The guys have been working hard! building fence and a lean-to for an off sight missionary. And other odd jobs.  Justin has had the chance to use his welding skills. He made a harrow, and a metal fence. The women have mostly been working in the kitchen, and watching the kids, and hemming and patching pants. They also stainned a bunch of chairs for the dinning hall. That was messy! The guys found a little scorpian in the woodpile, and the ladies are so thankful that the men found it and not them. The team threw a little birthday party for one of our teammates, with a candle in a rice crispy treat. Very creative. It was a lot of fun to have that chance to bond. All in all everything is going great, everyone has been feeling fine, with the exception of a few back aches and exhaustion. But that is expected. We all enjoy being a help to these wonderful people, but we know that we will come home more changed by  them than they will by us.

The Prison

On Wednesday evening most of us went to the prison in Oaxaca. It was not what we expected. Those of us who had not been before where a little apprehensive about going, but where all  glad we went. The prison seemed more like avillage surounded by a big walls. They led us through the prison to a  little room that served as the church.  We listened as they sang praise songs and prayed in Spanish wishing we could join in.  They were all very grateful that we came to see them as they feel forgotten there.  It struck us how many times they thanked us for coming and thanked the Lord for sending us.  Everyone was so joyful and the presence of God was overwhelming.  There was a great freedom in that little room in the prison because the Lord has set the prisoners free in their hearts.  Some even said they were thankful to be in the prison because that is how they came to know the Lord.   We were very  thankful  for our interpreter  Ernesto!

Earthquake!

This morning at 2 23 AM we felt a good 15 second jolt.  Woke most of us up.  It was a 6.2 magnitude earthquake centered west of Oaxaca (we are located SE of Oaxaca).  In the guys room, Geoffrey said "earthquake" and Bret thought we were shaking the bed and playing a trick on him. 

Apparently they have earthquakes every couple of months, but this was stronger than most.  No damage around here, but it gave everyone something to talk about! 

Tuesdays work projects

After arriving late Monday we awoke and had breakfast with the children.  Jill, one of the house parents, showed us around the facility and gave us the rundown on the rules.  Then we all set off on various projects.  The ladies spent most of the day doing some deep cleaning in the kitchen as well as inventorying the donations that we brought down.  Later in the afternoon they had the opportunity to draw on the sidewalks using sidewalk chalk with some of the younger children.

The men started prefabricating a latrine that is going to be installed at a village a couple hours north of the childrens home.  They found this building project difficult because of the lack of dimension lumber and spent the vast majority of their time trying to make warped wood into something resembling 2 x 4s.  But be the end of the day they had the shell of the structure completed.

Tomorrow is the day that we will be visiting the state prison located in Oaxaca.  The prison houses nearly 2500 prisoners.  Stay tuned...

The "before" shot

The Idaho portion of the team met on 6/23 to finalize plans.  From the left: Bret, Loren, Justin, Tommy, Geoffrey, Phyllis. 

sheets and quilting stuff

As announced on Sunday at BBF:

The BBF group heading to the Children’s Home in Mexico is looking for donations of used flat sheets (any size).  The Children’s Home teaches quilting to women in the area, as well as in the women’s prison nearby.  They use the sheets for quilt backings.  (Their location in Oaxaca is far enough south that the trucked donations from US groups are not as common as the orphanages at nearer the border, so they are thankful for whatever donations we can cram into our luggage.)

If you have any sheets you’d like to donate, or any other misc. quilting supplies, drop it by the church and leave it in the library.  The group leaves next Sunday afternoon.