West Houston Maranatha Blog

Final day of work

2011-03-19T09:39:00.003-05:00

We completed our work on the job site, dental/medical and VBS on Friday. We completed all three of the metal school buildings and got the frame up for the fourth. We completed the bathrooms and did some other concrete work.

We completed the work around two and then took pictures with the kids and the Maranatha crew on the jobsite. Some of our group took donations and bought some clothes and shoes for the kids hanging around with us all week. They we so happy because for them it was like christmas and birthday wrapped into one!

Our dental / medical team had a good final day with over 50 patients treated. The dental chair didn't make it though--it will remain here. Not even duct tape could save it.

Our vbs team had over 300 children for their last day! It was an amazing finish. We had four of our volunteers decide to help out with that ministry on Friday and they were definitely needed.

When we returned and had dinner, the principal from the school came and thanked us and presented each of us with a gift of a Honduran flag. It was very special and they stayed to have dinner.

We had a great worship again and completed the week.

Ray and Ely Don were late to the bus this morning, so they had to reenact a skit from the bible. We choose Balaam and his Donkey. Ray got to be the donkey.

We are conducting the church service tomorrow. Our vbs group taught the entire team two songs for us to present, hand motions and all. A great way to end the day!
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Dedication day

2011-03-17T22:19:00.000-05:00

We finished the back wall and completed all the block on the school today that we are scheduled to complete! The team did a great job. We will help with a few other items tomorrow and clean up early.

We completed the music room today and had a dedication of the room. We are dedicating it to Rachael's mother and had a nice service.

The vbs group had a great day as well and had over 200 kids. The medical team had an interesting day. Dr dewar has been sick and had to take some time today to feel better. They still saw 70 patients. However during the next to the next to last patient, the dental chair broke! Doc had to finish the surgery on his knees! They taped the chair up and had the last surgery. We will send some duct tape tomorrow to fix it.

Claudell is leading us out in a game of Mafia again tonight.
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Dwindling numbers

2011-03-16T21:28:00.000-05:00

We have had a number of folks get sick this week. Today we had two more get sick from the heat in addition to the three at the start of the day. However they are all better and should all be back tomorrow.

Our vbs crew had over 200 children and had a great day. Our medical team is dealing with some sicknesses of their own but had another good day and saw over 70 patients.

The construction crew completed all of the interior walls and one of the school buildings. We are almost done with another building and have the roof on the third. We got 6 courses on the back and are on target to finish by Friday.

We are having a traditional Honduran dance group at the hotel for a little cultural experience tonight.

We had an interesting experience today. The government has decided to privatize the schools and have the cities pay the teachers. All of the mayors were meeting in our hotel today and the teachers decided to strike here! Some of our team had to walk back mid day because the roads were blocked! We had a lot of military around as well. No issues, but interesting nonetheless!
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Tuesday's report

2011-03-15T21:43:00.000-05:00

We had a great day today. We finished the front wall and got four courses on the back. The second interior wall has 12 courses and they might finish tomorrow.

We have one of the one day schools completed and the other one will be done tomorrow. We are making good progress on the third.

Our dental and medical team had another good day and saw 60 patients. They are getting more organized as the week goes on.

Our vbs team had 180 kids today! They are still getting their volunteers organized, but are doing well.

We have been having great worships this year in the evening. We have all been very blessed each night.
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Day 3 and a miracle machine

2011-03-14T21:31:00.000-05:00

We had a good day for all three teams. We got seven courses on the front wall--leaving us three courses short of finishing. We have to get that done in about an hour to finish the entire building. We made good progress on the interior walls and are close to completing one building. We should complete two of them tomorrow and get all three done this week.

The dental and medical group had a great day. They got a generator which made their work MUCH easier. They did 6 teeth cleanings today and 6 surgeries. They saw 60 patients today and really had good help from the translators. One of the other groups here at the same time had some people helping out which was a blessing.

Our Childrens Ministry team began their program. They had 18 volunteers which was the most we have had and they are mostly youth. They got there and only had 4 participants! So the volunteers went out and rounded up 150 kids and they had a great program!

One of our team members taught a program in the school regarding drug abuse. He had great response and will be speaking all week.

Claudell is leading us in a game of Mafia tonight which is always amusing!
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Day two and a close call

2011-03-13T21:20:00.000-05:00

We had a very action packed day at the job site. We got another five courses on the gable end and almost completed one of the interior walls. The metal school buildings are taking shape. We have the roof and half the sheeting on one and have the trusses and walls done on the other two.

David Spencer gave us a thrill today. He was stepping down a wooden ladder and the third step gave way. Luckily his brother Dale was there and caught him in midair. Only a couple of scrapes so he was very lucky. Now we are going to throw everything at Dale because he has proven he can catch everything!

The medical/dental team had their first day as well. They have some challenges with the amperage and the equipment doesn't work very well. We are hoping to get a generator for tomorrow.

The VBS team spent the day organizing and working with their volunteers. They start tomorrow.

We are having a good evening playing uno.
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And a child shall lead them.......

2011-03-13T19:36:00.000-05:00

We had a great Sabbath day. We went to the Los Colinas church where the medical and VBS are conducting their work during the week. It is the week of prayer for the youth so the children conducted the entire service. A nine year old girl preached the sermon and did a fantastic job! We were calling her the femaile J-Fiah.

After lunch, the majority of the group went to the beach for an excursion. The rest of us stayed back, took a walk and relaxed.

We had a very nice worship and then played our traditional mission trip game, Uno. A lot of the newcomers had a baptism by fire and lost big!
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Day one in the books

2011-03-11T17:55:00.001-06:00

We just returned from the jobsite and had a successful day. It was very hot but there was a nice breeze all day.

We had a slow start which is expected for the first day at a new site and with a lot of first time missionaries. Once the teams got rolling, they made great progress in the afternoon.

We were just short of completing four courses on the end wall. We completed seven courses on the classroom wall. The one day school team got the latest start because we were waiting on the Maranatha crew to complete some items with the other group. They got half done with the framing.

We had a special treat today with a performance by the schools band! They came by in the afternoon and performed two songs for us. It was very much appreciated and the principal expressed her thanks for what the group was doing at the school.

The medical and vbs team spent the day organizing and shopping for supplies.

I have include some pictures from my phone.
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Safely in Honduras--for the most part

2011-03-10T14:35:00.001-06:00

Well, we have made it in and are on the bus now. We had a good flight in.

However, one of our team members, Danielle Hinds had an issue with her passport and had to remain in Houston. She has gotten her passport fixed and will fly in tomorrow. Her husband will wait for her in Honduras

We also had three bags left behind because the plane was too full. Those bags will arrive tomorrow as well. So, it may have been providential that she had an issue so that they could stay to get the bags!

Everyone else made it and we are on our four hour ride to the hotel. We have food, water and an air conditioned bus! Everyone will be wishing for the AC once we hit the jobsite tomorrow.
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Honduras Mission Trip Information

2011-03-08T08:57:00.000-06:00

It is hard to believe it, but we are about to leave on our annual mission trip this week. This year, we are traveling to Choluteca, Honduras to help build a school complex. The school campus will center around one large 80’ x 144’ school building with offices, ten classrooms and a gymnasium. In additional to the central building, the school will have 30 other free-standing classrooms. We are the last of six volunteer groups that will participate in building the campus.

Our group consists of 47 volunteers. Each person had to pay their own way or receive donors to sponsor their trip. We have a core group from Houston, with additional friends and family from Pennsylvania, Atlanta, Tennessee, North Carolina, Denver and Washington.

When putting together our final trip information, I did some research on the composition of our group. I had always known that once people go on a trip, that the majority of them are hooked and go on future trips. This year’s statistics bear that out. Of our 47 missionaries this year, 30 of them are repeat volunteers with 17 attending their first trip. The breakdown is as follows:

First trip – 17 volunteers
Second trip – 4 volunteers
Third trip – 8 volunteers
Fourth trip – 4 volunteers
Fifth trip – 5 volunteers
Sixth trip - 1 volunteer
Seventh trip – 4 volunteers
Eighth trip – 2 volunteers
Ninth trip – 1 volunteer
Eleventh trip - 1 volunteer

Our group leaves on March 10 and will return to the US on March 21st. God willing, we will complete the block construction on the school and complete three or four of the stand alone school buildings during our stay there.

