Friday was the final day of work for the team. We spent this past week working on a number of projects, each a reflection of God´s love. I have been working on constructing a 20´ steel tower that will support a 100 gallon water tank. Because the Refugio is located at the end of the water line it receives intermittent water from the local water supply. Sometimes there is water and sometimes there is not… it’s a bit of crapshoot. To try and resolve this problem we installed a cistern that will store water for use when there is no water from the town. We placed the final touch on our structure by hoisting the 100 gallon plastic watertank to the top of the tower. As we were hauling the tank up to the top, my lovely wife peaked out the door and commented that ¨real men would fill the tank with water first…!¨
As I was once again making another trip down the stairs to the workshop to get some tool or material needed for the project, I commented to Susan Grosser that ¨I feel like all I have been doing this week is walking up and down these stairs.¨ Susan´s reply was ¨Now you know how the servants at the wedding at Cana felt as they were walking back and forth the fill the large vats of water, they did the walking and Jesus did the miracle.¨ It gave me new perspective of my work.
The final day of the soccer clinic ending with great success. The morning session with the girls ended with game between the people from Pavas (people from our team) and the team from Carpio (the girls). It was a heated rivalry, with the Carpio team proving victorious. The afternoon once again brought the rains, but that did not stop the boys from playing their final game. In the pouring rain, with thunder and lightning echoing in the mountains, the final match was played. To celebrate each goal Danny would race across the game field and leap into a very large puddle of water that had formed on the side of the playing field. The boys thought this was tremendous fun and soon joined in the celebration. Danny and Jon were a huge hit with the kids, their soccer clinics provided a wonderful opportunity for our team to overcome the language barrier and to connect with the kids.
As many of you read our blog entries you have no idea how much work goes into each posting. For some people the blog presents a particular challenge. We now have a new nickname for Suzie and Kathy… the ¨Delete Sisters!¨ Under a typical situation, writing the blog takes about 20-30 minutes depending our one´s typing skills. However, when Suzie and Kathy met to take their turn at writing the blog there were several comments like, ¨Should we save it…. nah there is no need¨ followed by ¨oops, were did it go?¨ After several attempts and some help from Dana they did finally manage to get their blog entry posted.
John continues to make headway with the computers. Dana has come along side and provided some help with the project. John tells me that he and Dana have been able to get the computer network back to its original state before the ¨helpful people ¨ came in and cleaned up the computer room. John is going to stay an additional week to spend time with his sister and continue to work on the computer network.
Karen, Suzie, Kathy, Lindsey and Naomi spent a peaceful afternoon with the girls from the Refugio making cards. It was so nice to see the way these girls reacted to the cards. They were very detailed and took great pride in their work, such a different dynamic from the yelling and cheering that was demonstrated earlier in the day when the girls were playing soccer with Danny.
In the spirit of the World Cup, Danny organized our very own soccer tournament. The kids are all very excited and have formed teams that will compete for the coveted ¨Carpi Cup.¨ This should prove to be a great day. We will top off the day with a cookout of hotdogs and mayonnaise. Not a particular favorite of mine, but the kids from Carpio love the combination.
As always, we thank you for your continued prayers.
Duncan