Day 7 - Nearing Completion

We made some significant progress on the house(s) today. The house for Anna-Lydia and her family is nearly complete. Stucco of the outside and inside was completed, and the roof beams and plywood are on. Tomorrow morning we'll apply paint to the inside and outside, and complete the roof. A great day of hard work by the house crew today!

At dinner we invited Anna-Lydia back to the base with her family for dinner and to pass along gifts we had for her family: clothes, food, a stroller, two quilts (made by the Cedars community), and a Bible. It was pretty overwhelming for them and there were many tears from her and her husband. I spoke with the family about how this gift was a long labor of love from not only our group of 45 - but so many others in Prince George and beyond! So many of you reading this blog played a significant role in making this moment happen. On Saturday morning we will dedicate the house and help the family move their stuff in.

On other fronts, work with the trusses continued on the other house. It too should be finished up (at least our part) tomorrow. The floor and other parts will likely be left for another group to finish up. This is the Mexican way...there are many "works in progress" here!

We also took a part of our day to help out a mission down the road led by a 80+ year old woman who has "retired" in Mexico to do work here since the early 1990s. We took a crew in the morning to do some painting and weed-pulling...and then joined her weekly Thursday routine of ministry to an outlying community. Each week she runs a Bible program for about 150 kids and their moms - teaching them Bible stories and having them memorize verses and sing songs. Afterwards we helped distribute some clothing, milk and peanut butter (kind of an interesting combo...many students are looking forward to trying this at home!), and hot soup ("supa"). We again got off the bus amidst a sea of children - played soccer and interacted with the kids. Once again, our soup pot ran dry and we had to shake our heads no to those who went without. I keep praying that we would see a miracle of an "endless" pot like in the days of Elijah and Jesus! It is so hard to turn women and children away because there is "no more". We've all been impacted by the obvious desparity between what we have and what these Mexican people have.

Our evening together was great. The young adults led us in a scavenger hunt in the neighborhood - looking for things, taking pictures, doing musical performances, and seeing how many dogs we could capture in one still photo! It was a good release, but also became a platform later to hear from each person about what has impacted them the most about this time in Mexico...and what this will mean for them back home in PG.

A full day...but not without a few tears. Many of us are homesick and long to see and be with our families again. However, we remain focussed on this opportunity to serve, and know that our return will be even sweeter because of the way we are God's vessel here and now.

Blessings!