Team from Glen Acres Baptist Church
Today was a tough but great day! Our team worked in 2 locations today: at a school in Los Alcarrizos this morning and at the Open Walls Church this afternoon.
At the school, we had an amazing time with a group of 50 children doing outddoor and indoor activities: parachutes, face painting, stickers, colouring, blowing bubbles, stickers, popping balloons, making bracelets, stickers, and catching tennis balls with velcro gloves. Oh, and stickers!
This afternoon, we joined the rest of the group at the Open Walls Church and worked alongside as many people as were available to try to pour the rest of the cement floor before sundown. We didn’t quite finish, but only have about 2 hours (according to Cristian) worth of cement-mixing, wheelbarrowing, and pouring to finish this job so that we can meet there tomorrow night for a celebration worship service. If the teamwork that was evident this afternoon is present tomorrow morning, I’m sure Cristian will be right!
Submitted by Team Glen Acres (Matt, Keri, Yaneth, Josh, and Gentille)
7:00am: Morning worship at the basketball court with several of the Lighthouse school children joining us as others gathered in the shaded courtyards before classes started. After worship we did our personal devotions and prayer partner time.
8:00: Breakfast of cheese and ham baked rolls and the usual cereals and fruits
Playing with the kids at the “Sharkey” school.
9:00 All the work teams (CBOQYouth and others) went to the church cement pouring site for the morning. The three smaller CBOQ church groups Glen Acres (5), Heart Lake (6) and FBC Smiths Falls (4) headed out by bus to the CBOQ “Sharkey” school for our community interaction. Parachute games, skipping, face painting, colouring, ball tossing, stickers, balloon blowing and popping, all with lots and lots of loud Spanish laughter. There really is no language barrier when it comes to communicating fun and laughter with these 52 children in this morning school session. (I think maybe we interrupted classes completely today. )
Teofila De Jesus, who is the school founder/principal for 19 years – 4 years here at the Sharkey site, devoted her life to these neighbourhood children. Parents pay $5.00 per month if they can. However the children are never turned away for lack of funds. The three Teachers including Teofila mostly volunteer; they receive some stipend if they have it.
11:45: When we finished our program and took our group pictures, we went back into the classrooms to wait for our bus and the children waited for parents. We had given them all “a cup of cold water”. A couple of children got out their very warm lunch bags and one sat at the rickety wooden table and and bench to eat her potato, bananas and a long ago fried egg on top. The majority waited hopefully to get a snack when they get home.
Lunch back at the compound was pepperoni, fried plantain, lettuce salad, tomatoes and fruit.
Our siesta lasted till 2:30 and we had a treat of strawberry ice cream and Oreo cookies. Then we walked back to the church under orders of Christian “to stay there until the entire floor is poured concrete on the rebar” (approx 45’x90′). He was kidding. However the goal was to complete the inside today for the evening worship celebration on it Wednesday evening.
Continued work at Open Walls Church
At the church site all the teams CBOQ Youth and 3 other groups (Flamborough/Compass/River of Life) totalling 55 on site worked together with 8 hired nationals to hand mix sand cement and water into 3 very noisy gas operated portable cement mixers. Three 18 person crews loading the mixers dumping into a dozen wheel-squeaking, under-inflated tires, holes in the bottoms wheelbarrows from 3:15 – 4pm and then a compulsory 10 minute water break.
And then there were two! One gas mixer quit!!!!
But the digging sand/gravel, lugging cement and water continued as well as the loading and dumping of the wheel barrow lines into the sanctuary. One crew of 4 wheelbarrows was put into action filling in the water ruts from the leaking cement mixers and wheelbarrows as well as filling in some low spots in the floor.
The teams were blessed by a slight breeze and an afternoon of cloud cover.
5:00pm: After a second water break we experienced a third water break – from the heavens, which stopped work for about a 10 minute rain delay. Then the work resumed.
We worked till 6:30 pm. Almost complete. We will have time in the morning to finish the last 12’x 45′ square.
7:00: Supper – rice and beef and usual vegetables.
8:00: Evening worship.
Again thanks for your prayers.
Submitted by Ron for the CBOQ Youth DR team 2015
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