it will be the best lesson of love, compassion, mercy, and goodness. They weren’t the richest family to be able to give, but they are a family with the biggest hearts to be able to give what they gave us. 

Lives Changed Forever

My husband never liked to ask them for favors, or to bug them, as he would say. He learned that we cannot always solve things and that we all sometimes need help. It has all been a very slow process but little by little we still continue on. I have my own car when before, I couldn’t even ride a bike. Now I can drive and I am learning English. My kids said that this was the best vacation they had ever had in their lives. Now all of my kids speak both languages, English and Spanish. We now have friends and they are our family. 

It’s true when they say that family is not only by blood but also from the heart, and they are family from the heart.