MAPLETON, Iowa (AP) – Mapleton’s five churches have joined to maintain an emergency house that’s available to anyone who needs shelter. It sits near St. John’s Methodist Church, which bought the property and planned to raze the house so more parking spaces could be provided. But the pastor at the time and congregation had a change of heart and sought a higher purpose for the two-bedroom structure.

The current pastor, Jena Manchester, told the Sioux City Journal that “the former minister said, ‘There’s too much life left in it. Let’s use it until it falls down.”‘ It was dubbed God’s Little House and has provided free shelter for people since 2008. Members of Mapleton’s five churches work summers in the concession stand at the city’s ballfields for money to maintain the house.