Surfing Udder Swift Luff
I am finally getting around to blogging about the group from West Bend! I left the day before they did for the LBT conference (missed out on White Sands and Hello Pizza, the best in the nation and 5th best in the world according to some convention in Vegas), but I worked with them the rest of the time they were here, which was longer than a normal servant event--they loved us so much last year that they wanted to stay for 10 days ;)
Their motto was the title of this blog. Get it? It's like Mad Gab: Serving Others With Love. I asked if luff was really a word since I had never heard of it, and it is a sailing term, which is probably why. Anyways, the group served others with love by, among other things, building a house in Anapra for a young mother (Erica) and her 2 kids (Aaron and Alejandro), who currently live with her parents, brother, and sister, and by tiling approximately 2/3 of the San Lucas sanctuary floor. The group was on the small side--6 people, 3 returners and 3 new--but what I loved most about them was their work ethic. It is motivating to me as a leader when I have the privilege of working with people who still have smiles on their faces when it's hot and they're tired. We had lots of laughs and great conversations for sure, and I am looking forward to them coming back for a third year in 2011. According to the group leader, their church is making a concerted effort to push the needs and opportunities that YLM has, so hopefully their efforts will be fruitful. There is also talk of them helping organize a "Publicize the Mission" tour for Chris and I in September, starting in West Bend of course, so I will keep you updated on the progress of that. For now, sit back and enjoy some of my pictures from the week:
The boys next door being changos (monkeys)...I wanted to go climb with them!
We ate lunch at the church one day and decided to have some fun with the "Jesus de Milo" statue that is fast becoming legendary.
Becky sawing out the doorframe of the interior wall.
Hi Patti!
Not a bad view of Anapra, huh? On the plane on the way to Phoenix the other day as I was traveling to the conference, we flew right over this area!
A view of the worksite as you walk in from the street.
Birdcages! I like the colors of this picture for some reason. They actually a very pretty yard, lots of flowers (some fake but they were "planted" alongside real ones), which is something you don't see very often near our sites in Juarez.
Erica's dad helped us with the roof, among other things.
Oh the possibilities you'd never think of with wood scraps! This is a house if you couldn't tell, and each of the kids that was working on it (there were more than just these 2 at one point) could tell me exactly where their room was.
This was on Erica's parents' front porch, with a church name I didn't recognize underneath it. Fitting, though.
Erica and Alejandro.
Becky playing soccer with a neighbor kid.
We tired Patti out!
Looking on as Erica opens the door to her house for the first time.
Photo shoot!
The West Bend gang.
Paletas (popsicles) are messy when it's hot out!
The group took Chris and I to Cattleman's on Sunday night...Chris, Brian, and Derek all got the cowboy (the trademark 2 lb. steak).
They almost all cleaned their plates.
Mastering the art of VCT cement.
Chris and I formed one "cut team" for piecing along the edges; Derek and Patti made up another.
The entire raised portion of the floor in the center is finished now. We actually tried to do the side aisles, for lack of a better term, with the group from Our Father Lutheran Church in Centennial, CO, that just left this morning, but we determined that tile isn't going to work since the concrete is too uneven. Plan B is concrete paint, and the plan is still to have the whole thing finished by the July 17, the date of Gaby's quinceanera.
Their motto was the title of this blog. Get it? It's like Mad Gab: Serving Others With Love. I asked if luff was really a word since I had never heard of it, and it is a sailing term, which is probably why. Anyways, the group served others with love by, among other things, building a house in Anapra for a young mother (Erica) and her 2 kids (Aaron and Alejandro), who currently live with her parents, brother, and sister, and by tiling approximately 2/3 of the San Lucas sanctuary floor. The group was on the small side--6 people, 3 returners and 3 new--but what I loved most about them was their work ethic. It is motivating to me as a leader when I have the privilege of working with people who still have smiles on their faces when it's hot and they're tired. We had lots of laughs and great conversations for sure, and I am looking forward to them coming back for a third year in 2011. According to the group leader, their church is making a concerted effort to push the needs and opportunities that YLM has, so hopefully their efforts will be fruitful. There is also talk of them helping organize a "Publicize the Mission" tour for Chris and I in September, starting in West Bend of course, so I will keep you updated on the progress of that. For now, sit back and enjoy some of my pictures from the week:
The boys next door being changos (monkeys)...I wanted to go climb with them!