We will do our best to post on a daily basis. Feel free to leave comments for any group members you wish to communicate with and we will do our best to get the message to them. Please keep the group in your prayers as well.

Our team is listed below.

Barbara Battistone
Bobby Battistone
Joshua Bourgeois
Ron Dethlefs
Ed Dewar
Billy Gager
Nathalia Gager
Nicole George
Esther Gottfried
Eric Griffin
Mayra Griffin
Ryan Hambley
Greg Hatch
Rachael Hatch
Linval Henry
Jean Henry
Sara Hernandez
Andrew Hinds
Danielle Hinds
Richard Kay
Robert Mathador
Geneva McCallum
Ezequiel Perez
Robin Pimentel
Samantha Pimentel
Stephen Pimentel
Twyla Luke
Walter Grant
Gricelda Ramia
Eliel Reeves
Maurice Reid
Lovely Samson-Lagazo
Michael Lagazo
Ely Don Lagazo
Renata Santos
Renee Gonzalez
Ernie Schirra Jr.
Neale Shields
Thelma Slater
Danae Spencer
David Spencer Jr.
Dale Spencer
Jacqueline Tavares
Claudell Wilson
Gino Wolff
Ray Wolff Jr.
Roxie Wolff

Potential excursion visits and transportation

2010-07-25T18:38:00.001-05:00

We met with two bus / van owners and finalized prices this morning. We then spent the rest of the day looking at potential excursions. A few options but nothing definite yet.

This has been a great trip and well worth the quick trip!
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Re: Awesome Sabbath and great info

2010-07-24T22:51:00.001-05:00

Sounds good so far. Hopefully you find good excursions as well. How's
the shopping prospect.

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On Jul 24, 2010, at 11:46 PM, greghatch@sbcglobal.net wrote:

> I made it to Choluteca at about 4 pm. I met up with Manuel and a
> pastor from Tegucigalpa that was helping Manuel. we met at a hotel
> and I checked in.
>
> We then went to the school site and walked around. They have 9 acres
> of land and it should be a beautiful school. They have 700 students
> currently jammed into a small building.
>
> We then went and visited with the Pastor for the district, Juan
> Colindres. He was excited about the possibility of VBS and medical
> and will help coordinate all of that.
>
> After sundown, we met with the manager of the hotel and agreed to a
> contract! Manuel visited all the hotels on Friday and this was the
> best one based on what he showed me. Everyone will be happy with the
> hotel and the price. Pool, AC and good food. God really led in that
> situation and we have a great deal!
>
> Tomorrow we will finalize transportation and Excursions, God willing.
>
> I will post pictures when I get back.
>
> I am excited about the trip already!
>
>
> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Awesome Sabbath and great info

2010-07-24T22:46:00.000-05:00

I made it to Choluteca at about 4 pm. I met up with Manuel and a pastor from Tegucigalpa that was helping Manuel. we met at a hotel and I checked in.

We then went to the school site and walked around. They have 9 acres of land and it should be a beautiful school. They have 700 students currently jammed into a small building.

We then went and visited with the Pastor for the district, Juan Colindres. He was excited about the possibility of VBS and medical and will help coordinate all of that.

After sundown, we met with the manager of the hotel and agreed to a contract! Manuel visited all the hotels on Friday and this was the best one based on what he showed me. Everyone will be happy with the hotel and the price. Pool, AC and good food. God really led in that situation and we have a great deal!

Tomorrow we will finalize transportation and Excursions, God willing.

I will post pictures when I get back.

I am excited about the trip already!

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On the way to Choluteca

2010-07-24T14:16:00.000-05:00

This trip will be an adventure. The trip to Tegucigalpa was no problem. Customs was a breeze.

Anwar picked me up. He speaks a little english and I speak a lttle spanish. We went to the bus terminal, but they weren't running any direct buses to Choluteca. So, we went to the other bus company that wasn't direct and would take 4 hours. Not a problem and I got on the bus.

I hadn't paid yet and Anwar comes on the bus 5 minutes later and tells me to get off. He talked with his boss at the Mission office and they didn't want me to take that bus. So, anwar and I are driving to Choluteca.

We stopped to eat at Pizza Hut of all places! His suggestion, not mine.

He is a very nice guy and is an accountant in the Mission office.

Greg Hatch
Managing Director
Alvarez and Marsal Business Consulting
700 Louisiana Street Suite 900
Houston, TX 77002
Mobile 832.492.4023

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Final night!

2010-03-21T21:45:00.000-05:00

We finally made it to our hotel in Villahermosa after a detour from our uninformed driver. It took about 30 minutes longer than it should.

We ate dinner and had worship. Afterwards, we had our final meeting and discussed the early morning tomorrow.

Since Eliel and Antigoni were late, they had to do the chicken dance! Antigoni had to teach Eliel and it was entertaining!

We are having our final Uno game as is our tradition. We pray for a safe flight tomorrow and return home.
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A rainy start in Palenque

2010-03-21T17:03:00.000-05:00

We were greeted with rain this morning when we woke up. The Weather Channel is NOT accurate for Mexico (and neither is Accuweather)! It said there was only a 30 percent chance of rain starting at 10 am.

Regardless, we got a good early start to the day with our tour guides. We walked through Palenque in the rain (my favorite thing!). Everyone enjoyed it, in spite of the rain. One of our groups met a VERY interesting character on the tour. She was a little crazy and had been living there for two months. She had too many mushrooms one day and was walking around naked. Eliel got a picture with his new friend we will post when we get back!

After we got done with the museum and the gift shop, we are headed to Agua Azul and we hope for no rain!
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Maranatha Idol continued

2010-03-21T16:49:00.000-05:00

Since we had a few team members lat Friday morning, we had a great performance of YMCA by Bobby, Antigoni, David and Ashley. We will post video when we get back. Well worth watching!
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Agua Azul

2010-03-21T16:48:00.002-05:00

The group had a great time in Agua Azul. We made great time getting there. You can see the pictures of the waterfalls--there are seven of them.

Cesar and Cole got in the water. You can see the picture I took of Cole jumping off of a rope into the water. If it was warmer, we would have had a lot more join them.

Everyone got a good chance for shopping and food. We are now headed back to villahermosa for the evening.
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Fair at Palenque

2010-03-20T23:20:00.000-05:00

They were having a fair and festival in Palenque with some dancers. A couple of our group joined in!
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Flav's new glasses

2010-03-20T23:18:00.001-05:00

With his glasses and hard hat, claudell looks like Flava Flav. He found some new glasses tonight!
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Nacho Carne

2010-03-20T22:52:00.000-05:00

No words necessary.......

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On the road to Palenque

2010-03-20T16:15:00.000-05:00

After a long week (or two for some of us) of work, we are on the way to Palenque for our excursion. We are looking forward to warm showers at last!

As you can see, we have a few tired members enjoying a comfortable bus!
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Church service in Ixhuatan

2010-03-20T15:59:00.000-05:00

We are leaving the church in Ixhuatan after a very nice church service. We had a Sabbath School led by Neale and Pastor Billy had the worship message.

Cesar translated for us again and has gone above and beyond the call of duty with that this week.

The members gave each of us a keychain and a toy as a token of their gratitude. It is very touching because it is an expense they didn't have to go to and that they don't have to give. We will try to take up an offering for chairs to send to them.

As always, a very touching goodbye with lots of pictures and smiles!

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Romeo and Juliet

2010-03-20T15:58:00.000-05:00

We are imposing penalties for those who are late to the bus. Eric and Mayra were late today so they had to renact Romeo and Juliet for us! Well done
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Ray on the way to work

2010-03-20T15:36:00.002-05:00

No other description necessary.....

