Every day, Melvin Lopez wakes up and goes to work.
He collects plastic bottles, cans, metal, tin — anything that can be recycled. He loads it into his truck and hauls it in, hoping the day’s collection will be enough to feed his family: his wife Magdalena, their oldest son Lester, middle son Matthew, and their youngest daughter Genesis.
In their community, the unemployment rate is overwhelming. Not because people don’t want to work — they do. There just aren’t enough jobs. So Melvin built a living out of what most people throw away.
For years, the family moved from place to place because they were only squatting — they didn’t own land. Eventually, Melvin managed to get a small piece of property. But the home he could afford to build on it was made from the same materials he collected. No running water. No power.
To solve the water problem, Melvin collected old refrigerators, lined them with plastic, turned them on their sides, and used them as storage tanks — filling them up whenever he could so his family would have enough to survive.
And then there’s the truck.
When it breaks down, everything stops. No collecting means no income. No income means no food that day. So Melvin learned to fix it himself — but repairs in the daylight meant hours lost, and hours lost meant his family went without.
This is what daily life looked like for the Lopez family.
But through Open Door Church and missionary Kenton Moody, the family found more than groceries and school uniforms and shoes for the kids. They found community. They found people who saw them and showed up for them.
One Sunday, Melvin pulled Kenton aside privately. He asked him to pray — to ask God to provide a home for his family.
Kenton prayed.
The next morning, I called Kenton. “Do you have a family that needs a home?”
He almost couldn’t get the words out fast enough. “Do I ever.”
Within weeks, the home was built. And Lori and I were on a plane to El Salvador to hand Melvin and Magdalena the keys.
But we didn’t come empty-handed.
We also brought a solar unit — portable panels and a battery pack. Now the kids can do homework after dark. Now Melvin can run a work light and fix his truck at night without losing a day of income.
That’s not just a house. That’s a future being unlocked.
Melvin works hard every single day so his family can eat. He never stopped trying. He just needed someone to step in and help carry what he couldn’t carry alone.
Those who give aren’t just donating. They’re investing in a future that’s been closed — and opening it.
→ Meet all our El Salvador families
Thank you,
Josh Hackworth
Director, Hope and Horizons Foundation