Tiny man, BIG Faith
It's 11:00 pm...gotta go to the airport in a bit for a group arriving at 11:50. My Diet Coke from earlier is starting to wear off so I figure blogging should keep me awake.
I spent the week of March 5-12 working with a group of 7 from Our Savior Lutheran Church in Minot, ND. They didn't come last year, but I had worked with them 2 years ago and had a wonderful time, so I was really looking forward to spending time with many of the same people and a few new ones. Our task was to build a home for Onesimo Martinez, the (volunteer) guitar instructor who serves both Cristo Rey and San Lucas. I had never met him before, but he's a tiny little man with big dreams and an even bigger faith. He was around most of the week while we worked: serenading us, working in his soon-to-be yard, or showing us pictures of his family. He is soooo proud of each of his 6 kids and soooo excited to move them into their new abode! His plan is to add another addition like the one we built to the property, as well as a bathroom they wouldn't have to share with the neighbors and their own gas and water hookups. We went to church on Sunday, and already he had a couple sheets of paper ready with photos, names, ages, birthplaces, and personalized thank-you notes from each family member. In talking to him one afternoon, I also learned that he makes his living as a strolling musician, charging 30 pesos ($3) per song. Aside from guitar, he also plays the flute, harmonica, piano, guitarron, vihuela, and has an incredible singing voice. At the end of the week, he gave us each a copy of his business card--I use that term loosely! He is also already recruiting new guitar students in what will be his neighborhood, and deciding which songs he's going to teach them. His hope is to eventually connect them to the church by merging them with his students at Cristo Rey. Anyways, check out some of my pictures from the week!
Onesimo's guitar students at Cristo Rey practicing before playing for us after church on Sunday.
The group leader, Joyce, brought her two kids, Maria (5) and Juan (4) along. They're a riot, but they entertained themselves at the worksite mostly by playing with some of the neighbor kids, which worked out great. They were also handy for opening the back door to the white van since the office copy of the key only opens the driver's door ;)
Onesimo's youngest son Derek, who broke his leg pretty badly in the middle of February. Music is in his blood I think, but Onesimo pointed out how he removed the strings from the toy guitar so Derek didn't cut his fingers. I love that!
Our site was super close to the words on the side of the mountain, and I could not get over how colorful the neighborhood was!
Maria and I showing off our big muscles. I would leave about 1/4 in of each nail exposed as were were putting on the siding, and she would finish them for me.
Joyce kept the place spic and span!
There is a story behind this one. We wound up with a gap in the siding right above the door, so the pastor cut a piece to fill it and I was going to nail it up. He brought it over, said something like, "Now THAT'S how we do it!", and then of course it didn't fit! Joyce has that picture on her camera, but here is the one after the 2nd try, which fit like a glove.
Onesimo spent one morning burning trash and debris and tearing down an old fence.
Ceiling sheetrock--I screwed a lot of sheetrock with Minot! That used to be one of my least favorite construction jobs because I could never get the screws in straight and therefore the heads never sunk all the way, but I was rocking at it last week. Maybe I've just learned the technique over time, maybe it was Pastor's 18V drill, who knows, but I couldn't figure out why it used to be so hard!
"Team Perfection." They started on sheetrock, and every time they made a cut that fit like a glove, Pastor would claim it was "awesomeness," "perfection", or both. They switched to trim once they finished inside.
Group picture (minus one who had to leave early).
The kitty that was around our site all week!
Onesimo serenading us!
Joyce has kind of a weird expression in this one, but I LOVE Onesimo's face immediately after she handed over the keys.
Richard is pretty tall, but look how little Onesimo is in comparison!
More singing, of course, at the house dedication. These things happen when you build for a music teacher.
Group picture with Onesimo and some visitors from Cristo Rey.
Blog coming soon about 3/12-3/19, NDSU's week. Tomorrow (Saturday) we are working with a group with the group that is getting in tonight (Friday). My days are going to be so messed up--I already went to the airport last night to pick up one group member that I THOUGHT was arriving an entire day early...turns out it was only a couple of hours! Oops, that's what happens when I am thinking about too many things.
Until next time, blessings!
I spent the week of March 5-12 working with a group of 7 from Our Savior Lutheran Church in Minot, ND. They didn't come last year, but I had worked with them 2 years ago and had a wonderful time, so I was really looking forward to spending time with many of the same people and a few new ones. Our task was to build a home for Onesimo Martinez, the (volunteer) guitar instructor who serves both Cristo Rey and San Lucas. I had never met him before, but he's a tiny little man with big dreams and an even bigger faith. He was around most of the week while we worked: serenading us, working in his soon-to-be yard, or showing us pictures of his family. He is soooo proud of each of his 6 kids and soooo excited to move them into their new abode! His plan is to add another addition like the one we built to the property, as well as a bathroom they wouldn't have to share with the neighbors and their own gas and water hookups. We went to church on Sunday, and already he had a couple sheets of paper ready with photos, names, ages, birthplaces, and personalized thank-you notes from each family member. In talking to him one afternoon, I also learned that he makes his living as a strolling musician, charging 30 pesos ($3) per song. Aside from guitar, he also plays the flute, harmonica, piano, guitarron, vihuela, and has an incredible singing voice. At the end of the week, he gave us each a copy of his business card--I use that term loosely! He is also already recruiting new guitar students in what will be his neighborhood, and deciding which songs he's going to teach them. His hope is to eventually connect them to the church by merging them with his students at Cristo Rey. Anyways, check out some of my pictures from the week!
Onesimo's guitar students at Cristo Rey practicing before playing for us after church on Sunday.
The group leader, Joyce, brought her two kids, Maria (5) and Juan (4) along. They're a riot, but they entertained themselves at the worksite mostly by playing with some of the neighbor kids, which worked out great. They were also handy for opening the back door to the white van since the office copy of the key only opens the driver's door ;)
Onesimo's youngest son Derek, who broke his leg pretty badly in the middle of February. Music is in his blood I think, but Onesimo pointed out how he removed the strings from the toy guitar so Derek didn't cut his fingers. I love that!
Our site was super close to the words on the side of the mountain, and I could not get over how colorful the neighborhood was!
Maria and I showing off our big muscles. I would leave about 1/4 in of each nail exposed as were were putting on the siding, and she would finish them for me.
Joyce kept the place spic and span!
There is a story behind this one. We wound up with a gap in the siding right above the door, so the pastor cut a piece to fill it and I was going to nail it up. He brought it over, said something like, "Now THAT'S how we do it!", and then of course it didn't fit! Joyce has that picture on her camera, but here is the one after the 2nd try, which fit like a glove.
Onesimo spent one morning burning trash and debris and tearing down an old fence.
Ceiling sheetrock--I screwed a lot of sheetrock with Minot! That used to be one of my least favorite construction jobs because I could never get the screws in straight and therefore the heads never sunk all the way, but I was rocking at it last week. Maybe I've just learned the technique over time, maybe it was Pastor's 18V drill, who knows, but I couldn't figure out why it used to be so hard!
"Team Perfection." They started on sheetrock, and every time they made a cut that fit like a glove, Pastor would claim it was "awesomeness," "perfection", or both. They switched to trim once they finished inside.
Group picture (minus one who had to leave early).
The kitty that was around our site all week!
Onesimo serenading us!
Joyce has kind of a weird expression in this one, but I LOVE Onesimo's face immediately after she handed over the keys.
Richard is pretty tall, but look how little Onesimo is in comparison!
More singing, of course, at the house dedication. These things happen when you build for a music teacher.
Group picture with Onesimo and some visitors from Cristo Rey.Until next time, blessings!
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