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Hello and goodbye

2010-03-20T15:36:00.000-05:00

We said goodbye to the first week team. After they dropped the six of us staying for both weeks at the campground, they headed to Palenque for their excursion.

The second week team arrived on Friday night--except for Cole and Charlene. They arrived late Saturday night. So, we have our full team and our headed to the job site.

We did our typical introductions and orientation last night. This group is a little different than most in that all but one are from Houston. So, wee have less getting to know you than usual.

The campgrounds are beautiful. We have a river running through it and we hear the water all night. We will not have many comforts this week (no mirrors, hot water, etc), but we all have the right attitude to start out!
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2010-03-18T22:25:00.000-05:00

We got done with the church today! We got all the block done and the roof on. We will put the ridge cap, steeple and sign on tomorrow and get the church ready for Sabbath tomorrow. Awesome job by the entire team!
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2010-03-17T21:18:00.000-05:00

(Post for Wednesday, March 17, 2010)

A very muddy day. It rained all day, but we got done with quite a bit. We got done with all the side walls, tore the scaffolds down and set up for the end walls. We got all done with 15 on the front and almost in the back.

As long as it doesn't rain tomorrow, we should be able to get done with all the block and maybe all the roof. Very pleased with what we got done especially considering the rain.
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2010-03-17T14:57:00.001-05:00

(For Tuesday, March 16, 2010)

Got done with 11 courses minus one block and got half poured. Team is working well and everyone has been on-time--no embarrassing skits (which people have to do when they are late to the bus)--unfortunately.

(For Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - Morning)

Last night--played Mafia and had fun. However, it rained ALL night and is drizzling now. We pray that it slows to a light drizzle so we can work. There was a waterfall crossing the road this morning that we had to drive through! The bus also got stuck as it let us out so we pray it gets unstuck.

Update on the above status.......It rained lightly all morning, but we were able to work. It is slower with the weather, but we are thankful to be able to push through it.

2010-03-15T21:47:00.001-05:00

(Post for Monday, March 15, 2010)

Another successful day! We got the sixth course completed along with the re-bar and cement/grout pouring and part way through the seventh course. (Rachael's note: Sorry there isn't more information. He only had a couple minutes of cellular signal to give me an update.)

2010-03-15T21:43:00.001-05:00

(Post for Sunday, March 14, 2010)

We had a good first day. We got the steel structure up by 1 pm -- minus 3 pieces that were missing that we will install tomorrow. We also got all of the first course and about 30% of the second course completed.

It was a good day considering we have a lot of first-timers on the crew. It was fairly hot today, so we have a few folks suffering from sunburn and one with an upset stomach. Hopefully a nice cold shower will solve that!

2010-03-15T21:39:00.001-05:00

(For March 15th via Rachael - Greg cannot send nor receive email this week)

We said goodbye to the first week team. after they dropped the six of us staying for both weeks at the campground, they headed to Palenque for their excursion. (Rachael's note: The first weeks team made it safely back to the States today - thanks for all your prayers!)

The second week team arrived on Friday night--except for Cole and Charlene. They arrived late Saturday night. So, we have our full team and are headed to the job site.

We did our typical introductions and orientation last night. This group is a little different than most in that all but one are from Houston. So, we have less getting to know you than usual.

The campgrounds are beautiful. We have a river running through it and we hear the water all night. We will not have many comforts this week (no mirrors, hot water, etc.), but we all have the right attitude to start out!

Wonderful church service!

2010-03-13T14:18:00.001-06:00

We are on our way back from the first church service in the new church in Liquidambar!

As you can see from the picture, it was filled to capacity! When we got there, we found out we were responsible for worship! So, Tito put a GREAT sermon together in 30 minutes, Doris and Tanika led song service, Renee and the VBS team led the children in the VBS songs and Gino had scripture.

After Tito's sermon, we presented Ramiro (the Elder) and Maggie a team shirt for their help during the week. We always have a couple of extra shirts for some of the church members that help out. Ramiro then thanked us for what we did. It was very touching.

The Sabbath where we dedicate the church is always moving and a very tearful goodbye. We are sad to go, but will keep them in our hearts always.

We head back to the University for our final meal there and then head to the excursion (or the second week of work for 6 of us). We pray that Bobby, Glenn and Thelma are feeling better. They were not able to make it today because they are a little under the weather.
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A rainy day in Buena Vista Coracol

2010-03-12T18:36:00.001-06:00

We had a great, but wet day in Buena Vista Coracol. 10 of us went there first thing to build the one day church. We got the fram up in 3 hours and started on the roof at about 1 pm.

It was a beautiful day in the morning, but during lunch, a fog rolled in quick and the rain came shortly thereafter--a cold rain! We worked (slowly) through the rain and got one half of the roofing done. That took much longer than it normally would. Because of the rain, we couldn't walk on the roof. One of the Maranatha guys had to tie himself to a rope and crawl on the roof! It took over two hours just for that side.

The maranatha guys correctly said we shouldn't start the other side if we couldn't finish because it wouldn't hold without being complete. So, we helped clean up and left without it being finished. We are dissapointed, but know there is a reason for the rain!

The rest of the group stayed in Liquidambar and did a few other things like putting the roofcap, sign and steeple on. They also cleaned the church and put up pews for church tomorrow.

One of the deacons had wanted to play basketball with us since we visited with them in June. So, we had four of our team play against them today after they got done! It was a lot of fun, even though we beat them two games to none.

Our medical and dental had a very busy day as well, even though they had to wrap up early to pack up their equipment.

VBS had about 70 kids today as well. School wasn't in full session today either.

We are headed back to shower and have dinner--our last dinner and worship at the university.
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Fantastic program by the university last night

2010-03-12T17:46:00.001-06:00

We are staying at a University. They have been so helpful to us. They wanted to thank us for our service by putting on a musical program for us last night!

They have some very talented students and faculty. We really enjoyed the show and thanked them for our time here.

We will be sad to leave here tomorrow, but will be happy with the work we have done.

We have another person sick today. Only having two people sick during the week is pretty good (except for those who are sick of course!)
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A rainy day in Buena Vista Coracol

2010-03-12T17:46:00.000-06:00

Completed church!

2010-03-11T18:42:00.000-06:00

We finished the block and the roof today! It was really windy when we got here and we were worried that we couldn't get the roof on, but it died down.

We are happy to be done and only have a few things to do there tomorrow. A group of us will go to Buena Vista Coracol to build the One Day Church there tomorrow.
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A blustery 4th day

2010-03-10T19:05:00.001-06:00

We had a good, but windy day. The wind was blowing over 20 miles an hour when we arrived. The tarps had all blown down by the time we got there!

We got the sides done and grouted, scaffolds down and raised on the ends and part of the ends done. Not quite as far as we wanted. We had some challenges with the last course that were not expected.

Our plan is to complete the block and the roof tomorrow. If we do we will be back on schedule.

As you can see from the picture of Rachael and Ernie holding a mud board on their heads, the team still has enough energy to have fun!

The Maranatha foreman, Margarito, came by today. He wanted to coordinate for the second church we are building on Friday. We have it all worked out and are looking forward to it!

The VBS team had the same number of kids today. They cancelled school tomorrow so they aren't sure how many they will have attending.

Medical saw about 55 patients today and dental also had a good day.
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Day 3 report

2010-03-10T19:05:00.000-06:00

We are on our way back from our third day. VBS had another good day with over 90 kids. They are having some parents pull their kids out because they don't want them learning about Christ. However, the kids are sneaking back in to learn more!

Medical and dental had a strong day. They saw 10 dental patients and 80 medical. No issues today.

We had a bit of a slow day today on construction. We got all done with 10 and got our window headers poured. We got about half of the 11th course done as well. We should get done with the side walls tomorrow and a lot of the end walls. We should still be able to finish as planned. We are suffering from the long commute! We have 3 hours of our day taken up with traveling. If we had one and a half of those back, I think we would be on schedule. Oh well--God has a plan and knows why we are where we are. Staying at the university has been good in a lot of respects, but the drive is tough.

