Shirley did the devotional this morning and she related how we need to be more like warts. Yes, that is correct, warts. Warts are hard to get rid of, have deep roots and transfer rather easily. We all will remember this one!
The bus arrived at the usual time - 8:15 AM. Pastor Ed had indicated that the driver had been experiencing some hard times, so we gave him a food hamper and prayed with him.
When we arrived at the work site the locals were hard at work. They ARE hard workers. They were completing the forms so that we could mix and pour more concrete. We had to haul water from the well further away from the site as the close well appears to be too low. Kathy was specifically assigned to work over there (Just sayin')!
Woman at the well? (OK one cute kid too)
We also had to haul the 20 bags of cement up to the second floor of the building. They weigh about 100 lbs. I personally carried 1200 lbs of it up the ladder. I think we mixed 8.5 batches of concrete (a new SHBC record)! We poured the headers for three rooms (on one side) and on two sides for two of the rooms. Each batch of concrete consists of 5 wheel barrows of sand, 5 wheel barrows of rock and 5 bags of cement. Add 8 buckets of water (5 gallon pails) and a tiny bit of labour (6 people and 15 min of mixing). We are all quite tired after this one. The sun has no mercy on us, although the occasional cloud helps lessen its strength.
Mixing the mixture!
Filling the header forms. The man in the green shirt on
the right side is Noel, our foreman.
Special note: for the first time on this project, Edith Hanna got dirty. We were all amazed! I personally have no idea how she stays so clean. She works right along side us – but her force field keeps the splashes of concrete off of her clothes. I’ll have to ask her how she does it. Someone got pictures, but they did not give them to me yet.
Cathy went to bed early tonight as she spent the day with Margaret! They went to many places picking up materials, visiting people in the hospital (went to pay for Louis’ operation) and other items. She picked up the material for the curtains for Casa Materna and will sew them tomorrow.
Laureen, Kathy and Pastor Ed went on a short trip to pick up some items for the School from the money that was raised. They brought home some speakers, two sewing machines and some miscellaneous items.
Our old friend George was here painting at Pastor Ed’s house so we sat and talked with him for a while. He told us his story about giving up drinking because of a dream that he had about his uncle who had died from alcoholism. He’s been clean for over a year now and is exuberant about how he has Christ. What a great story.
Another incredible dinner of a beef stew, rice and coleslaw. Juan and Owenda are amazing.
Tomorrow we will be a part of the devotional as the start of the school day. We have a drama planned, we will be singing a song (Open the Eyes of My Heart), and I will be praying. After that, we will be distributing the school supplies that were purchased from McLeod school to the various class rooms. Then - back to the work site! There is no time for rest now as we are only a few days away from heading home.
Thank-you yet again for your thoughts and prayers. We can certainly feel them.
Curt
(for the Nic team)
Your blog certainly brings back memories of the two trips I went on down there. The backbreaking work, the endless mixing of concrete, the friendly Bluefieldians...As I was lifting weights and doing my spinning class today (stationary bicycle, not twirling in circles or sewing), I recalled all the effort down there and thought I would be better off building muscles by helping impoverished school children. All the best! Greetings to Pastor Ed and the local team. I recognize a few friendly faces from my past trips. Thanks for doing the blog - I know it takes effort, after so much hard work all day.
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