Day 4

Day 4 – Monday 8-11-08

This day began early with a contest between Pastor Scott and I to see who would wake up at 5:30am so we could have devotions before 6:30am breakfast. Pastor Scott won but I was a close 2nd place. My time was spent in Galatians and Psalms and a chapter in “Wild @ Heart.”

akfast was pancakes and fruit, including the papaya we bought at the market yesterday. One piece of TMI, don't plan on eating lots of purple fruit without consequences. It was rather shocking for several of us this morning.

We departed the station for a fuel stop in Masaya and then took a 2 hour drive up north (great vistas of the volcano) and west before turning off on very potholed road for another ½ hour towards Salinas Grande. Just short of the Pacifc Ocean we came to the church and the work project. The footing for the addition had been previously poured and we moved two piles of concrete blocks (several thousand blocks) from one side of the building to the other side where the addition was being built. This we did fire brigade bucket style. Others sifted the sand, some mixed mortar, some hauled mortar, some filled holes in the blocks with small rocks. Adrian and Pastor Scott even took short rides on the local pastor's motorcycle (a little 125cc kick start import). Pastor Scott laid the first block. It was hard and physically challenging work in the 90 degree heat. I even began to experience early symptoms of heat exhaustion (blurred vision and dizziness), so I took a break in the shade and the pastor's wife brought me a cold soda which was refreshing to say the least.

Soon it was time to head down to the Pacifc Ocean where we enjoyed our lunch and shared some food with the local children. There were also a number of the familiar very skinny dogs that we have come to see everywhere. It brings very new meaning to the expression,
“it's a dog's life !” Their life is definitely hard. After lunch, many enjoyed swim or frolic in the ocean and I elected to stay in the shade and update my blog. While there I shared some of my trail mix and cookies with some young children and they were very appreciative. Leaving the beach we headed for the VBS location where we were greeted by over 150 kids. The team took over with Adrian's introduction, were able to present the lesson and see about 15 responses. He then assembled the pastors who were there and we headed across the parking lot to the pastor's house where I was able to share my introduction to money which revolved around God's love for us and what that means. The pastors were extremely receptive and seemed eager for session number 2. Little did I know what the response to the intitial teaching was going to be.

Leaving the area, we headed back to the station which took around 3 hours due to a traffic accident and some road construction. It also rained hard for a few miles. At camp we were greeted by the other team from North Carolina who so graciously allowed us to eat first as we had been traveling so long and far. Following dinner, we once again met as a team to practice the next day's program.

Again, it was a very rewarding day interacting with the kids, the pastors, and laying the initial blocks. The plan for tomorrow is to get the walls as high as possible. The lumber for the roof trusses was being delivered as we were leaving, the cost of which was fully paid for by the generous contributions of the two churches who will have worked on this project. It is hard to explain the long term positive implications of your partnership with this project.