Cement, Sweat and Water

So I (Pastor Michael) am giving Nick a break from practicing his prose on the blog tonight.  We spent the day in Esparanza Miralta and we did four things.  As a group, we presented school supplies to the students and teachers at the school there – quite a production.  We heard their national anthem and then they asked to sing ours.  We celebrated Jennifer’s birthday and the birthday of one of the teachers – Adelia by singing Happy Birthday in both English and Spanish.  And that was followed by presenting them with notebooks and school supplies (and two soccer balls).

Then we divided into three groups.  One group did projects and played games with the kids.  This included teaching them new songs and making cutouts of their hands that will be brought back to the kids at Pease CRC.   The other two groups went to get water and help build a kitchen for the school.  I helped with both of those other two jobs and I’ll say this – I hope I’m a better preacher than I am bricklayer.  I laid a whole row of about 7 bricks and the guy in charge of construction had to fix every single one.  It wasn’t pretty.

I was a little better at hauling water, but only slightly.  To get water to the worksite in order to make the mud to lay the brick we had to walk about a kilometer (about a half mile) down the hill to the spring where the members of the community wash their dishes and do their laundry.  We filled five-gallon jerry cans with water and carried them up the hill – and it’s a hill! – to a 250-gallon container at the worksite. 

The women carry the water on their heads and the men carry the water on their backs using a head strap.  See the photo below for how cool I looked doing it.  I know, pretty cool.   

It was pretty humbling to see the efforts the community members go to just to get water.  I learned that once they get the water, they still can’t drink it.  They need to boil it in their homes before it is safe to drink. 

It was great for the team to be able to go back to the same community and be welcomed by them.  This is the third year in a row our church has been here and the benefits of that year-over-year relationship is starting to pay dividends.  I’ve not been here before but I was welcomed and treated as one of the family because I was a part of a group from Pease.  These people love us even though we never met them.  You are here even if you aren’t here.  That is the power of Gospel message and the name of Jesus in whose name we have been sent.

Happy Birthday to Jennifer Elton!! - A couple of the guys threw her into the pool to celebrate

Stay tuned…God is at work through you.

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