Our team is still energized and anxious to get done. We had a few folks that were suffering from the heat that had to rest. All in all, no major health issues so far.
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Mell at lunchtime

2010-03-10T12:22:00.000-06:00

When we eat lunch, we look for shade and a place to sit anywhere we can. Mell found an empty wheelbarrow to sit in today.
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Start of day 4

2010-03-10T07:14:00.000-06:00

We had our first power outage this morning at about 5:45. People had to get ready in the dark and ate breakfast a little late. So, we are getting a late start.

We were warned that the power goes out from time to time so this is good that it has only happened once.
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Bobby loves chicken

2010-03-08T18:17:00.000-06:00

Bobby and Ernie are our resident meatitarians. Bobby found a chicken wandering through the jobsite. Here is a picture of what he was about to do to it!

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Day two report

2010-03-08T18:09:00.000-06:00

We had a good second day at the jobsite and a first day of VBS and medical.

We got all done with the 6th course and about half of the 7th. We also extended all of our rebar and set up our scaffold. I am happy with the teams progress. The maranatha crew is helping lay block as well! It was a hot day so hopefully everyone kept hydrated and enough sunblock on.

The VBS team had their first session today. They had over 100 kids today. In spite of some logistical challenges and computer crashes, they did a great job and the kids had a great time.

Medical and dental had their first day. They saw about 50 patients and Ed did major dental work on 7 patients. They also had the health department there to give immunizations.
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Day two report

2010-03-08T17:28:00.000-06:00

We had a good second day at the jobsite and a first day of VBS and medical.

The VBS team had their first session today. They had over 100 kids today. In spite of some logistical challenges and computer crashes, they did a great job and the kids had a great time.

On our way to the jobsite

2010-03-07T18:00:00.000-06:00

We are making our way to Liquidambar for our first work day. We had a great afternoon and evening at the university.

After we ate dinner, we had our worship and each team went over their plans for today. Afterwards, the stuydents were playing basketball and asked if we could play with them. We had a few teams, but one was undefeated. Gino, Claudell, Tito, Cornell and one of the teachers didn't lose all night. We may play them again during the week, depending on tired everyone is.
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Awesome first day of work!

2010-03-07T17:11:00.000-06:00

We had a great first day of work! We got the steel up by around 2 and then got ready to lay block. We had enough time to get all of the first course and half of the second. We weren't planninf on any block, so that was a bonus!

The crew did great, even with the waiting during the steel construction. So accidents except for Bobby hitting a little girl in the head with a shovel (by accident, of course).

We have a good Maranatha crew as well. Chiel and Alfredo said we did way better than Melvins team!

We are now making the long trip back for dinner, worship and games.
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Wonderful church service

2010-03-06T13:48:00.000-06:00

By the grace of God, we made it to Liquidambar without further incident. The church members and pastor were still waiting for us even though we were 1.5 hours late!

We had a great service with the church. They will be a great group to work with.

We were able to see where the medical group and VBS is going to work at. As it turns out, the Maranatha crew are the same ones that worked with my dad's church a few weeks ago! I told them to not hold that against us!

We are headed back to the university now to eat.
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Sabbath School part two!

2010-03-06T11:15:00.000-06:00

Well, bus number 2 had problems as well. 10 minutes into our drive, we blew a tire!

So, while they changed the tire, we continued with Sabbath School. The tire was changed (albeit to a tire with less tread than the one that blew......) And we are on our way.

We pray that God will be with us for the remainder of the trip.
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First night at the university

2010-03-06T10:41:00.000-06:00

We made it to the university after a LONG drive! We had a ninja-style bus driver that was awesome. He had to contend with cows, fog and tight turning radius.

We got to the university without problems at around 2:45 in the morning. A VERY tired group had to lug the suitcases up the stairs in the pictures.

The rooms are nice and all together in one hall. We will head off for a few hours sleep before an 8 AM breakfast call.
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On our way to Church

2010-03-06T10:34:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful breakfast this morning in the cafeteria. The weather is great and the sun is shining.

We are on our way to the Church in Liquidambar where we will be working this week. We are traveling in a yellow school bus that we hope makes it all the way up the mountain!

I will have VERY limited ability to send blog posts as we have no phone service at the university and I don't think we have any on the job site. I hope I will find a patch of signal on the road to and from the job site.
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Sabbath School on the side of the road

2010-03-06T10:21:00.000-06:00

Well, about 20 minutes into the drive to Liquidambar, the bus overheated. Apparently the fan stopped working and the radiator dumped.

The University folks went back into town to get another bus. While we were waiting, we had son service and Rachael led us out in Sabbath School. The weather was great and it was very nice outside.

We are now on our second bus of the day and on our way (we trust) to church!

God is with us and has a reason for this!

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Safe in Villahermosa

2010-03-05T22:26:00.001-06:00

We have arrived safely in Villahermosa! All 34 of us (and our luggage) made it. Robert Mathador had a bit of an adventure getting to Houston from Atlanta, but made it!

We are now on our way to the University and have a 3 hour drive ahead of us. We will be a tired group in the morning, but praise God we are here with no issues and no problems at customs except for Bobby's beef jerky getting taken from him!
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Preparing for Mexico

2010-02-02T11:40:00.004-06:00

Our team of 50 volunteers is busily preparing for our two week mission trip to Chiapas, Mexico. We are going to build three churches during our trip.

Our first week (March 5-15) will be in Liquidambar. It is a small town in the mountains near Tapilula. We are going to build a church in Liquidambar, conduct a medical and dental mission and hold a Vacation Bible School for the children in the area. We will be staying at a University about an hour away during that week.
On Friday of the first week, we will also be constructing a One Day Church in Buena Vista Coracol. This small community of 18 families was relocated by the government a few months ago and they only have a small facility to worship in.

The second week (March 12-22) will be in Ixhuatan. We will be building a church in that community. The goverment is relocating a 1000 people there from the mountains and they are in desparate need of a new church. We will be staying at a camp during that week.

Please pray for our group as they go about their work. Challenges are sure to arise.

Assuming we have adequate phone signal, I will do my best to post daily messages regarding our progress. Please feel free to comment if you wish to get a message to one of our volunteers.

Week one Volunteers

Brendon Blake
Tito Charneco
Chelsea Cole
Heather Dantier
Ed Dewar
Elizabeth Eudoxie
Rachael Hatch
Tanya Henry
Andrew Hinds
Danielle Wolff-Hinds
Andrea James
Robert Joseph
Rachel Wolff-Joseph
Kim Kegler
Victor Martinez
Robert Mathador
Geneva McCallum
Mell Ombiga
Glenn Pringle
Doris Ray
Devan Ray
Ernie Schirra
Renee Gonzalez
Thelma Slater
Tanika Vital
Crystal Wilson
Roxie Wolff
Gino Wolff

Week Two volunteers:

Sam Bender
Dale Bender
Ashley Cleveland
Billy Gager
Eric Griffin
Mayra Griffin
Cole Griffin
Charlene Griffin
Austin Hanson
Steve Hanson
Meron Henry
Cesar Santos
Neale Shields
Danae Spencer
David Spencer
Antigoni Varahidis

Volunteers going for both weeks:

Bobby Battistone
Greg Hatch
Eliel Reeves
Jaclyn Sorbet
Claudell Wilson
Raymond Wolff

Thanks!

Final Mozambique Thoughts

2009-04-15T13:00:00.002-05:00

I have had a lot of people ask me about the Mozambique trip. One of the questions they always ask is "was it a good trip" and "did you get done what you wanted to". I had to think about how to answer that.

The short answer is "yes" and "no". Let me explain.

