Tuesday, July 5, 2016

We were excited to get back to the work site to get started on all the work we had to do. . .and to see our new friends again!

In particular, we were excited to see the children!

After greeting each other, we quickly began to work.  Our first task was to build 2 doors and 2 windows.

Next we added corrugated tin to to form the walls...

And then the roof.

Elena's new house has 2 rooms, a porch, hinged doors and windows, and two solar powered light fixtures.

Paul, Chuck, and Andy even added some tiered gravel steps up to her porch!

In the afternoon we had more workers than tasks, so there was time for many of us to play with children and visit with adults.

Then, the youth had a great idea to build a basketball hoop for the field where the children played behind the houses.  Our FUMC youth designed and executed the entire project and finished with pride in their accomplishment and love in their hearts.

I spent a lot of my time teaching students to make their own friendship bracelets.  (Maddie had brought embroidery floss and several youth had made bracelets as gifts, but we still needed more!) It was the highlight of my day to work with individual children to help them create their own bracelet. My Spanish is limited, but I know my colors and numbers well enough to provide instruction.  By the end of the day, the adults wanted bracelets, too, so one boy helped me make enough for each of them. Their delight was evident as we presented the fruit of our labor.

A couple of our youth had an opportunity to visit one of the simple homes, as well. I will ask the to write a guest blog to share with you all!

We were reluctant for the day to end, but knew that it must. Flowers and letters were delivered to our youth by the Guatemalan children. Some small boys even professed undying love for a couple of our girls!

Our own youth decided to leave hats and sunglasses for the kids, who had wanted to wear them during our stay.  I can't blame them, either. . .the children's hearts were aglow to be wearing things from the "Americans".

Before we left, we held a dedication in which we offered prayers of thanks and prayers of blessing for the house and the family that would dwell in it. Elena's mother (Abuela!) represented Elena during the dedication at the work site, but when we returned to the seminary, we were able to pray with Elena herself and present her with the key to her new home. We also gifted her with 2 prayer shawls from our church and 2 Spanish Bibles.

For dinner, Elena blessed us with a special meal to thank us for allowing God top use us as an instrument of His love by providing her with a house.

Later on, some of the youth ran off to play soccer with the seminarians. It was dark outside by then, so our best attempts at photos were in vain. I'm sure you can imagine what a wonderful time they all had!

Thank you, church family for your prayers for good weather, especially during our 2 days of outside work on Monday and Tuesday.  We only had the slightest amount of rain on Monday, and that was a welcome relief from the blazing sun!  Otherwise, our weather was perfect, which helped us complete a lot of work for the families. At one point, I told Carolina that our church back home was praying for good weather.  She shook her head and responded, "I only pray that my children are safe, that I have a tortilla to feed them, and that they have clean water to drink." I am humbled.

As I reflect on the experience of sharing time with my brothers and sisters in Christ in the village of San Andres Itzapa, the most potent moments were those that I spent with the mothers. These are strong women, powerful in their own right. Many without a husband (due to violence or disease), they struggle to meet the needs of multiple children.  Though their earnings are meager, their faith is great. Oh, that I might have the faith of these Guatemalan women!