The Work Has Begun!!!

It has been another busy day! Today was our first day of working, and we are all tired! (Well, maybe not the students, who are out playing soccer as if they didn't spend the afternoon with shovels in their hands...)

We started the day traveling to a public school called La Isla, where we put on a VBS program as part of their school day. We taught about God's power, using the story of David and Goliath to show how God can help us accomplish impossible things. We had a life-size Goliath made out of cloth, and the kids threw bean bags at him to see what David was up against! The kids also made pouches with "stones" that reminded them that the battle is the Lord's. We finished it up with some Frisbee recreation and some singing and dancing. It was a lot of fun!

While most of the group ran VBS, four of our men installed a swing set for the school. The kids were almost more excited to see the swing set than to participate in the other activities!

We came back to El Ayudante to have lunch, then we loaded up the work trucks for our afternoon activities. There were three groups that went to different places up the mountain. One group began installing a pila for a family. A pila is a concrete water storage container, which helps the rural families have a safe place to store water for washing and household tasks. Two other groups began installing latrines at different houses. They made a concrete pad to cover the latrine hole, and framed in the piping for the latrine before covering that with concrete as well. All of the concrete work in Honduras is done by hand, which means mixing a lot of sand with concrete, then mixing that with water "volcano style" to create concrete. It's a lot of work!

This evening we enjoyed a delicious dinner with the medical missionaries here and then spent some time debriefing and preparing for tomorrow! Please pray for our day tomorrow, as we finish up VBS, install more pilas, pour a concrete floor for a church, and lead a local church service including a children's church. Please leave us a comment so we can know our friends and families are watching along!

Finishing the concrete for a latrine

Life-size Goliath

When we said "Up the mountain", we meant UP the mountain!

Making a concrete volcano

The kids at VBS

The process of building a latrine

Building the swing set for the kids at La Isla school

Riding in the back of the truck - something kids can't do at home anymore.

Eating dinner at the mission house

Adults enjoying the rocking chairs on the porch after a LONG day of work!

Our hard-working young men installing a pila

Two of the El Ayudante staff members that lead the construction teams

Enjoying the beautiful view on the way back down the mountain

A well-known landmark in the area is Buffalo Mountain

More concrete volcanoes

A typical house in the area