Our first work day

Morning came early. We were all to bed late and my mind was already on the morning. Our coordinator/translator, Jenny, told us we were building a house addition for for one of the parishioners; Yolena, a single mother of five. I've never done or even participated in something like this before so I wasn't sure what to expect. After a hearty breakfast of pancakes and sausage, Jenny led us to our site for the day. The mix of motorcycles, tiny homes and the sub-tropical environment was full of life and beauty. Yolena's home is a very small two room dwelling. The jobs for the day included: cleaning and painting purlin, which are ceiling beams use to support the metal corrugated ceiling, mixing and pouring the cement floor for the addition and finish digging a 7' deep hole for the septic tank. Along with our 7 team members, a youth team from San Antonio was also assigned to the site. Mary, Debbie and Sue were on purlin cleaning and painting duty, Blaine and Larry were on plumbing and cement and Jack and I worked on digging out the septic. We take for granted the tools and materials at our use at home when taking on a job like this. The cement was mixed by hand. Loads of sand and rock are dropped off by truck and unloaded with shovels, mixed with cement and wheelbarrowed into place. It was truly a blessing to see all these hands working together, serving, in Jesus' name. We also had the pleasure of meeting Charlie Strong today on site. He is quite an inspiring individual.

Dinner, devotion, bed a back at it tomorrow.