The day time stood still

We started the day off with sunshine. We got started with a bang and we made good progress through lunchtime. We all decided to eat a shorter lunch. We got the baptistry front and back finished and grouted by lunch, which was our goal.

We still had a lot to do (three inner walls) and weren't sure we could finish. Then the challenges/miracles happened.

First, the electricity went out. It goes out when it rains in the valley. Without electricity, we couldn't cut any block nor could we put the rest off the roof on. That would have ended our day. We worked as much as we could, but that ended pretty quickly. After a while, we all gathered inside to have prayer that if it was Gods will for us to finish, that the electricity would come back on. The rain was still falling, but about 15 minutes later, the electricity was back on-truly a miracle.

Then the rains started. Most of the church roof was on, but they were still working on the back part where we were still laying block. They can't work on the roof in the rain-it is too dangerous. The rain stoped just long enough for them to finish! After the roof was completed, it started a steady, heavy rain for the rest of the day-soaking everyone who went outside, but the team was able to lay block inside.

Putting the roof on

The last miracle was our block saw. Ray is our block cutter (and resident amateur weatherman) and said that the saw blade was new at the beginning of the week. Midway through the week, it started to show wear. The maranatha foreman brought the two replacement blades, which had no cutting surface left (useless). So he kept working. Today, the blade was totally ineffective. It was basically burning through the block rather than cutting. It had no diamond tip on at and would turn red as it was so hot. It took a lot longer to cut block, but, somehow, God let it work.

Even with all of those miracles, it took an incredible effort by all of the team today. Everyone pitched in and was willing to stay a bit late to complete the church. By Gods grace. We got all walls completed! I still don't know how we got so many block laid this afternoon. As some of the team said, it was as if time stood still in the afternoon. One wall had 19 courses laid, another had 11 and another 6 courses- all after lunch-with all the challenges mentioned.

Working frantically on one of the last walls

Completed interior walls


Completed walls

When we were completed, we all celebrated with the church members and maranatha crew members. We have some great pictures of all of us that we will post when we can. The team looks like we really worked that day. We were tired, filthy and sore, but have such as sense of accomplishment and awe at what God allowed us to do.

Wet and tired group

Our entire work crew on Friday - jubilant in what God allowed us to do!

Danae and Dale Spencer

Handing out the project shirts to the Maranatha crew

Other crew members

Daniel (middle) was the Maranatha foreman. He did a great job on the project. About 3:00 on Friday, I asked him to help lay block to get finished. Diego completed the roof while Daniel and Rachael laid up one wall, Guy worked on another and Gino and I on the third. I am still amazed at how much block everyone laid Friday afternoon. Time truly stood still that afternoon.

Maranatha crew members with their project team t-shirts

We got back at about 6:30. The medical/dental team was so worried about us getting back late, that they were praying for us. We will worship with the church members at the new church tomorrow. We can't wait.

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Rain, rain, stay away

We had a good day today. Only one team member was sick. We were greeted with sunshine wheb we arrived at work. We all prayed for no rain so we could complete our work.

We had a very productive morning. Some rain clouds showed up about 3:30 and had real bad lightning. It look like it was headed straight for us and we prepared to take cover.

Ray Wolff works outside cutting block all day and been tracking the storm. He assured me that it would pass us. Others were more skeptical (like Gino!). By Gods grace, we got a little rain, but the worst passed us by.

We got our oxygen tanks on Wednesday or Thursday. Ray made good use of the tanks since he was outside!

Carolina taking a hit of oxygen

We made good progress today and everyone decided to tay an extra hour to get more done. Both end walls are completed and the baptistry wall is completed to 15 courses. The inner walls are to 13 courses on two and four on another. We got most of the roof on that we could before the rain came.

We will get the baptistry and the roof on tomorrow. Not sure about the classroom and bathroom walls, but it will be close.

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Another rainy day

We had a good day at the work site today. We were down 4 people to start the day and 5 at the end. We got the front wall of the church completed, the back up to 16 and the middle up to 8. We got very close to our goals. We have a real good shot at finishing IF it doesn't rain too much tomorrow and friday.

Progress at end of day

It rained hard from about 2:30 onwards. It really slowed us down and got cold. We wrapped up a little early.