We ate lunch at the church one day and decided to have some fun with the "Jesus de Milo" statue that is fast becoming legendary.
Becky sawing out the doorframe of the interior wall.
Hi Patti!
Not a bad view of Anapra, huh? On the plane on the way to Phoenix the other day as I was traveling to the conference, we flew right over this area!
A view of the worksite as you walk in from the street.
Birdcages! I like the colors of this picture for some reason. They actually a very pretty yard, lots of flowers (some fake but they were "planted" alongside real ones), which is something you don't see very often near our sites in Juarez.
Erica's dad helped us with the roof, among other things.
Oh the possibilities you'd never think of with wood scraps! This is a house if you couldn't tell, and each of the kids that was working on it (there were more than just these 2 at one point) could tell me exactly where their room was.
This was on Erica's parents' front porch, with a church name I didn't recognize underneath it. Fitting, though.
Erica and Alejandro.
Becky playing soccer with a neighbor kid.
We tired Patti out!
Looking on as Erica opens the door to her house for the first time.
Photo shoot!
The West Bend gang.
Paletas (popsicles) are messy when it's hot out!
The group took Chris and I to Cattleman's on Sunday night...Chris, Brian, and Derek all got the cowboy (the trademark 2 lb. steak).
They almost all cleaned their plates.
Mastering the art of VCT cement.
Chris and I formed one "cut team" for piecing along the edges; Derek and Patti made up another.
The entire raised portion of the floor in the center is finished now. We actually tried to do the side aisles, for lack of a better term, with the group from Our Father Lutheran Church in Centennial, CO, that just left this morning, but we determined that tile isn't going to work since the concrete is too uneven. Plan B is concrete paint, and the plan is still to have the whole thing finished by the July 17, the date of Gaby's quinceanera.Two other things:
1) I found my ring! I took off my highschool class ring and bought a new silver and turquoise one at the market last July, but then I thought I lost it back in March. I noticed it wasn't on my finger one day at our construction site and assumed it was lost and gone forever in the sand. Then this past Tuesday at San Lucas (the day we realized that tiling the side aisles was going to be pointless), I was digging in my backpack for my phone (which was on my kitchen table), and it was in there the whole time!
2) Question to ponder (inspired by one of Our Father's devotions): What makes YLM different from other humanitarian organizations, both Christian and secular--e.g. Casas por Cristo, Habitat for Humanity?
Time to get dressed now that it's 1o am ;) I am going to walk to the library since I finished A Thousand Splendid Suns this morning, and pick up some milk because Krysia gave me some Amish Friendship Bread starter and it's day 6--time to add milk, sugar, and flour. I have to bake it next Wednesday. Two airport runs today, but the first isn't until 4:55 pm. Until next time, blessings!
1) I found my ring! I took off my highschool class ring and bought a new silver and turquoise one at the market last July, but then I thought I lost it back in March. I noticed it wasn't on my finger one day at our construction site and assumed it was lost and gone forever in the sand. Then this past Tuesday at San Lucas (the day we realized that tiling the side aisles was going to be pointless), I was digging in my backpack for my phone (which was on my kitchen table), and it was in there the whole time!
2) Question to ponder (inspired by one of Our Father's devotions): What makes YLM different from other humanitarian organizations, both Christian and secular--e.g. Casas por Cristo, Habitat for Humanity?
Time to get dressed now that it's 1o am ;) I am going to walk to the library since I finished A Thousand Splendid Suns this morning, and pick up some milk because Krysia gave me some Amish Friendship Bread starter and it's day 6--time to add milk, sugar, and flour. I have to bake it next Wednesday. Two airport runs today, but the first isn't until 4:55 pm. Until next time, blessings!
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