y mas....(and more)

As promised, here are some day-late details about our Monday activities, and hey, it's only 9pm and I've been up and working since 6, so I might decide to write about both days...we'll see.

Breakfast on Monday was served at 6:30am and was delicious as usual. The women who work in the kitchen are wonderful and work so hard! After breakfast, we had a group devotional on the deck of our dorms, then we headed back to Los Pinos and separated into two groups once again. One group headed back to a project that was started on Sunday and also build a house. I hear they had some difficulty with their house, as the walls were so close to the side of a mountain on one side, and directly against a neighbor's house on the other, that they had to build their walls from the inside out! While they were at their site, the other group was building a house for a sweet elderly lady, Aurora. The buildsite was once again down a steep mountain (par for the course these days) and we carried down all the materials for the house...lots of wood, shovels, massive buckets of nails, chainsaws, etc. etc. etc. Again there were a ton of children around the site, and there is a serious lack of wide open spaces to play with the children here, so we were on a rooftop and tucked into the side mountain in spaces to try and keep the children far away from the chainsaw! The teams once again worked in perfect unison and harmony and God was the ultimate build lead on each site, coordinating everything beautifully, including the weather! I am so grateful for the expertise and manpower and 150% effort of every person here. No one is ever too tired, too worn out, or too busy to help with someone. I haven't heard, "no" one time since I've been here when anyone has been asked to do something. It's a blessing to work with these people.

At the end of the day we had two almost-completed houses. We have to leave the sites each day by 5 or very soon after because it gets dark here so early and it's not safe for us to be on the mountain after dark...don't worry about this, our leaders are very, very, very mindful of our safety and well-being. So, anyway, we were so close to being finished with both houses, but decided it was for the best if we sent people back the next morning to finish. So we gathered all the tools and headed back to the truck, where people had stolen the lamina (roofing) out of the back and told us it was because we left it there...left it in our truck...but that's the mindset here sometimes, if it's ungaurded, it's fair game. We were all safe though, and left without a struggle so it was all bueno.

Some very cool things happened at Aurora's site, the neighbors and children came out in mass droves and they helped! It was crazy to see how they just jumped right in and wanted to help us, and the children are always a blessing (precarious and rowdy as they may be sometimes). Please ask us about the different ways were blessed here, there are a ton of stories, and also from the other site, I don't know as first hand about that site because I wasn't there, but I've heard some awesome stories!

One hilarious note from Monday: When we had finished the floor of Aurora's house, Donna yelled up the mountainside to Aurora (and about fifty of her neighbors-seriously) "tienes bruha?", because she wanted to sweep the floors and make them nice for Aurora...well, Jen starts yelling at Donna, "no! no! no! YOU ARE ASKING IF SHE HAS A WITCH!" needless to say, uncontrollable laughter ensued with the whole group and the Hondurans on the hillside just sat staring blankly at Donna. We have yet to let her live this down, and encourage each of you to ask if she has a bruha the next time you see her!

Ok, guess what kids...you will have to wait until tomorrow to hear about our Tuesday activities, for I am once again exhausted!

Much love to all! I was so encouraged when I read the blog comments from yesterday, thank you so much for your prayers and keep them coming! Their effectiviness is felt and seen. God has been with us every step of the way and it is evident in everything we do!! We are here to serve Him and His people and He is honoring it in so many ways. Thank you again for your love and support and prayers, you have no idea how much it paves the way for our work here!

Hasta manana!