We celebrated Roxie Wolffs birthday tonight. The cooks made her a cake and we all sang to her.

Roxie and her cake

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Rainy day

We got almost completed with our goals at the job site. We got the 13th course laid and with the help of the maranatha team, we got it grouted. However, we didn't get the scaffolds torn down.

End of Tuesday

That is great considering we were 7 people down to start the day and dropped down 2 more during the day.

We had to give an iv to three people on the job site because they were sick.

Eric Griffin getting an IV at the job site

Gino getting an IV on the bus to the job site in the morning (dedication)

It also started raining about 2:00 and it was COLD! We moved much slower in the afternoon. It was raining so hard that we were about to leave at 4:00 because we were so cold (shivering, etc).

However, we all decided to stay a little later to finish the grouting and the rain let up and we finished.

God is good and we made good progress.

The medical team dewormed 600 patients at a school today. Amazing!

More to come later.
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Response to comments

Sosheel did arrive safely last night and worked with the medical team.

We will post pictures of greg the dog when we get back to houston.

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Third day start

We are on our way to the job site. We have 9 people sick at this point. The devil is working hard to keep this church from being built and the medical team from doing their work.

Everyones spirits are still high and we have faith that we will complete our work.

Keep us in your prayers as we go through the day.

We have gained some new nicknames as a result of this trip.

Ed Dewar is our dentist. Because he helped the sick people with hebal remedies, he is now: Ed Dewar, Bush Doctor.

Andrea James is a nurse and on our medical team. She has been taking care of everyone all night. Someone called her our Mother Teresa.

Lastly, we have a dog on the jobsite that hangs around while we eat. Eric gave the dog some of his sandwich. We told him the dog would follow him around--and it did. He left to walk away and the dog followed him. I told him he needed to name the dog, so he did. He named it.........Greg. I didn't think it was so funny, but everyone else did.

Mell with 'Greg the Dog' - which, upon further inspection is actually a female dog....making the entire thing that much funnier (depending on your point of view)

Brandy with Greg the Dog on Sabbath. As we found out, the dog's real name is Cinnamon. Take that, Eric!

More to come tonight.

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Day 2: falling like flies

We are just leaving the medical team site after a very successful day! The dental team treated 18 patients (after treating 20 on sunday) and the medical team treated over 300 patients today (after treating 130 on sunday).

Medical team operations

Dr. Dewar and Roxie working on a patient.

Medical team personnel

The construction crew had a remarkable day. We started the day out short 4 people because they were sick. During the day, two more had to back to the hotel because they were very sick. In addition, we had at least 5 others that were not full speed. In spite of these challenges, we still completed AND poured concrete up to the 11th course of block. Our goal was 10 with the stretch goal of 11 and concrete poured. So, we achieved the stretch AND left the jobsite before 5 pm!!!!

Progress at the end of Monday

God was really with us today and allowed us to make good progress. We are all concerned about our sick team members. Most of them got sick late last night and had fever, diarreaha and nausea. Luckily, Dr Ed Dewar, bush doctor, was able to give them some remedies before we left for work. In addition, two medical team members came back to give iv fluids during the day and Dr Arguello is seing them now.

The sickness starts at the job site

Ray and Rachel feeling poorly

Ray sleeping on a pile of block at lunch

We think that the sickness is a combination of the altitude and some fresh cheese that many people ate at the church on sabbath for lunch. Everyone who didn't eat the cheese is just fine.

More to come later.

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First full day

We had our first day with a full crew. This is usually the hardest day as people are getting used to working with each other and getting used to laying block for many people.

Full construction crew on Sunday - the only day we had a full team!

Progress at the end of Sunday

All things considered, we had a great day. We almost completed up to the 7th course of block.

THe medical team had a successful day as well and saw over 100 patients!

Full medical / dental team - their only day with a full contingent!

Everyone is tired, but wanted to stay late to come close to finishing the block. We have a great team and tomorrow will go smoother.

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Sabbath with the church members

The majority of the team arrived late last night. Their flight didn't get in till around 11:00 on Friday night. Everyone got their luggage ok and made it safely (except Sosheel of course).


