The project could have made even Ty Pennington and his “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” team proud.
When Philip Brewer was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2003, he realized among other things that one day he would need a home well suited to accommodate the needs associated with his disease.
Never did he envision that his dream would come true just four years later — thanks in part to an army of men from around the South who completed the one-and-a-half story, 2,500-square-foot home in mid-June.
“Next to salvation, it’s been the greatest gift I’ve ever received,” said Brewer, whose chronic neurological disease affects his central nervous system. “These guys let their actions speak for themselves. People sacrificed their time and material not so they would receive the glory but so God would in the end.”
The six-month project, known as “the House that the Lord Built,” was the vision of a missions team whom Brewer — a member of New Hope Baptist Church in Pell City — knew. While on a missions trip to Tanzania two years ago, the team felt led to build an appropriate home for Brewer.
Throughout the project, men from such states as Florida, Mississippi and Alabama built the home from scratch, mainly working on Fridays and Saturdays. Brewer said some of the volunteers even used vacation time so they could participate in the missions project.
As the project neared its completion last month, a large marble granite stone from Brazil was placed in the front yard of the home, visible to all passersby.
Engraved on the tablet is Psalm 150, a chapter that calls for all people to praise the Lord.
“It’s been an awesome blessing,” Brewer said. “This (home) is a gift I’m undeserving of and a thank you does not seem adequate.”
Brewer’s wife, Beth, echoed the thought.
“These people who worked on the house came from all over the nation, many who did not even know us,” she noted. “This act of love was an effort of all types of God’s people working together for one common goal.”
The gift could not have come at a more perfect time.
Though he was diagnosed with MS four years ago, Brewer has remained optimistic — even from the moment he learned he had the disease.
When the then 34-year-old husband and father of three children received the life-changing news, Brewer said he was in the prime of his life.
“If you never have been in a situation like mine when the doctor told me that I had an incurable disease, then it’s difficult for you to comprehend what was going through my mind,” he said. “My wife and I wondered where to go from here. I looked at my wife and knew my life was changing. It was gut-check time.”
Brewer said soon after he received the news, an overwhelming sense of peace overcame him, shortly after reading 2 Corinthians 12:9–10. “My wife and I heard God say ‘I won’t heal you but I will give you peace,’” he recalled. “Since that day I’ve been at total peace.”
Though he is in the first stages of MS, Brewer said the disease has slowly taken a toll on his body. Limitations include limited amounts of time spent on his feet, pain in his body joints and a reduction in recreational time with his children.
But Brewer is not alone.
According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, approximately 400,000 individuals in the United State are diagnosed each year with the disease — one person each hour.
The disease — which is not fatal in most cases — can cause slurred speech, blurred vision, extreme fatigue and loss of balance. Though a cure has yet to be found, the MS Society said that “advances in treating and understanding MS are being achieved daily and the progress in research to find a cure is very encouraging.”
Regardless of whether he is cured of MS, Brewer realizes he is truly blessed because of the blessings God has given him, including those who built his new home.
“I’ve received lots of support, love and prayer,” Brewer said. “Most folks have accepted that I have peace since I learned I had this disease. And for that I am truly grateful.”
Share with others: