Today was another great day. It was a bit on the cold side, with some rain, but nothing too bad. I think it was about 40 something degrees today.
Today we all met up at the church we will be working with during the trip. We all had breakfast then got to work.
The work we did today was painting the inside of the church, which included the main room and a smaller room (the size of a closet). Everyone worked hard!
Most the girls on the team painted the fence at the front of the property, then went inside and worked on and painted some games for the children in the town.
There wasnt a ton of work for us to do yet so the guys and I found a "fooseball" table and had a mini "fooseball" tourny. We had two brackets of 4 and played to there was a final two. Colin Huges made it to the finals against one of the missionaries here, but alass, Colin was defeated. I was really dissappointed in Colin. ;-)
We then had lunch and then went on a walk with the Pastor of the church to the new church location. When we got there he told us of his dreams for the propery and what the work we wil be doing on sai prepoerty in the up coming weeks.
The church we are working with is currently in a house. The church has a property, which we will be working this trip.We will be moving and digging up the existing dirt to make it level. This will allow the chileans to dig the footings in weeks to come, and then start pouring the concrete.
I know this work is going to be hard for our students, but that actually makes me really happy. :-) I love seeing our kids get there hands dirty, which allows them to all become broken. Then they all get a sense of how God can move in this world in such a real way.
I believe that some of our students are so blessed they don't understand or maybe they just have never seen the work that is needed in life to accomplish things. Either way I know that we brought a team of amazing young people to do this kind of work.
Here is a little recap of how each of your kiddos are doing:
1) Jazzy- She is doing great. Always smiling and having a great attitude. I thought that there was no way mama and papa "V" could of raised another kid as awesome as Rudy.... Well I was wrong. Jazzy is as awesome of a young person as her brother Rudy.
2) Heather-Again, always smiling and having a great attitude. Its funny because even the chileans tease her for being short. :-)
3)Chelsea- Actually doing soooo well and working so hard. I didnt know Chelsea that well coming on this trip and man has she been a blessing since being here.
4) Haley- She is doing awesome. This is such a different world for her but you would never know by watching her. She loves on all the kids running around and works so hard.
5) Matt- A stud. Pretty much all I can say about him. In him I dont feel like I have a student here but a friend.
6) Jeremy- As solid as it gets. I would never tell him, but man I love this kid. Just a quality person through and through.
7) Phillip- He is doing well. I believe the travel probably took the hardest toll on him. He never complained once but you could tell that he was exausted. Today he came to the church with a great attitude and was the great Phillip we all know and love.
8) Sam- What a joy this guy is. Everyone loves him and he is just such a great young man as well. Again, another guy i feel like isnt a student but just a old friend of mine.
9) Colin- He hasnt stopped making us laugh yet. He is soooo funny. He brings so many smiles to our group and the chilean people.
10) Daniel and Natalie- To say that they are both doing great would be a huge understatement. Daniel is walking around like a 5 year old boy and Disneyland. (If you didnt know daniel lived here for a year and has always wanted to come back to visit.) Natalie has been amazing as well. Everyone loves her and she is always good to crack a halarious joke when the group needs one. Not to mention the fact that you can always find natalie dancing when you are looking.
11) My wife, Landon and I- We are doing well. Landon is officially the cutest kid ever. (No one told me that, i just feel that way.) ;-) Nicolle is honestly the best woman ever. She works, holds the kid, and laugh and talks with everyone on the team. I get tired just watching her. She is an amazing woman and has such an amazing heart. I wouldnt be able to do anything i do if my wife wasnt always right next to me being the woman of God that she is. I doing great too. There is a huge part of me that feels at home here. I think it helps so much that we are blessed to bring the best students ever uear with us. Its like traveling with the "perfect family."
Thank you all for your prayers. Please continue and know that the kids are doing Gods work. I will be having different students posting blogs through out our time here.
So good night and we love you all.
