march 21

I don’t know where to start. This trip has been amazing for the short time we have been here. The weather is amazing. Very hot, a small breeze and a wonderful cloud every once in a while to cool everybody down.  But the weather is just a small detail about the whole trip. The people here are the nicest people you could think of. They take so much care of us and everybody wants to help out. The local kids are taking out tools and just work for the fun of it. It always breaks my heart to tell them that we are supposed to work and not them. On Saturday we handed out bibles and it was an amazing experience. We walked into the village and just gave out one bible. All of the sudden we were surrounded by people who wanted bibles and followed us around the neighborhood to make sure we don’t forget them. Saturday night we had a beach vespers and that was such a beautiful wonderful time. We just relaxed, didn’t have to worry about mortar or bricks or anything else related to work at the school.  We went swimming, did some acro and everybody just had fun with each other. When the sun went down we shared our thoughts about handing out the bibles. On the work site its a lot of fun because we all work as a team and help each other out whenever somebody needs help. When people need block somebody yells out: “BLOCKLINE!” or when the mortar is running low people yell across the whole site: “MORTAR!” and the people who mix then ask if they were calling for mortar or water since they sounds so much alike when yelled out randomly and people are not really paying attention to what people are yelling. The best thing is the freezing cold showers after a long, hot, sweaty, and dirty day. You feel so fresh and reenergized and super clean after and feel like you can take over the world. And let’s not forget the amazing food. Its a lot different than the American food, but it’s very yummy. And the fruit juice is to die for. So fresh and fruity that you cant get enough of it. That’s it for me for right now. This trip is AWESOME! – Cedric

3,21.2011

So far this trip has been a lot of hard work, but at the same time a lot of fun. This is my first time out of the country and I have really enjoyed learning about another culture. Everyone here is so friendly, and the kids are always really glad to see us. The weather is almost perfect. And the food (not to mention the  juice) is really good too! I have been working a lot over at Sendero, where we have been mixing mortar and laying block. The children outside of the school always come and look over the wall to see what we are doing, so we go over and talk with them and give them a beanie baby or stuffed animal. I actually surprised myself with just how much Spanish I was able to speak and understand. Also, when a group of us would go see them, and we didn’t know how to say something, the kids would teach us what the word was and help us pronounce it. Yesterday (Sunday) we had our first VBS after a hard day of work. The kids kept coming in the small church. I started out with three kids, and by the end of the VBS, ten more were added to my group. We all sang, colored, and made a craft. One of the girls, named Katherine, wrote me a note in English saying that I was her new friend. I wrote her one back, in Spanish, saying she was my new friend too. That was one of those really cool moments that makes all the hard work worthwhile. The day before, on Saturday, I was able to experience another one of those awesome moments as we passed out Bibles. We went to one house and a teenage boy answered. We talked with him for a little bit (Mr. Silie was translating for us) and we asked him if he would like a Bible. He gladly accepted it, and went on to tell us that he had always wanted a Bible and was so glad he could finally have one. He then told us how glad he was we were out here on our mission trip sharing God’s Word with others, because he knows that as soon as everyone has received the Message, Jesus will return. Then, after we prayed for him, and before we continued on our way, he asked us to do one more thing for him – tell him what was written on his shirt, because it was in English and he had always wondered what it said. Those two moments were some of the best ones I’ve had so far on this trip, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the week has in store for us. ~ Rachel Mack

Hi everyone! This place is tons of fun and Shannon says tell Steve I said hi. It’s so hot here but for some reason I’m always cold and I fried my ears in the sun. That happened last year too so I guess I didn’t learn my lesson. The trip is halfway over today and it’s very sad. Can’t wait to see my friends again though! –Kate F