It was a VERY good trip. We had a great team and wonderful help from the Woods family and Tim. Our team was a mix of "veterans" of previous trips with a good number of new recruits. They were all tested by the conditions (tents, open-air toilets, limited showers, rainy and humid nights), but were able to bond as a group. One of the takaways from this year is to focus MORE on the team building so that we all get more of a chance to know each other. This year gave everyone a glimpse of what conditions most missionary and volunteer groups work under. I think we will all have a greater appreciation for the mission trips where we are staying in hotels.

The Woods family and Tim are long-term volunteers that are spending years in Mozambique and dedicating parts of their lives to the cause. I can't say enough how much respect I have for them and that they put God's mission first in their lives. A lot of us say that, but they are truly showing it and I really admire that. They were such a help and an inspiration.

As far as getting done what "I" wanted us to, well, that is another story. The problem with the question (and my attitude going in) is the I part of it. I certainly did have expectations that we would complete our half of the school. I felt that we had an experienced group and a large enough group that we would be able to finish. Things happen. God has other plans and when I don't turn things over to him, I inevitably get frustrated when they don't go "my" way. We didn't complete the school, but at the end of the day, that is OK. We know that Maranatha will complete it and we got done what we could, with God's help. This year was a lesson to me in turning things over to God right away and in humility. I was EXTREMELY frustrated with the situation and in my leadership abilities because we weren't making the progress that was necessary to complete. Once I realized that things were out of my hands and that there was nothing I could do, I turned it over and had a much more relaxed week.

I found out after the trip was over the reason why our block was in such bad shape. Maranatha had purchased our block WELL in advance of our arrival. They had inspected the block and they were great, uniform, well made block. When the crew went to go get the block about a week before we arrived, the company had sold the block to someone who paid more money! So, they had to scramble to find the best they could. That is what happens sometime and we have to roll with it. Maybe that other building needed it more than we did---who knows.

I wouldn't change the experience for the world. It gave all of us a lot of valuable experience and I will take some things away to help plan and execute further trips.

Thanks again to all the participants on the trip - you were all troopers and did great work. Also thanks to all of those that were praying for the trip. Thanks to my wife Rachael for all of her encouragement and for posting the blog entries when my phone wasn't working! Thanks to Tito Charneco for all of your encouragement and help with the sermon. And the biggest thanks to God for giving us all the gifts that we use every day and for guidance on the trip.

We are starting planning for 2010 in Mexico, so more information to come on that!

Last flight home!

2009-03-24T10:20:00.000-05:00

We all made it through security--finally. Eliel reeves had some trouble in agriculture and they took a LONG time. He made it to the gate just as we were boading. Praise God!

The flight crew on our flight from Joburg called me up twice during the flight because we had two people sick. If we would have had more get sick, they were going to potentially quarantine the entire group--potentially in Senegal or Atlanta. I was able to explain that it was isolated to just Rachel and Dale and luckily they didn't do anything more.
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Back in the USA

2009-03-24T08:15:00.000-05:00

We have arrived in Atlanta. We now have to get through customs and get to our final flight and we will complete our 36 hour journey.
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One leg down

2009-03-23T20:38:00.001-05:00

We have landed in Senegal after an 8 hour flight. No issues other than some sicknesses Rachel Wolff and Dale got sick on the plane, most likely from food they had earlier.
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On the plane back to the USA

2009-03-23T11:53:00.001-05:00

Well, we made it to the Joburg airport with no issues. We had allowed for enough contingency and had 30 minutes to spare! Everyone got checked in and though and we are on the Delta plane now.

We pray for a safe and uneventful flight.
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Delay in Nelspruit

2009-03-23T05:50:00.001-05:00

Loading the bus to Joburg

Dale sleeping on the way.

We were making good time on our way to the Joburg airport until we reached Nelspruit. The local police had a roadblock set up and all buses have to get a "road test" today. So we drove back 15 minutes to get a test done. We were supposed to only have a 5 minute test done. We went and talked with the boss man and explained that we had a plane to catch. He said no problem and that we would be done by noon.

Well, we didn't pull into the test station till 12:26. We got the test done and pulled out of there at 12:50 with a passed test!

We will have to travel fast with no more delays to make it on time. God is in control and we have to trust that there is a reason.
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Baby Hyenas

2009-03-22T16:37:00.002-05:00

I updated with a better picture. This was on our way out - what a neat experience to see them that close up.

Last cell phone pic from the park. These we're no more than 20 feet away

Great day at Kruger

2009-03-22T15:50:00.005-05:00

Stork

Kudu - the antlers were huge

A hornbill. One of my favorite pictures - not sure why.....

This giraffe was literally on the road as we were headed out of the park. If we wanted to, we probably could have reached out and touched it.

This was from another person in our group, but love the picture of the Kudu jumping across the road

This elephant was alone down by the river happily eating grass.

This was taken by someone in another jeep, so unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to witness this.

A HUGE rhino. I had no good concept for how large and powerful they are. We realized pretty quickly that if they got upset and charged the jeep, we were pretty much toast.

A group of giraffes we saw right as we entered the park

We had a great day at Kruger. We got here and got on our safari buses. We were out all day and saw a lot of the main animals. We didn't see any lions or leopards, but we did see a python take out an Impala! The guides said they have never seen that before. We got quite a few great pictures of it.

We came back to the hotel and are really enjoying our stay here. We will leave tomorrow am for the airport.

An outside shot of the hotel

Our final night - playing Mafia

For the group: Pictorial evidence of the meal that spawned so many upset stomachs

Python 1, Impala 0

2009-03-22T04:51:00.006-05:00

This provide a much better view of the Python than my cell phone camera did. Our guides say that this was about an 18 foot python. We were a little too late to see the takedown. Once the impala had died, the python uncoiled and we thought it was going to swallow the impala. However, by that time, there were about 20-25 vehicles and the guides think that the vibrations scared the python away. We came back after lunch to see if it was swallowing the impala, but there was nothing there - no python, no impala. Something took it away. The video shows the rest of the impala "herd" waiting around and trying to do what they can to get the python off of their family.

Sweet!! We hadn't expected this and the park rangers say that they haven't seen a python take down an impala in over 50 years.

Thanks to Rachel Wolff for this totally sweet video. You can hear some of the commentary and see the other impalas.

Elephant in kruger

2009-03-22T04:14:00.001-05:00

About 100 feet away!

Giraffe in kruger

2009-03-22T03:02:00.001-05:00

About 20 feet away!

On our way to Kruger

2009-03-22T00:03:00.003-05:00

The 4:30 departure time made for some sleepy travelers.

We just passed the border into South Africa so we are getting close to our safari. No issues on the border crossing so no worries on that front.

Safely in Maputo

2009-03-21T15:11:00.002-05:00

We had a safe flight to Maputo and made it to our hotel. We have a nice hotel room with a good bathroom and shower--that is all we can ask for!

Dinner at the Indian restaurant in Maputo. Dale's new favorite place.....

We had a great dinner at an indian restaurant tonight. We have an EARLY morning--we have a 4:30 bus. We have the hardcore group of Uno players in our hotel room. Only Gino, Claudell, Bobby and Danae are playing tonight.

Bobby didn't do so well at this game of Uno. He drew so many cards he needed a two level hand.

We are looking forward to our safari tomorrow. My only hope is to get a picture of a lion taking out an animal!

Sabbath in Beira

2009-03-21T07:55:00.002-05:00

We are now in the airport in Beira waiting for our flight to Maputo. We had a rainy and windy night and a lot of peoples tent covers blew over during the night. A couple of folks had water come into their tents so it made for a wet final night.

We had a great worship at the seminary in Beira. Mell and Lovely sang for special music and I preached my first sermon. Tito Charneco helped me prepare for it and I had a lot of prayers that helped me not be nervous.

Our group at the church on Sabbath

Church members

Mell and Lovely singing

Me preaching

Me and Julio, the Maranatha jobsite foreman - he was a great help and was glad to get to know him

We had our final meal and Susan Woods had made ice cream for our last meal! It was a fabulous ending to our time in Beira.

The Woods family were fantastic! They have dedicated two years of their lives already to the Mozambique project and have another year to go.

