We spent the last two days working on our Habitat worksites. Below I will feature our four work teams that have not been in the blog yet. As I write this blog post on Friday morning, we are getting ready to eat breakfast, pack up, and leave our newly adopted home of Salama. It is a bittersweet departure for all of us. We will load up our buses and go to a nature reserve where we will see some flora and fauna that is indigenous to Guatemala. We will also have the opportunity to swim in some mountain streams under waterfalls. Then we have a marathon bus trip to Antigua, it will take us about 5 hours. When we get into Antigua this evening we will be having a fun dinner at a restaurant called Mono Loco (the crazy monkey.)
But enough about what we are GOING to do, let me share with you what we have been doing for the past two days. This blog post will be light on text and heavy on photos.
At the end of our work day on Wednesday, our van driver offered to take us up to an overlook to get a view of the whole valley. The road was one of the more interesting mountain road I have been on, enjoy the photos!
The driver and I joking and cheering as we make it down the road.
How could this view not bring to mind Isiah 40:31? But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
When we finally made it to the top of the hill there was a cross and a small overlook area. We stopped and enjoyed the view.
And what a view it was!
What a great view and a great looking group of kids!This is the workgroup that was led by Terri and Brian. They had an incredible time building at their site and getting to know the family they were building with.
Michael became the stone mason's helper, laying block and filling in the grout. Ususally the stone masons do not let us help with this skilled, detailed labor. But this mason was really impressed with our team's work ethic and attention to detail!
Michael became the stone mason's helper, laying block and filling in the grout. Ususally the stone masons do not let us help with this skilled, detailed labor. But this mason was really impressed with our team's work ethic and attention to detail!
There was also time to build relationships with the locals as you can see here.
Jennifer hauling a bucketful of cement. What a hard worker!
Big smiles, big hearts, and lifelong memories.
Andrew Mixing concrete. We all did a lot of this throughout the week. A LOT!
One of the many beautiful churches around Salama. This one has 120 steps you have to go up to reach it.
Another one of our great work teams, this one led by Brian and Rachel. Here you see the manly men, showing off their muscles.
The lovely ladies of the group
A group photo with the the group, the stone masons and the Habitat affiliate staff.
This was the stone mason for the group. He did and incredible job of keeping the group busy!
Rachel and Keri taking a water break. Because of the heat and humidity we took a lot of water breaks!
Cinder blocks in Guatemala have to be chiseled to fit over the rebar. Notice the safety goggles, SAFETY FIRST!
We had some helpers on our work site too. One look at this kiddo's smile, and we knew why we were here and what we were doing.
This is the team from the worksite led by Sue and me. Our sand pile (for mixing cement) was a little distance from where we actually mixed the cement, so we spent a lot of time shoveling sand into wheelbarrows and moving it across the worksite.
This is the work team, our stone mason and the Habitat staff. You can probably tell that our worksite was a little bit wet and swampy. I think the lot where we were building used to be wetlands. On Monday morning when the team arrived it had rained the night before. The trenches that had been dug for the foundation were filled with a foot of water. Our team built a drainage channel and dug a 4 foot deep hole. We drained off over 50 gallons of water with our little engineering project so that we could start pouring the foundation.
Despite our best attempts to drain some of the water off the worksite, it was a muddy, sloppy mess. All of our work pants looked like this at the end of the day and our work shoes were caked in mud.
We had a great shade tree on our worksite that made for a good place to take our breaks.
We also had a mascot on our site. The family we were building for had a 6 pound dog named "Osito" (Little bear.) He was very friendly. Any time any of us took a break, Osito was there to get some attention.
We usually had an audience wherever we went as a group. Here is an indigenous girl who really got a kick out of watching all the crazy gringos build a house in her country. She is standing outside her house made of mud and thatch.
I had to leave my wife and 6 month old daughter in the United States to lead this trip, so any time I saw a young child, I had to get my "baby fix." Most kids ended up crying when I talked with them or held them, but this little girl let me hold her for 10 minutes and it melted my heart. She is actually going to be living in one of the houses that our work teams were building. Her mother is a recipient of a Habitat house.
This is the group led by Graham and Laurie. Here you have the "manly men."
And here are the lovely ladies of the group. They were all hard workers and the locals commented on how tough and hard working our girls were!
This is the whole group with their stone mason and the Habitat staff. You can see the mountain behind them with lush vegitation. There was a road cut into the mountainside that looked like the fabled road to "El Dorado" so this group gave themselves the nickname of "El Dorado."
Their worksite had some visitors and playmates as well. This little guy loved climbing up and down the dirt piles.
Each one of our worksites was in a different location with a different feel. This team's worksite was almost a half mile from any paved road in a very rural, agricultural area. So each morning the team would have to hike into their worksite across a bridge and up a pretty steep trail.
Sam making rebar columns to help reinforce the structure of the house we were building. He is working side-by-side with one of the Guatemalan Habitat employees.
One of our fearless leaders, Graham. Graham also led our worship team each night. He provided a great example of Christian love and leadership on this trip.
Jennifer hauling a bucketful of cement. What a hard worker!
Big smiles, big hearts, and lifelong memories.
Andrew Mixing concrete. We all did a lot of this throughout the week. A LOT!
One of the many beautiful churches around Salama. This one has 120 steps you have to go up to reach it.
Another one of our great work teams, this one led by Brian and Rachel. Here you see the manly men, showing off their muscles.
The lovely ladies of the group
A group photo with the the group, the stone masons and the Habitat affiliate staff.
This was the stone mason for the group. He did and incredible job of keeping the group busy!
Rachel and Keri taking a water break. Because of the heat and humidity we took a lot of water breaks!
Cinder blocks in Guatemala have to be chiseled to fit over the rebar. Notice the safety goggles, SAFETY FIRST!
We had some helpers on our work site too. One look at this kiddo's smile, and we knew why we were here and what we were doing.
This is the team from the worksite led by Sue and me. Our sand pile (for mixing cement) was a little distance from where we actually mixed the cement, so we spent a lot of time shoveling sand into wheelbarrows and moving it across the worksite.
This is the work team, our stone mason and the Habitat staff. You can probably tell that our worksite was a little bit wet and swampy. I think the lot where we were building used to be wetlands. On Monday morning when the team arrived it had rained the night before. The trenches that had been dug for the foundation were filled with a foot of water. Our team built a drainage channel and dug a 4 foot deep hole. We drained off over 50 gallons of water with our little engineering project so that we could start pouring the foundation.
Despite our best attempts to drain some of the water off the worksite, it was a muddy, sloppy mess. All of our work pants looked like this at the end of the day and our work shoes were caked in mud.
We had a great shade tree on our worksite that made for a good place to take our breaks.
We also had a mascot on our site. The family we were building for had a 6 pound dog named "Osito" (Little bear.) He was very friendly. Any time any of us took a break, Osito was there to get some attention. 
We usually had an audience wherever we went as a group. Here is an indigenous girl who really got a kick out of watching all the crazy gringos build a house in her country. She is standing outside her house made of mud and thatch.
I had to leave my wife and 6 month old daughter in the United States to lead this trip, so any time I saw a young child, I had to get my "baby fix." Most kids ended up crying when I talked with them or held them, but this little girl let me hold her for 10 minutes and it melted my heart. She is actually going to be living in one of the houses that our work teams were building. Her mother is a recipient of a Habitat house.
This is the group led by Graham and Laurie. Here you have the "manly men."
And here are the lovely ladies of the group. They were all hard workers and the locals commented on how tough and hard working our girls were!
This is the whole group with their stone mason and the Habitat staff. You can see the mountain behind them with lush vegitation. There was a road cut into the mountainside that looked like the fabled road to "El Dorado" so this group gave themselves the nickname of "El Dorado."
Their worksite had some visitors and playmates as well. This little guy loved climbing up and down the dirt piles.
Each one of our worksites was in a different location with a different feel. This team's worksite was almost a half mile from any paved road in a very rural, agricultural area. So each morning the team would have to hike into their worksite across a bridge and up a pretty steep trail.
Sam making rebar columns to help reinforce the structure of the house we were building. He is working side-by-side with one of the Guatemalan Habitat employees.
One of our fearless leaders, Graham. Graham also led our worship team each night. He provided a great example of Christian love and leadership on this trip.All in all we had an incredible four days on our Habitat build sites. We built houses, but we also built relationships, which is just as important. Our youth are truly shining the love and light of Christ through their time here in Guatemala. They are all taking in the experiences, learning, laughing and loving.
We did a closing ceremony with each Habitat family on Thursday afternoon. The families thanked our group for being there and helping, and our kids all thanked the families for the opportunity to be there. A lot of us cried, tears of both happiness and saddness. I am amazed at the bonds that can be formed over cement and cinder blocks in four short days.
Thank you all for continuing to read the blog and for your continued prayers. As we prepare to load the buses to head out to Antigua, we can feel the power of those prayers surrounding us.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
-Prayers of thanksgiving for an incredible 4 days in Salama, for us staying safe on our worksites
-Please pray for health from stomach bugs
-Pray for safe travels as we cross the country today
-Pray for a continued spirit of service and Christ's love in each particpants heart
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