Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Internet Trouble

Just letting everyone know that I have tons of pictures from today, but can't get them posted (I have tried several times) because the wireless here is not cooperating. I'll get them up tomorrow while we wait at the airport or after I get home.

Warning to all of you families - don't be anywhere near a suitcase being opened - it is very stinky inside!

We heard about the earthquake in Central Mexico, but it has not affected us here. :)

Our Last Full Day in Mexico

Our last full day in Mexico has been awesome. We spent the morning cleaning up at Roca Fuerte...

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Hanging out with Danny
















And the best part of all...hanging out with Danny!






























Tuesday in Mexico
















Today, we began to lay concrete on the "lower" roof. And we kept those buckets of sand and stone coming up to the third floor from the first floor (with both a pulley and just lugging them up by hand). Oh, and a new load of 100 lb bags of concrete magically showed up this morning to be carried to the top.

The Roof from yesterday...




Here is the roof all covered in concrete. I'm turning the laptop over to Roger now so that he can put it in perspective for you: 5 and a half yards of concrete yesterday, mixed in a mixer, dumped on the "floor/roof", shoveled into buckets and lifted up to another roof. All in about 6 hours. For comparison, those big trucks we see hold 10 yards, or, we mixed and carried and set enough concrete to cover the sanctuary floor of the Marshallton United Methodist Church to a depth of 3 inches. Imagine mixing the concrete in the basement and then lifting it up the elevator shaft, minus the elevator. A bucket of concrete (okay, a 1/3 bucket) weighs about 25 pounds (mas o menos). It is messy, dirty, hard work and the youth (and the adults) all pitched in, switching jobs, doing the hardest work in all the trades. We did it though, and the pictures below show the finished project.

Monday, June 28, 2010

A (the) Team

What follows is our team in words. You'll notice 20 lines, each line representing a team member. Please, do not spend too much time figuring out who is who, and don't ask 'cause the 'key' is gone. Many of the descriptions could fit anyone of us, or, all of us. The last line is out link to MUMC, God, who has blessed us in so many ways over the last 6 days and will continue to bless us.
A Team
Quietly persevering,
Steady and true;
Wildly engaging,
Devoted and new;
Fresh, yet accepting,
Sharing the thrill;
Depth not surprising,
Finding the will.
Working to please,
All heart and bright smiles;
Changing with ease,
Collected, in colorful style.
Much more than one sees,
Honestly reaching;
Worldly by degrees,
Chortling and teaching.
Pensive and true,
From out of the blue,
Always answers the call,
Embracing us All.
I will leave you today with just one of the amazing ideas presented yesterday when we heard the Gospel in Spanish:
"Cuando Dios Invite, Dios Paga." Please excuse the spelling if I made a mistake, I think even those who have never heard Spanish can get that one:
"When God Invites, God pays."
I know I have been paid, more times that I can count over the last week.
(Roger)

















This team is amazing!










Laying Concrete...











"Laying concrete is hard work. I don't care how you do it. Laying concrete is hard work." heard today from Roger Greer
We are definitely a tired team tonight! But we got the roof covered in concrete, so we are also very proud. Distributing lots of ibuprofen tonight! Everyone is taking a well-deserved rest before we go to dinner tonight. Thank you everyone for your posts. I read them to the team daily at our devotional time.










Monday in Mexico