Team arriving to a welcome from the Tambillo church

We got to the hotel at around 2:00 this morning, so it was an early morning for breakfast at 7:30!! We went to the town hall for sabbath school starting at 9:15. We had a few of our team participating in the sabbath school and church service. We had a great sermon by pastor Frank Ottati.

Worshipping at the town hall

We had a GREAT lunch with the church today and then went back to the hotel for a much needed nap-after a short nights sleep!

Lunch with the church members

This is the cheese that got the team sick (aka, the great queso episode of 2007)

We had a sundown worship with the church led by young people from our group and their church. After a great meal, we had our construction team meeting and the medical team separated all of the donated supplies to bring tomorrow.

Construction Team meeting

Separating donated medical supplies

Everyone is pretty tired and will be headed off to sleep soon as we have an early morning tomorrow.
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First day challenges

We completed our first day of work. Per usual, we had our share of minor challenges.


Job site as we arrived on Friday

The main problem is that the block we are using to construct the church are slightly different than we are used to. Usually, with mortar, they are 8 inches by 16 inches. Well, the block this year, with mortar, are 8.25 by 16.25 inches. That may not seem like a lot, but when you are used to doing things a certain way and that the plans call for that type of block, it caused some challenges. We finally worked through it by the end of the day and will be set for the large group on sunday.

One other challenge was that the electricity went out in the afternoon, so we couldn't cut anymore block.

We got one and a half courses completed today. Not where I would have liked to have been, but the hardest part is over-laying the first course.


Work we were able to complete on Friday

The weather was great! A little cool in the morning and a light rain shower in the afternoon with sun in between.

It really was a great day all things considered. We are headed to the airport now to get the rest of the group. Well, all of the group except for Sosheel Saleem who was not able to make his flight. He is coming on on Monday night.

More to come later.

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Arrival in ecuador

We arrived safely in Quito. The flight was on time, albeit very warm!

We did have a little excitement on the flight. There were twpo other mission groups on the plane. One 13 year old girl who was sitting behind Rachel Wolff got sick after the movie and was puking the rest of the trip. They gave her oxygen and pils, but she was very sick.

When we landed, they made an announcement for everyone to stay in their seats so that the medical team could get her off the plane. Surprisingly enough, everyone stayed in their seat! We were shocked.

She was really sick and they had to carry her off the plane. What a way for her to start her trip-sick in a foreign country.

The other exciting part was that the petson sitting next to Arlene was a prisoner being escorted by Marshals!

We all made it safely and got all of our bags. Of course, the LAST person to make it out was.............Claudell. A great start for the trip and par for the course. The pastor and pathfinders met us and we are on our way to the hotel in Machachi.


Pastor Pillajo and church members greeting us

We are going to start our work tomorrow morning at the church after a good nights rest.



More to come tomorrow.

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Safely to Atlanta

The first step of our trip is complete! We made it to Atlanta and are waiting for our flight to Quito.

We will have 11 people going down early to work on the jobsite on Friday.

Getting ready to start playing Uno

Per usual, we are waiting on Gino and Claudell-starting a trend for the trip.
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Tambillo, Ecuador Mission trip information

From March 8-21, we will have 46 persons traveling to Tambillo, Ecuador to build a church and conduct a medical mission and conduct Evangelistic meetings. The building program is conducted with Maranatha Volunteers International (see their website at http://www.maranatha.org/ for more information).

The group is comprised of construction and medical volunteers. Most of the team is from the West Houston Seventh-day Adventist church in Houston Texas. However, we have a "extended" church family that is going as well from many other states. They are either family members or have gone on previous trips.