We are headed to Maputo to spend the night and go on our safari in the morning.

End of the work week

2009-03-20T13:10:00.004-05:00

We completed our work week today. The medical team treated over 30 patients today, mostly dental.

The job site as we completed our work. We didn't complete as much as we thought we would, but we know that it will be completed!

Most of the work crew worked till lunch today. We took our team pictures and gave the official project team shirts to the local work crew. They were a great crew and we enjoyed working with them very much.

Team picture

Our wonderful Maranatha crew members with their team shirts

The "Wolff pack". We have one family that has grown in attendance and brought others into our team

The Grout Team

One of our block teams - they named themselves Team Bob Marley

Aunt Geneva - she has been on so many trips I don't even get to tell her what to do anymore - she just knows it and does it.

One of our block teams - they named themselves WWS (Wolff, Wilson and Spencer).

Spencer family - throwing some odd TCU sign.

Our Hydraform teams. They had to learn a new system that none of us had used and did a great job for their first time on a project.

Meron and Glenn (below) - our Rebar team.

Another block crew - they called themselves Xmen

I don't have a picture of the final block crew (Eric's team), but here are two of his team members with the rest of the end wall crew.

After we ate, we all went to the Seminary in Beira to distribute beans to the church members. Eight of us came back to the job site to try and finish the classrooms. We would have finished if the Maranatha crew didn't have to tear two walls down to fix a problem.

Distributing beans at the church

One of the bonuses on Friday afternoon with having a small crew was that I actually got to work (shocking.......). The team occasionally gives me a hard time that I don't do any work, so this is evidence that I DID actually do some work.

They were getting ready to install the windows and they realized that the window grid was too wide. They had built the steel wrong. So they tore the wall down, cut it off and re-welded the steel. Then we still got pretty far on that last wall in the afternoon.

We were SO close to completing all of the Hydraform. We just had that little bit left to complete.

I got a bit of a shock today--literally. Per usual, it rained overnight and again today. I had been cutting holes in the block for the block teams, but had to go run the wet saw for a minute. Shen I got done, my gloves were soaking wet and not thinking, I grabbed the concrete saw and started cutting block again. Well, I got a pretty good shock and put the saw down quickly! After I recovered and out a new pair of dry gloves on, no issues the rest of the day, thank God!

Me and the shocking saw.

The rest of the group went into Beira in the afternoon for some sightseeing and shopping. They seemed to enjoy it and got some souveniers to take home.

A shipwreck on the beach in Beira

We had a great worship tonight and were singing songs around the table when it started to rain. Everyone scattered to their tents to try and stay dry. We are praying for no rain in the morning and especially no rain at 1:30 when we load our luggage and head to the airport.

It has been a good week, but a faith testing one as well. We have learned a lot this week and about humility for me.

We look forward to church tomorrow and to starting our excursions.

My "alabama chromed" shoes

2009-03-19T14:02:00.003-05:00

My trusty steel toe boots that I have used for the past 4 years have reached their limit. My soles are detaching from the boot and I am trying to make them last. Luckily, I had two people bring duct tape as a precaution. I didn't think I would have to use it for my boots.

They were holding up till today. My left sole detached so my foot is very uncomfortable. One more day though!

Our jury-rigged form

2009-03-19T13:58:00.003-05:00

We are missing our electrical panel so we had to create a form to cover the area and work around it

Claudell and his block

2009-03-19T13:52:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure that claudell has enough mortar for his block

Michael and Glenn in matching outfits

2009-03-19T13:49:00.002-05:00

Tent mates leading worship

The LAM flight to Beira

2009-03-19T13:43:00.002-05:00

Our prop plane flight to Beira

Next to last day

2009-03-19T13:27:00.003-05:00

We made very good progress today. The medical team was working at the seminary today. They saw 55 patients today. They were without power for a couple of hours so that made them run late.

We got all the way up to the 12th course today. It is always tought to do the 11th course because of the door and window headers take a while to set. We had cloud cover all day and that helped with the heat. We had about a 40 minute rain delay but that was it.

Most of the group is going to distribute beans to the church members tomorrow afternoon and then go into town. We had a few folks that wanted to stay back and finish up a couple of walls so I will stay back with them to get them done. Thanks to Mell for volunteering to be my personal shopper!!

All the rain collected on a tarp covering our eating area. We had to empty it a few times during the week. Friday night it rained so much, it collapsed alltogether - luckily, we didn't need it after that. Here are a few of the group getting the water out on Thursday

Wednesday report

2009-03-18T13:19:00.003-05:00

We had a rainy night. It started raining about 10 last night and drizzled all night. It was a gentle rain to start the day and it was nice and cool. It was a lot easier to work because it was cool. It rained really hard twice and we had to stop and take cover.

After lunch it stopped raining and was nice and cloudy. We got quite a bit done. However, our saw blade died at about 3:30 so that really brought us to an early end. In addition, we didn't have our wood to brace up our headers so we couldn't finish our walls. We were making really good progress up till then.

Job site at the end of day 4

We all helped bag beans for us to give away on friday. That was a bit of a diversion after dinner. We are going to have Claudell lead us in a game of Mafia.

Bagging Beans

More beans - we had about 200 pounds of beans to bag!

Claudell leading out in Mafia

Meron says hello to Ivan.

Gino's team hard at work

2009-03-17T13:13:00.001-05:00

Here is how Gino works his team!

Halfway through the week

2009-03-17T13:05:00.002-05:00

We are halfway through the week. It was a very hot day and we had a few folks that had to sit out for a while because they were a little dehydrated. Nothing too bad though.

The medical team finished up their clinic in Dondo. They saw 76 patients today in very hot conditions.

We are only up to 8 courses and we needed to be up to 9 and starting 10 to have a chance at finishing. We have our work cut out for us!

The block continues to be a challenge as it is differing sizes and brittle. However, we are going to continue to do our best!

Another monday update

2009-03-16T13:57:00.003-05:00

Dr dewar and team treated 46 patients on their first day. It was a good first day for them but it was pretty tough conditions

We are having our own version of wild kingdom here. We have seen a bunch of different animals. Tonight playing uno we saw a bat and a millipede! Mayra got attacked by a bug during worship.

We have spiders crickets and lizards in the block pile, so it makes it exciting to get block!

Second day on the job

2009-03-16T12:12:00.003-05:00

We had a rough night last night. At about 12:30 am, the skies opened up and the rains came. It poured and popped a couple of tent poles. So, a bunch of people got up to help adjust the tents. We all had trouble getting back to sleep.

Once we got up, it was still sprinkling. We got a later start since food wasn't ready.

We did a little better today and got up to 6 on some walls. Still having trouble with the block--it is very brittle and has different heights.

Jobsite at the end of day 2

We have a plan to complete with goals. We will see how we do tomorrow.

We also had some excitement today. The electric went out at around 4 pm. We worked as long as we could without being able to cut block. We have a generator but it wasn't working.

We cleaned up and went to clean up. At about 5 or so, Tim, one of the drilling crew, finally figured it out and got it running! It was a good thing because we wouldn't be able to take showers otherwise. They wired it to the pump and we got to take showers!

Tim, our shower saver!

We had a lot of prayer today about no rain and to get the power on. We ended up on a good note.

We may post more later.

First Day Part I

2009-03-15T19:02:00.002-05:00

We completed our first day on the job site. It went a little slower than we would have liked. We had a lot of block to move and some normal first day learning curve issues.

Job site as we arrived

The block line

We almost got to the third course on the block and made real good progress on the Hydra-form brick.

Progress after day 1

We will make better progress tomorrow now that we have the hang of it and know how we are going to stretch our block lines.

Getting Settled

2009-03-14T20:02:00.002-05:00

We made it to our camp with no trouble. David Woods and his family met us at the airport and we got here quickly.

The camp is nice and everyone is settled into their tents. We had two great meals and our first worship. We have a great cook and the Woods family are wonderful hosts.

