Wednesday

Today, Wednesday, the masons were working when we arrived, and our sifted sand was already starting to get low! They are working on building the brick staircase so that it will no longer be necessary to climb up the scary, rickety wooden planks that we currently call a staircase.

There is plenty of singing, dancing, and laughing onsite. I wasn´t part of the dance party from earlier today, but I saw the video on someone´s camera. There were even more kids than usual today because it was a scheduled Shade and Fresh Water day, so we got to meet lots of new friends. Laiana was back...it was the first time we have seen her since last year.

One thing that our team talked about with the leaders here was purchasing some children´s Bibles for the project. They don´t have many books for the children yet, since the project is very new, and of course, we are particularly interested in making sure they have Bibles. A few of us went shopping this morning and bought 12 new Bibles, 10 children´s Bibles of different age levels, and two large print Bibles for adults who can´t read the smaller print. We made it back in time for lunch and put the Bibles to use immediately. Barbara and Rachel sat down after lunch and were read stories by Alex and Thiago from the brand new Bibles. They made it all the way through Adam and Eve in one sitting!

Last year when we were painting the sanctuary, Penny was asked to paint a Methodist cross and flame on the main wall of the sanctuary behind the altar. This year, she was asked to paint a mural around the cross and flame to give the wall a little more color. She has been working on this for the last few days, and it is really starting to look beautiful. She is painting a beach scene, with the ocean meeting the sky, sand dunes, and cacti. This is very appropriate for the context of this beach area. At first, there was a little anxiety when she started to put all the bright blue on the wall. But by this afternoon, the kids were all posing for photos in front of the mural and Pastor Pedro was taking photos with his cell phone to show to people. We all look forward to see the completed masterpiece, and it is amazing to watch it take shape and be born in front of our eyes.

We´re excited to see what tomorrow brings and ready for a good night of rest!

We send you our warmest love and greetings!