I have listed all the members below:

Pedro Arguello – Houston Texas
Sylvia Arguello – Houston Texas
Andrea Arguello – Houston Texas
Michael Arguello – Houston Texas
Daniel Arguello – Houston Texas
Theresa Delco – Houston Texas
Bozena Hunek – Houston Texas
Jessica Hunek – Houston Texas
Ana Angeles – New York City
Kevin Bobbitt – North Carolina
Michelle Bobbitt – Phoenix, Arizona
Ed Dewar – Houston Texas
John Garofalo – Houston Texas
Eric Griffin – Houston Texas
Joanna Grimaldo – Houston Texas
Marco Grimaldo – Houston Texas
Greg Hatch – Houston Texas
Rachael Hatch – Houston Texas
Jean Henry – Houston Texas
Linval Henry – Houston Texas
Andrew Hinds – Atlanta, GA
Carolina Hironymus – Houston Texas
Andrea James – Houston Texas
Kimbrelly Monroe – North Carolina
Mariela Lajara – New York City
Guy Legan - Wisconsin
Geneva McCallum - Pennsylvania
Diego Montoya – Houston Texas
Arlene Nelson - Houston Texas
Ken Nelson – Houston Texas
Mellow Del Ombiga – Houston Texas
Brandy Prokop – Houston Texas
Gricelda Ramia – Houston Texas
Sosheel Saleem – Houston Texas
Dale Spencer – Houston Texas
Danae Spencer – Houston Texas
Claudell Wilson – Atlanta, GA
Danielle Wolff – Houston Texas
Gino Wolff – Atlanta, GA
Rachel Wolff – Charlotte, NC
Raymond Wolff – Houston Texas
Roxie Wolff – Charlotte, NC
Kelly Woodard – Atlanta, GA
Allyson Wu – New York City
Frank Ottati - Orlando FL
Kathy Ottati - Orlando FL

Our itinerary is as follows:

• Thursday, Mar 8 - Advance team arrives
• Friday, Mar 9 - Advance team gets site and other information set up and starts laying block
  Medical team sets up for mission and procures medicines
  Main team leaves Houston at 11:45 AM and arrives in Quito at 10:00 PM (no meal provided once you land – make sure to eat either before you leave Atlanta or on the plane)
  Arrive at hotel and get settled
• Saturday, Mar 10 - Attend church and get to know each other and the church members
  Orientation for job site the next day in the evening
• Sunday, Mar 11 - Team begins work at the job site constructing the church
  Medical team begins setup / work for medical mission
• Monday, Mar 12 through Friday, Mar 16 - Team continues work at the job site constructing the church
  Medical team continues work.
• Saturday, Mar 17 - Worship service conducted in newly finished church
  Lunch at church
  Bus takes group to Hotel Quito
  Potential tour of Old Quito by night
• Sunday, Mar 18 - Vacation for majority of group.
  Tour to Mitad del Mundo and Otavalo (Indian Market)
• Monday, Mar 19 - Excursions (tour of Quito and Teleferico)
  Flight to Guayaquil in the evening
  Bus to hotel in Guayaquil.
• Tuesday Mar 20 - Tour of Guayaquil
  Dinner at hotel
  Main group flight back to the US. Depart Guayaquil at 12:30 AM,
• Wednesday March 21 - arrive in Atlanta at 7:00 AM; Houston at 11:00 AM

Please continue to check in as we hope to post on a daily basis. Feel free to leave comments as we will receive those during the trip!

Above all, continue to pray for the group and that God will continue to bless our efforts and allow us to be His instruments in this work.

Additional Construction site pictures

I received these pictures from Magdiel Perez Schulz, our faithful translator (and the Ecuadorian Union Education Director for his day job). He was traveling back from one of the schools and took these photos.

The woman in the photo is his wife, Susan and the children are the daughters of the Adventist lady that donated the land for the church.

Enjoy!



Susan and the children - note the great view!



The snow-covered mountain is the Cotopaxi volcano. And no, we are not climbing it this year!




Closer view of Cotopaxi

Updated Construction Site Pictures

Greetings all! We received these pictures from the Pastor of the Tambillo church, Marco Pillajo. As you can see from the pictures, the slab has been poured and the baptistry completed!

I heard from my uncle Roger at Maranatha that the steel frame will be in place over the next week. However, they are behind on the windows and doors and we will not be able to install them while we are there. However, everything else is in place for the construction.

I will continue to post more information as we have it!


Church members helping with the footers



Church members digging the water line



Water supply for the site


Completed slab - side (note the narrow side)


Completed slab


Completed stage and baptistry (note that it is completed this year!!)


completed stage


Completed slab (notice the view from the construction site!!)


Maranatha crew