Tent Camp City

Everyone's favorite bathrooms

No words necessary

Our Shower room

The team is ready to go and anxious to start. They are getting to know each other. We had a first tonight in that we had someone able to recite back everyone's name, home and profession after only hearing it one time. Veronica Dorsey was the first I have ever seen do that.

Our dining and meeting room

We have our standard Uno game going and Claudell is already cheating.

I hope to be able to post to the Blog myself soon (Rachael is posting for me). Currently, I have been able to receive email, but not send it.

Finally Here!

2009-03-14T20:00:00.003-05:00

We finally made it to Mozambique. We started the day early and made it to the Johannesburg airport on time. Air Mozambique (LAM) stood by their promise of allowing extra weight and we didn't have a problem.

Our prop plane to Mozambique - surprisingly comfortable and they served better meals than most US carriers

However, our flight was delayed due to the aircraft arriving late. We had a pretty tight connection in Maputo, so they said they would hold our connecting flight. Once we finally all got our luggage, we ran to the counter where there was a mad dash for the LAM reps to check us in and our bags. We all made it on the plane to Beira. Oddly enough, LAM has fed us on both flights even though they are only 1 hour long! They have been very good to us.

Once we landed in Maputo, we had to go through Passport Control. Robert Joseph had trouble because they had never heard of Antiqua! Eric Griffin had to get a Yellow Fever shot, but no one else had trouble. AND, everyone got their bags (even Dr. Dewar).

Safe at the hotel

2009-03-13T14:08:00.001-05:00

We finally made it to the hotel in Johannesburg. We had to wait a while for the bus and it had to make a few trips as it can only hold about 6 persons

We made it though and had dinner and worship. Everyone is off to sleep as we need to be on our way to the airport by 6 am to catch our flight to Mozambique for our final leg.

Keep us in your prayers for tomorrow as it could be challenging

Waiting for the bus to the hotel

2009-03-13T11:12:00.001-05:00

Everyone made it through security and we are waiting for our bus. Wit can only take about 8 at a time, we we go in shifts

So far so good!!

Landed in Johannesburg

2009-03-13T09:35:00.000-05:00

We made it! Now we need to go through customs and get our luggage. A long trip to say the least

The flight crew let us know that a group of about 50 other Maranatha volunteers came the day before. We will find out where they were headed
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Landed in Senegal!

2009-03-13T00:14:00.001-05:00

Stir Crazy on the plane

After a long flight, we are in Senegal. We unfortunately don't get off the plane. We have to sit in here while they cater and clean the plane. They will come on board with security and check our luggage.

The plane was very cold so we are glad for long sleeves.

Everyone got good sleep except for Bobby.
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Leaving Atlanta

2009-03-12T15:12:00.000-05:00

All of our group made it here and we are boarding now for our LONG flight. We hope we can get off of the plane in Senegal to stretch our legs.
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On our way to atlanta

2009-03-12T11:09:00.002-05:00

We are on our way to atlanta. We have made it through security and are finally on the plane. No issues so far. The plane is a few minutes delayed, but we should still have two hours to make our connection in the Atlanta airport.
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Fun with Flight Tracking!

2009-03-07T17:14:00.004-06:00

All;

If you are interested in tracking our group as we make our way to South Africa on Thursday / Friday, you can click the link below to track our progress on our Delta flight 34 from Atlanta. You may have to mess with the flight dates as we will be traveling both Thursday and Friday (groan.....).

And before you ask, NO, we don't have flight tracking for our flights on Air Mozambique!

Share in our fun 16 hour total flight time! Pray that our group makes it safe and sound (and that we get some sleep along the way!)

Delta flight 34 Tracking

Getting ready for Mozambique

2009-02-26T11:11:00.001-06:00

Our group of 29 missionaries will be headed to Mozambique and will arrive in Johannesburg, South Africa on March 13th. We will head to Beira, Mozambique the next morning and will arrive there in the afternoon.

We will begin our work on Sunday the 15th and the plan (God willing) is to complete the school on Friday the 20th.

Please check back daily for what I hope are consistent updates.

Keep the group in your prayers!

Team update and last post for the trip

2008-03-22T18:03:00.002-05:00

The remainder of the team arrived into the US on Tuesday morning. Unfortunately for them, there was a very strong storm system in Dallas/Houston that morning. The team arrived on time into Dallas / Fort Worth (DFW) airport on time. However, American had already cancelled their 7:45 flight and rescheduled the team on various other flights on multiple airlines to multiple destinations.

Some of the team decided to wait for their flights and arrived in Houston after lengthy delays. The earliest group arrived at around 1 pm and their luggage arrived after 2:30. Others didn't arrive till much later.

A few intrepid souls went to rent cars to drive to Houston. Thanks to Renee Schirra and her Hertz Gold Club membership, some were able to actually rent cars.

At the end, after much adventure, everyone did arrive safely in their destinations.

Since I wasn't at the excursion hotel on Sunday / Monday, I don't have anything to post about the team's activities, but I know that several went on hikes, canopy rides and horseback riding.

We had a great group and God blessed us on the trip. We hope to see everyone again next year if God leads us to have a trip.

Thanks again.

Safe arrivals in houston

2008-03-17T16:40:00.000-05:00

I arrived safely in houston on time and with my luggage this morning. It was an uneventful trip, once I retrieved my camera and got on board.

I will provide one final update once the group arrives tomorrow and pictures sometime over the next week.
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The day of miracles

2008-03-16T20:05:00.000-05:00

Well, I am now on the plane to miami. I didn't have any issues on the train thanks to the conductor. When we got to san fernando, he gave me his seat to sit in the rest of the way to santiago!

Then, when we arrived, I went to the taxi line and was waiting. There was only one guy in front of me when one taxi pulled up. He started to put his bags in, but then took them out and waved me over to take his cab! No explanation, just gave it to me.
I made it through the airport just fine and got checked in. I had to rearrange my backpack before going through security and went through.

I had dinner and did a little shopping. I went to turn my laptop off and put my contacts in and reached into my bag, only to find.......no camera. My heart sank and immediately literally started sweating! I have some great pictures that I would be very sad to lose.

So I busted it to the gate and asked if they could call security to see if they had found any cameras. Keep in mind I had rearranged my bag right outside of security. They asked what type of camera and I told them. They said that they had one there and would breing it by. This was with about 20 minutes till takeoff. So, I had to sweat out the longest 10 minutes of my life while they brought it by. It was mine, thank God! I got it and ran onto the plane, happy for another miracle! Who turns cameras in anymore?

Well, here's hoping for a good, restful flight. I hope I don't need any more miracles to get to houston!
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Elena to the rescue!

2008-03-16T11:54:00.001-05:00

I am on the train in Chillan. Elena and I met with the bus driver and ended on a good note. He had confused us with another group and was very concilatory in the meeting. We paid up and ended as friends.

Elena then took me to the train station. When we got there, they said they didn't have any space on the train to Santiago from Chillan. They could only book me to San Fernando, which is 100 kilometers away from santiago. So, Elena helped me purchase the ticket and we talked to the conductor to ask if I could just stand up for the last 100 km. The conductor was great, smiled and said no problem, he would take care of me. So, problem solved thanks to Elena and God. Now, I just need to get there and to the airport!
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Leaving chillan

2008-03-16T09:56:00.002-05:00

I am in Chillan now waiting to pay the bus company and settle a few other things before I catch the train to Santiago. I have a few random things to catch up on.

Cathedral on the square where I was sitting as I typed

I had already wrote about Bobby Battistone going to a store every day to get chicken. Well, others started going as well and she wanted to know about us. Through that, she became interested enough and was at the church dedication on sabbath! Bobby wants to start a better ministry through meat program next year!

The Chicken Lady in the green jacket at Church

During the lunch with the church yesterday, they presented me with a very nice copper engraving of a map of Chile. It was very touching for them to do that and it is much appreciated.

