You can't go to Asia, but you can lay tile!
Last week I got to work with a group of six from Hanover College. Hanover operates on a trimester system, which is how a college group was able to be here at the end of April in case you were wondering. The group was headed up by one of YLM's 2008 summer volunteers, Jason Taber. They were willing to work on the mission's campus but also wanted to spend some time in Mexico, so Chris and I custom designed an itinerary that would really give them a flavor of all it is that the mission does on both sides of the border.
Monday was spent tearing the roof off of Vicky (the director of the hot meal program) 's house, and prepping it for shingling on Wednesday. We allowed for a day in between because we thought it had to be inspected, although we later learned it really did not because it isn't big enough. Tuesday we headed across the border to Santisima to paint the youth/music room that a group from Lincoln, NE, built a few weeks ago. Pepe picked the colors almost immediately after Chris handed him the stack of paint cards--bright purple with white trim on the outside and baby blue on the inside. Blanca and Josefina cooked lunch for us too--tamales, flautas, chiles rellenos, rice, and homemade tortillas. YUM! We left excited to go back on Thursday to finish what we left half done on Tuesday, do some more painting at another of Pepe's mission sites, and eat gorditas. Wednesday, as planned, we finished shingling the roof before lunch, so while Chris and I got some office-y work done, the group helped get ready for Saturday's weekly food distribution by shucking corn and sorting canned goods in the warehouses.
Instead of going to Mexico on Thursday though (or Friday, when we had planned to tile the bathrooms in the dorm at San Lucas and go to the market), we wound up tiling in the dorms. The decision to stay back came on the heels of a particularly brutal day in Juarez on Wednesday and was primarily precautionary, to see if the killings were going to continue at such a drastic pace (which they haven't). I hated the decision emotionally, but intellectually I understand that as an organization we have to do what is in the best interests of our volunteers, including keeping our word when we say we'll take action when necessary. It was Wednesday night when we joined the group for devotions, and Jason mentioned there was a passage in Acts that described Paul being prevented from entering Asia. I looked in my Bible that night and couldn't find it, but my curiosity regarding Paul's similar situation had been piqued. Thankfully Jason found it for me:
We had to replace a few rotted boards before we could roll out the new tar paper.
We had to do a little more sanding before we could paint the inside of the youth/music room, with Ruby and Joana's help.
Pepe says he has always wanted to paint something this color, and the church is the perfect venue for it since it will make EVERYONE look twice.
Becki, a friend of one of Pastor Heimer's daughters from Salt Lake City, joined up with the group for a few days. She just felt called to serve, and answered the call by spending a week working with both YLM and The Rio, another church in El Paso.
All the furniture from the conference room fit in the hallway. Bunk beds, however, do not, so I think we may go with tile of the peel n' stick variety!
We did the job right--spread the glue, let it dry until it's transparent but still tacky, THEN place the tile.
Since we couldn't go to the market, the market came to us.
Brad and Sharon opted to work in the thrift store on Friday instead of helping with the tile. They did a little shopping while they worked...
The gorgeous new entryway. Now that I think about it, it's even more gorgeous than that now since there is cove base on the walls too.
Monday was spent tearing the roof off of Vicky (the director of the hot meal program) 's house, and prepping it for shingling on Wednesday. We allowed for a day in between because we thought it had to be inspected, although we later learned it really did not because it isn't big enough. Tuesday we headed across the border to Santisima to paint the youth/music room that a group from Lincoln, NE, built a few weeks ago. Pepe picked the colors almost immediately after Chris handed him the stack of paint cards--bright purple with white trim on the outside and baby blue on the inside. Blanca and Josefina cooked lunch for us too--tamales, flautas, chiles rellenos, rice, and homemade tortillas. YUM! We left excited to go back on Thursday to finish what we left half done on Tuesday, do some more painting at another of Pepe's mission sites, and eat gorditas. Wednesday, as planned, we finished shingling the roof before lunch, so while Chris and I got some office-y work done, the group helped get ready for Saturday's weekly food distribution by shucking corn and sorting canned goods in the warehouses.
Instead of going to Mexico on Thursday though (or Friday, when we had planned to tile the bathrooms in the dorm at San Lucas and go to the market), we wound up tiling in the dorms. The decision to stay back came on the heels of a particularly brutal day in Juarez on Wednesday and was primarily precautionary, to see if the killings were going to continue at such a drastic pace (which they haven't). I hated the decision emotionally, but intellectually I understand that as an organization we have to do what is in the best interests of our volunteers, including keeping our word when we say we'll take action when necessary. It was Wednesday night when we joined the group for devotions, and Jason mentioned there was a passage in Acts that described Paul being prevented from entering Asia. I looked in my Bible that night and couldn't find it, but my curiosity regarding Paul's similar situation had been piqued. Thankfully Jason found it for me:
Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the Gospel to them. --Acts 16:6-10There were no visions involved, but apparently God was calling us to bigger and better things--like tile. Seriously. The group worked their tails off and it shows...until 2 in the morning! They were able to knock out the conference room, entryway, and half of the hallway, which we finished with the 2nd of 2 San Pablo congregational servant events on the day the group had to leave. More pictures of the completed hallway to follow, but I'll leave you with these pics of the rest of the week:
We had to replace a few rotted boards before we could roll out the new tar paper.
We had to do a little more sanding before we could paint the inside of the youth/music room, with Ruby and Joana's help.
Pepe says he has always wanted to paint something this color, and the church is the perfect venue for it since it will make EVERYONE look twice.
Becki, a friend of one of Pastor Heimer's daughters from Salt Lake City, joined up with the group for a few days. She just felt called to serve, and answered the call by spending a week working with both YLM and The Rio, another church in El Paso.
"La trae" = tag.
All the furniture from the conference room fit in the hallway. Bunk beds, however, do not, so I think we may go with tile of the peel n' stick variety!
We did the job right--spread the glue, let it dry until it's transparent but still tacky, THEN place the tile.
Since we couldn't go to the market, the market came to us.
Brad and Sharon opted to work in the thrift store on Friday instead of helping with the tile. They did a little shopping while they worked...
The gorgeous new entryway. Now that I think about it, it's even more gorgeous than that now since there is cove base on the walls too.Until next time, blessings!
Comments