Mark Dave's Dream House - Family Missions CompanyFamily Missions Company

Meet our friend Mark Dave!

During our first visit to Isla Bonita last year, Mark Dave wasone of the first people to welcome us. Many people were shy initially around us “Americanos,” but not Mark Dave. He wanted to learn our names, show us around, and he just talked and talked and talked to us…he didn’t seem to mind one bit that we couldn’t understand a single word of Visayan!

That first meeting stands out in my memory because there I was, a first-time missionary at my new mission post ready to save the day and proclaim the Good News to the poor…and within 5 minutes of meeting Mark Dave he had already told me all about Jesus’ death and Resurrection, recited the Amahan Namo (Our Father), and told me that God loved me! Who’s the missionary now?!

Philippines, Malaybalay, Missionary, Missions, Catholic, Family Missions Company, Missionaries, Families, Christian, Gospel, Poverty, Preaching, Evangelization, Mission, Great Commission, Matthew 28, Jesus,

Even though we didn’t understand any of the Visayan language, we were able to understand Mark Dave because of the vivid gestures, exaggerated body language, and the high level of emotion with which he shared his testimony. You see, Mark Dave is autistic. And it was thanks to his “disability” that he was nearly the only person we could communicate with. Thanks to his “disability,” we who had come to proclaim the Gospel to the poor had it proclaimed to us in the language of heaven. How beautiful and how very humbling!

Despite his difficult and often lonely circumstances, Mark Dave is a shining light to us and to his community. He is a friend to all. He has a big smile, an infectious laugh, and a great sense of humor. He is helpful, kind and respectful. He is very observant and loves to learn. He never passes up an opportunity to pray or to talk about Jesus. He has big faith and big dreams!

Mark Dave with new Bible

As we got to know Mark Dave, we discovered that autism and poverty aren’t the only crosses this sweet 14-year old carries. His father died when he was just one year old, and he is separated from the rest of his immediate family. Mark Dave lives with his grandmother and cousin in Isla Bonita, while his mom, Estrella, works as a live-in house helper a couple of towns over. His younger sister lives with family members several hours away. They aren’t living together because his mother’s salary is too low to support the three of them. They have to rely on the help of their extended family, and no one has the means or the space to take in the three of them together.

Mark Dave with his mother at his baptism last year

Mark Dave’s biggest dream and prayer has always been for his family to live together in a home of their very own. Thanks be to God, it will soon be a dream come true! It will only take about a week and $400 to build Mark Dave’s dream house. We’ll post pictures of the progress so you can journey with us, Mark Dave, and Estrella as their dreams take shape.

I wish all of you could have seen their faces when we told them they had been sponsored. It was priceless. Estrella cried. I think only Mark Dave believed that this dream could ever come true. He jumped up and down and cheered. Then he asked us if he could paint his room blue.

There are so many families that dream and pray for a home of their own.

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Love,

Sammy, Lindsey, Evie, Anders, and Maggie Joy Romero

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Mark Dave’s Dream House