DAY 2

We were on the road this morning headed for Tipitapa at about 8am.  When we arrived we were met by the the pastor of El Faro church who gave us a tour of the four sites where we'd be building houses.  Since there are nine of us on the team, we split up into three teams to work on three separate houses simultaneously.... while a fourth we left to be completed by some local workers.  

From 9am on... we worked under the hot, blazing sun... digging post holes, laying 60lb slabs of cut rock, digging post holes, and moving dirt.  And it was in the midst of our working that we also had the privilege of getting to know the families who would soon be living in these homes, and the local workers who were guiding us through the construction.  

The day ended with us heading home at about 4:45, arriving back at the mission housing at 6:00.  And it was after dinner that we had our nightly debrief of the day behind us. We all had the opportunity to share our experiences from the day.  What I appreciated most  about our time of sharing was the diversity of responses that came from the group.  I should mention at this point that- for six of the nine people on our team- this is their first mission trip ever.  Responses from the group ranged from having very enriching relational experiences with the family they were building a home for... to others being very humbled by the obvious brokenness of the family they were with.  For me, one thing that surprised me was how young the couple was that my  was building a house for.  They honestly look to me as if they are in their mid teens, and they have a newboarn baby that is only 20 something days old.  The husband, Julio, works in a rice factory about an hour away... and his wife, Arma stays at home to tend to Wilmar... their newborn son.  One of the fun parts of building a home is that you sometimes get to know extended family members who are there to share the excitement of the new home being built.  Looking on were Arma's younger sisters. Beautiful kids.... watching, smiling, and wanting us to take pictures with and of them.  Arma's mom was there too... I think she was there more for quality control on our construction than anything else.  It's been great getting to know them.

So that is a basic snapshot of what our teams experienced throughout the day.  Tomorrow our plan is to finish one of the homes that we didn't get quite finished today, and to build one more home with the excess funds we received from donors.  Additionally, we will be handing out tickets to 250 families that can turn in to receive a $8 bag of food basics that we will be distributing on Thursday afternoon. 

Lastly, one person join our group was actually able to pray with a woman to receive Christ as her Savior.  She said the only thing that was holding her back was that she didn't feel holy enough... that her problems with her husband somehow disqualified her from being able to make that commitment.  She was reassured that none of us are "holy enough".  All of us are sinners, and that what makes us holy is not our good works, but what Jesus has done for us on the cross.  This was a freeing reality for her, and that afternoon, she prayed to receive Christ.  Awesome....

Please keep us in prayer... for safety of everyone in our group, and for fruitfulness in our ministry with the people we meet.  We pray that somehow we might play a role in being an encouragement to their faith in Him.