This was the first day of work on the house and VBS.
Another team had put the walls up, the bathroom had a cement floor in place, and plastic conduit for the electrical wires had been placed in strategic places around the rooms. Our jobs today, under the supervision of our Guatemalen friends were: chisel out the openings for the electrical boxes, insert the boxes, morter them in place, carry fill dirt into the house to raise the floor in preparation for the cement, and put on the corrugated metal roof.
While Linda, Beth, and Mike started with the chiseling and putting the electrical boxes in place, the rest of us started with the dirty work. This entailed Pastor Alan using a pick ax to break up a patch of clay/dirt and us carrying shovelfuls into the house. Then, 3 five-gallon buckets appeared (counting the one with the split side). That was a little better. Finally a wheelbarrow appeared. Now we were in business. Several members helped fill the wheelbarrow. One of us then wheeled it approximately 100 feet to the front door of the house and dumped it. Stephanie and one of the Guatemalen workers took turns filling the buckets half full and set them on the door stoop so we weaklings could carry them and dump them into the rooms. Alan (3) and Alex (8), the children whose house we were working on, also helped. Innumerable buckets of dirt later, the floor was ready to be tamped down in anticipation of the cement the next day.
After a baños run back to the hotel, we had a delicious lunch of barbeque sandwiches at the church. Fortified, the men went back to the house to work and we readied ourselves for our first day of VBS. The children started showing up almost an hour ahead of time. Linda gave them some sidewalk chalk and that kept them busy. We had about 10 children that first day. A piece of cake! They enjoyed the Bible story about Noah’s Ark, colored a picture of an ark and put animal stickers on it. Miss Stephanie taught them several songs about Jesus being the captain of their boat and urging them all to climb aboard. Snacks, photos, and happy children! Back to the hotel for a delicious supper prepared by our soon to be best friends, Carlos and Nora, then back to the La Fragua Church for an evening service/bible study. The congregation consists of about 10 women of various ages and several children. Then back to the hotel for debriefing and devotions and time to rest our souls and bodies for tomorrow.
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