Today the Lord had mercy on us- we did not get rained on. In fact, during one of our service projects it was sunny and hot enough that we stripped off shoes and rain jackets and laid them out on cars to dry. How sweet the feeling of dry shoes! Such a great blessing, and it is amazing that a mere little climate change can do so much for one’s morale.
a huge milipede!
Today we once again began the day bright and early. We headed over to the house that Lindsey and six other people working for ADES live. Thankfully our missionary friends do not pay rent, but they are expected to renovate this house for the owners- a job we were there to help with. The entire house is made out of wood, and needs constant upkeep from the rain and damp. So our job today was to sand, stain, and varnish the outside walls. This was a lot of work, but we were happy with the sun, and we were also happy that if it did rain, we would be kept dry by the houses’ overhang! A number of the students still look like they got a bad fake tan on their hands- it’s going to take awhile for that stain to come off!
drying our clothes and shoes
the house we worked on
At lunch we headed over for our first day at the school. The school house is one room, with a covered outdoor portion as well. We met the students, who were shy at first but really opened up after awhile. Amanda, Corey, and Dan led us in an icebreaker and then we all ate lunch together. Then Amanda and Corey led the group in a lesson about fixing our eyes on the unseen rather than the seen…. And then we played soccer! They did an excellent job- seriously.
After the school time we walked (a very long, hot, and entirely uphill walk) to the church we went to yesterday- La Iglesia De Vera Blanca, or the Church of Vera Blanca. We have a number of projects we will be doing for this church during the week, as this church is one that Lindsey, Tomas, and ADES are really trying to network with. We primarily cleaned up the soccer field next door, washing down benches, picking up trash, and such. Tomorrow we will be repainting the shower houses, benches, and whatever else needs it. We will also be laying down some cement for proper drainage. The pastor of the church worked right alongside us, and one of the ladies came by with cold strawberry juice that she had made herself for us. It was delicious!
conner scrubing away at algae and moss
And suddenly it was time to head back to our house for dinner, the day almost over. We are tired, but feeling successful! I even have a few blisters on my hands today from working so hard- something I’m actually quite proud of. For dinner, Ben (another ADES missionary) brought down his intermediate English class to practice English with us. I had a wonderful time getting to know a couple of ladies and trying to take complicated English words and make them simpler! How funny it must be for them when we attempt Spanish!
We are all very tired, and we need to get lots of rest tonight and be more disciplined at staying hydrated. Please pray that we can continue to dry out our clothes tomorrow. Please also pray for energy and stamina as we start to feel run down so early in the week. Also, that the Lord would continue to reveal to us the places where we can be of the most use. Thank you!
a river we cross on the 1/2 mile hike to and from our little house
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