COCOA, Fla. — A Brevard County family travels around the world to take clean water to the poor. Now they're getting some help of their own from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
WFTV worked with the family during a relief effort in Haiti a few years back. Now, the family's life on Fan Palm Avenue (see map) is about to change forever.
Joe and Cindy Hurston have spent their entire adult lives helping others. Now, it's their turn.
"There are scriptures: 'If you sow, you will reap,'" Joe told WFTV. "When you see a gigantic harvest roll your way, it's both encouraging and overwhelming."
The Christian missionaries received the surprise of their lives Friday when the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition bus pulled in front of their Cocoa home.
WFTV worked with the Hurstons after the hurricanes of 2004 battered Haiti. Joe delivered portable water purifiers to the hardest hit areas, work he's done for years all over the globe.
"He's the real deal. This man's life is to help others," said Michael Moloney, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
But during a mission trip two years ago, a water pipe broke inside the family's home and destroyed entire sections of it. Joe and his children have been living in a motor home for months.
Now, the old house is coming down and the family will have a new place to rest to prepare for the next relief mission.
"We can get fully rested and be happy where we are. And then go out and share that with other people. Being able to do that is amazing and awesome," Joe's daughter Juliet said.
Joe and Cindy's foster children were orphans from Haiti. They have very humble requests for their new home.
"A bathtub. When a kid, you'd think they'd ask for the latest things, and they ask for a bathtub. That kind of gets your heart," said Paige Hemmis, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
The house will be demolished January 8 and a new one will go up in a week. The show will air on WFTV Channel 9 next month.
WFTV