My new cool copper Chile map

We had a few challenges with the bus yesterday. We took the bus we had been using all week from Cabrero yesterday and that was fine. When we got to Chillan, we turned into the bus company depot. The owner met us and was angry about changes and the amount of luggage. He wanted to argue and have us pay for another bus. Tito shut him down and said we weren't going to negotiate on the Sabbatha and that we were fine with putting the luggage in the back. The owner still wasn't happy and said that if we got stopped by the police, we were on our own because apparently it is not legal to have bags inside the bus! Well, no police, but one wrong turn and a few hours later, we arrived at the Gran Hotel at Termas de Chillan. Everyone was very glad to get there.

Discussions with the bus company owner

The "false" hotel. Everyone was ready to kill me when they thought this was the hotel!

The hotel was beautiful and the food was great as well, especially for the meat eaters that didn't get their fill during the week. We were able to get a meeting room and had our meeting and one of the hotel employees explained the activities for today.

The real Gran Hotel at Termas de Chillan. A very beautiful place.

Ed Dewar with the nasty fish head that he and Ray Wolff ate.

After a final late night card game (which I finally won!) I got a good nights rest, but really missed rachael. The hotel was very nice and had big rooms.

The final Uno game. You can actually see Claudell cheating in this picture by looking at Glenn's cards.

I convinced Tito to go running this morning with me. We were going to do 3 miles, but neither of us accounted for the altitude, which was about 5200 feet in elevation. I haven't ran for about 2 weeks, so I wasn't in great shape. That combined with the week and the altitudes kicked our butts. We only ran about 1.8 miles. It was a good workout and a good way to see some of the beautiful scenery along the golf course that we ran on.

The view from the hotel window.

I will post more later.

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Church dedication

2008-03-15T15:36:00.001-05:00

We just left our hotel to go to Chillan. We had a wonderful service at the new church.

Our entire group at Church on Sabbath
When we were eating breakfast, it was raining. We were thanking God that he held the rain off all week until we were done with the construction. It rained until about 10:30, so we benefited from the newly placed roof!

Church service in the new Church - with roof to protect from the rain!
Mark Murray led our sabbath school sevice and we had 5 people give testimonies about how the trip has affected them. We had a wonderful Chilean quartet of a father and three sons for special music.

David Spencer Jr. giving his testimony during Sabbath School

Chilean quartet with father and three sons

Renee Schirra with her VBS attendees showing what they learned during the week

Pastor Tito preached a powerful sermon and we had three baptisms in the new church. One gentleman came to the meetings all week and wanted to be baptized today. His house and business burned down a few weeks ago and he realized his need to lean on God.

Pastor Tito preaching

Pastor Tito with all three baptismal candidates

Pastor Tito in the pool

The gentleman whose house and business burned down after baptism

At lunch, the baptized gentleman wouldn't let go of the new bible we gave him. He lost his bible in the fire.

The pastor called for others to make a commitment to baptism and we had six people come forward to give their lives to the Lord, so the Cabrero church is already growing.

Maranatha produces a half-hour TV program called Maranatha Mission Stories. They air on religious channels and you can now download as podcasts from apple.com for free. The host, Dick Duerksen happened to be in Chile today. When he heard from Roger and Darrell Hardy that we were dedicating the completed church and having baptisms, they rushed over and filmed the service. After church was over, he interviewed the Cabrero pastor, Juan Vera (the gentleman that loaned Tito the car) and myself at the actual church. We then went to a potluck lunch with the church members. Dick and his team are going to be at Chillan and will interview Tito and other team members for our very own Maranatha Mission Story! They will let us know when it will be aired. You can order free copies from http://www.maranatha.com/ and we will let you know how when it airs.

Dick Duerksen interviewing Juan Vera in the back of the Cabrero church

Juan Vera during his interview discussing the church and the miracle of the car

Our group having a potluck lunch served by the church. I am happy to report, no cheese and no illnesses!

We have realy enjoyed our stay in Cabrero and what God accomplished through us. We are now looking forward to a little rest before we head back.

I leave for home to be with Rachael tomorrow. I will be sad to leave our group, but happy to see Rachael. We really had a great group and team. I enjoyed everyones spirit and cooperation on this trip. I pray that I am able to get my way to the airport.

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Final report

2008-03-14T22:12:00.001-05:00

We had a great worship tonight and said goodbye to our hosts at the hotel. They are very nice and appreciative. We had a great housing and food situation. I have heard no real complaints about either.

Final worship at the hotel

Rodrigo and his wife - they made us very welcome and comfortable

We got done with work early so a lot of people jumped in the pool before dinner. Still cold, but not as cold as late at night like I did to make good on my promise the other night.

Team members in the pool after a hard week of work

The weather has been fantastic every day. It starts out cool/cold (around 40-45) and warms up to 75-80. No rain at all and little wind. Great working conditions.

We also had a great team that worked together and didn't have any arguments or short tempers. I am very thankful for that because we really had to switch everyone around again on their job roles.

We learned a lot about the brick churches. If we do another one, we will be better prepared. Different tools, different techniques, etc.

We don't know yet where we will be headed next year, assuming we do a trip. I am sure God will make it clear. Our options look like they include Chile, Mozambique and maybe Mexico. Nothing is scheduled yet for the March timeframe yet, so we don't have any direction yet.

We are looking forward to the church dedication and a well-deserved rest for a few days. We are sad to say goodbye to my Uncle Roger and Ellie, who have been with us all week. It is great to see him for an extended period of time and to be able to work with him. Ellie was a huge help to our VBS crew. Roger and Ellie leave tomorrow to go lead another project in Chile.

Ellie (far left) at VBS in her western gear!

Roger and me at the church on Sabbath

Roger and Darrell Hardy (Darrell is in the green shirt through the doorway). Darrell is in charge of all Latin American construction and spent some time at our job site.

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Jubilation!

2008-03-14T16:56:00.001-05:00

We got the church completed today! We got the last forms on and poured the entire church by about 1:00. The roofing crew also completed their work.

Our team after the church has been completed.

The church looks great and is ready for Sabbath. Some church members already set up a swimming pool for baptisms since the baptismal hasn't been waterproofed yet. We are looking forward to a great church dedication and worship tomorrow.

The team cleaning the brick after the concrete was poured. We had a challenge in that we didn't get the concrete off the brick soon enough (only one water hose) and the team had to scrub all afternoon. We will do this differently in the future.

Exterior of the completed church

Interior of the completed church

Edward and me. Edward was the Maranatha foreman. He did a great job and was a joy to work with - I think he appreciated my attempts at spanish.

Me addressing the team on the bus ride on the way back to the hotel

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Daily report

2008-03-12T21:24:00.003-05:00

The dental team had a small space for their work, but saw 14 patients will multiple procedures. His room gets smaller each day.

We dispensed at least 80 people for glasses-some with entire families.

Medical team treated 98 people.

Bobby and Ernie went to a store and got an entire chicken each and ate it for lunch.

Ernie, Renee and John enjoying their chicken.

Bobby, aka, the Chicken King

I did jump in the pool after worship. It was absolutely freezing! We will post video when we get back.

Signs you need a tan: Frighteningly white chest - check. Highly visible tan lines from golf and work - check.

As promised, humiliating video. It is very dark, but wait for the countdown and you can see the white flash going into the pool. The video got cut, so the second part follows.

We played mafia tonight as our activity. Per usual, claudell did a great job!

David Spencer continually trying to (unsuccessfully) convince people that he isn't guilty.

Claudell leading out in Mafia.

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Completed two walls!

2008-03-12T16:59:00.001-05:00

We had a good day on the construction site. We got the front and one side wall completed and grouted up to 14. We are at 13 on the other side and back.

Front entry of the church - brick completed

Baptistry wall at end of day

We were only at 10 this morning and as a motivation, I told the crew to think of a humiliating or other task I could do as a reward if we got up to 14 today. I said I would have shaved my head, but had already done that! Leigh came up with a good one and suggested that I jump in the pool at night when it was cold. I said it was a good idea and that if we did get at least one to 14 while the others were at at least 13, I would do it. Looks like I am swimming tonight!

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