Day Two of Work

We are having an amazing time!

The End

Ok, I suppose you might be looking for a little more than that.  Together with the fact that we are all happy and healthy, we are all building relationships that will last.  The teams are working together well and one of the jobs is complete.  The others are moving along slowly but surely...some (mine) are a little slower than the rest but we are plugging along.  Our sheetrock detail has completed one room and two skylights...Chuy came in and offered us high praise, "Buen trabajo!" (good work) and he looked genuinely surprised that we had completed as much as we did.  The trouble with our assignment is that we now have another three rooms and four more skylights!  Liz has said that anything we complete will be a blessing and there will be other groups that will finish this.  

Speaking of Liz, she is officially moving toward my top ten favorite people list.  The currency of favors here is sodas.  Get caught driving too fast...owe a soda.  Help someone out...they'll reward you with a soda.  I began teasing her about getting me a Dr Pepper because I saw her drive a mile over the speed limit.  She didn't agree and apparently the Dr is very rare in these parts.  Well today at lunch she presented me with an ice cold Dr Pepper while everyone else drank kool aid.  Ahhhh!  She is the coordinator for all groups who come in and she is working solely with us this week.  We are blessed.

The sand group is done, was done early today, and they are now helping us do sheetrock.  I have a feeling that the porch group will be done next and, since they are right with us, they will transition to sheetrock as well.  The demolition group will probably be done tomorrow but will most likely take all of the day.  Don't worry...if it was your child you would have been contacted...but one person decided that they wanted to be more holey so he stepped on a nail.  It didn't even slow him down and we know from Mom that he has been given his tetanus shot recently so he is safe.  Matt, and the new hole in his foot, is safe too.  

The work at the soccer field today was very rewarding.  The boys who played yesterday challenged us (that would mean "them"...I am not part of the soccer "us") to a game today.  They held true to their challenge and came out in force.  We gave it our all and came out ahead 4 to 1!  I fear tomorrow there will be reinforcements.  Our victory was not without its casualties.  People were falling all over this sand lot and some of them even got cheers for their plops!  

Soccer happened without a few of us today.  We were able to set up a table for crafts with beads, coloring, necklaces, pipe cleaners, and a favorite...nail polish.  It was great to see the kids, and their mothers, enjoy getting their nails painted.  Since there were little kids around, and it required no athletic ability whatsoever, I stayed with the craft area.  It worked out great since my Spanish speaking ability is a little less than a five year old's.  There was a group of slightly older, and therefore slightly cooler, girls who came to check out the craft table.  I explained, in Spanish, that they could do it.  I would help them if they wanted.  They all pretended that they couldn't understand me but they stayed and watched.  They saw me interact with the littler kids and they would laugh when I said something wrong...when I teased them that they could understand me they laughed and one came to sit next to me.  For the rest of the time she became my helper and asked me loads of questions and even began to teach me words and phrases.  Together with her knowledge of English and my pitiful knowledge of Spanish, we had a nice little conversation.  

She asked me why I was wearing a large metal nut tied onto a scratchy piece of twine around my neck.  Again in Spanish, I explained that it represented the sin that all of us have and how it is uncomfortable and always present.  Then I explained that in Christ this burden is taken away.  The pastor's wife Nadia was there the whole time, nodding, and only had to substitute one word where I was using one too sophisticated for her age.  It was a rewarding exchange...especially from a hesitant beginning.

Patty gave her testimony following soccer and I can say that it was well received.  I cannot say too much more about it simply because she is fluent in Spanish and didn't need to be translated.  Also, people who are fluent speak the language incredibly quickly so I entiende nada!  (Understood nothing)

Lucas has just come in and asked that I put him in the blog.  When I asked why...he said, "Tell everyone that I am going hiking in the morning."  Apparently he has been talking about getting up at 6:00 A.M. and walking up to the cross on the hilltop across from the camp.  Then he is going to climb up to the top of the hill directly across where "Agua Viva" is written in white rocks, very much like the South San Francisco sign in the city by the bay.  There is a large group of people who think that waking up at six in the morning is alternately crazy and impossible (possibly just for him) so they agree that I should write it in here.  Then it is in writing and he can't back out of it.  I will let you know how he does.  

Tomorrow we are planning on going to the church site...the vacant lot...to hold a church service.  Mark will be preaching.  It will be interesting to see what God will provide in terms of people and their expectations about a church service on a site like this.  

We are in a place where the electricity is turned off at night, water is supplied through a pump, and it is not safe to drink.  We have filtered water, as much as we like, but from the tap will make you sick.  When I asked Liz about people in Mexico and whether or not they drink it or are accustomed to it...she said, "Pretty much if anyone drinks it, they will not feel well the next day."  There are two kids here who, tonight, forgot about the water.  One took a drink and another brushed their teeth.  Please pray that they will not get sick.  We don't know how much or how little you have to drink before you will be sick.

Finally, I talked to Mrs. Nusbaum and we agreed that he deserved a more dignified name.  He was having fun being singled out in the blog but I have been watching and I think he is ready.  From now on...until I change my mind...he will be known as Mortimer.  He is enjoying the idea of people guessing who he is so look for clues.  I won't give you any, but you can look.

Good night all!