Eastwood Mission Trip 2008

Mission Trip 2008 Comes to a Close

2008-03-30T08:23:00.005-04:00

There will be no additional postings regarding Eastwood's 2008 Mission Trip to this blog. The postings for the 2008 trip will still be available. Simply click on the "January" and "February" links to the right to expand and view the posting titles.

Additionally, if you visit this site and view the comments, please beware of posts that have links in them, especially those that just say "click here". If you do not recognize the individual, DO NOT CLICK ON LINKS in the comments. I have done my best to delete comments from spammers, but I will not be checking this blog site until next year.

Until our 2009 trip, may God bless you abundantly.

Day 9: Sabbath in the New Church

2008-02-16T11:06:00.025-05:00

Feliz Sabato!

Here are pictures of the finished church.

As soon as everyone in our group arrived at church, we gathered in front of the church to get a group photo. About an hour after we arrived, the children and their parents began to arrive, and we had a packed church! Amazing, considering 80-90% of the attendees are non-Adventists!

Worship was led by the children. Celcilia, the school's principal, had a sermon on the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Following the sermon, a graduation ceremony was held for the children that attended VBS. It was really nice. The children all received an envelope that contained their crafts, their diplomas, and a DVD. Other children also received a Bible.

Following church service, we had a lunch of 5-bean chili and rice, potato salad, cole slaw, peas and corn, green beans, and carrot cake for dessert. After lunch, several in the group walked to the Arbortorium. Others took a nap.

At 5:30pm (3:30pm back home), the people from the church brought us homemade pizza for dinner and ice cream. Since the pizza was cold and needed to be warmed in the open, we had to eat the helados first!

In the church group are three engaged couples that were waiting for the church to built. Pictured below is one of those couples. This couple's romance started in junior high. Talk about childhood sweethearts! One of the engaged couples will also be the first to be baptized (not pictured). The Pastor promised to email us photographs of the baptisms, as well as the weddings!

Following dinner, the group sang songs in English and Spanish. The Pastor shared his thanks and the group presented us little tokens of appreciation. Needless to say, many hugs and tears were shed. Tissues, anyone?

To finish the day, we went to the view the sunset at the Pacific Ocean and hold Vespers. This was truly a God Moment to share upon our return! How beautiful the view was!

Tomorrow morning, we leave Valdivia and head for Pucon. Whether or not we will have internet access is unknown. So if nothing more is posted on the blog between now and our return, you'll know why.

We hope that God blessed your Sabbath day as much as He did ours!

Day 8: Friday

2008-02-15T14:10:00.020-05:00

Hallelujah and Amen!!! We finished the church today! I'll post pictures of the finished church tomorrow after Worship Service, but here are pictures from today's construction:

Jim & Ken installing the wood forms and metal anchors on the front wall (above).

Melvin, Denny and Lindsey getting ready to remove the stubborn plank (below).

Murray and Bill installing the final rebar cage (above).

Sue and Carolyn cleaning off the wood forms for the rear walls (below).

Jim on the scaffolding holding up the Tyvek as
Edgar (Maranatha) rolls it down the cross beams of the roof (below).

Dan Peters is in the roof, holding the Tyvek as the guys install
the tin on the opposite side. Stephanie & Denny wait patiently (below).

Yes, the 2x4 is holding the ladder in place (above).
Don't try this at home! (Disclaimer especially applies to Phill Camick.)

Stephanie holds the Tyvek down taut, as Denny pushes
the tin up for installation (below).

Edgar & Jim (both employed by Maranatha) drill the screws into the tin.

View of the church from the rear around noon (below).

Pastor and Jim look on as the roof is installed (above).

Roger hoses down the interior walls as one of the locals

helps to scrub the walls (below).

Ellie Hatch sweeps out the water in order to clean the church floor (above).

The crew works together to clean the interior of the church

in preparation for Sabbath Services (below).

Murray and Lois hold on to the ladder in the back of Roger's truck (above).

They have to make sure that the ladder does not fall out,

as Roger drives to the store to return it.

Happy Sabbath, Everyone!!! Can’t wait to see everyone next Sabbath.

Interested in posting a comment, but aren't sure how? To add a comment, simply scroll to the very bottom of the page. After the entry, there is a line that tells what time the entry was posted, and to the right of that is "# comments" (where # is a number). Click on it and it will lead to a page that will show you the comments others have left, as well as provide an area in which you can leave your comment. After entering your comment, you can leave your name by selecting the middle option for "Nickname" and enter your name in the space that follows it. Then just click on "Publish Your Comment".

Day 7: Thursday

2008-02-14T22:22:00.016-05:00

I can’t believe today is Thursday. Time is flying. I got more video than pictures today, but a lot was completed. We even impressed Roger with our progress!

Today the remaining wood forms were installed on the long walls and the grout was poured.

The guys also began to install the Tyvak paper and tin roof. Approximately 12 feet of the roofing was laid today.

VBS was packed with children today – approximately 80 kids attended. Better yet – nearly 80% of the children attending are non-Adventists. The VBS Crew has had answers to prayer – they purchased 40 Spanish Bibles and 120 Christian animation DVDs. Amen!

For lunch, the VBS kids were served corkscrew pasta noodles with chicken and white sauce, and prunes for dessert. Yes, prunes! Again, my kids would never have eaten prunes at that age. Then again, they still refuse...in fact, so do I! ;)

Dinner this evening was absolutely awesome! The tables & room were decorated by Sue & Anne Bolen for the Valentine holiday, and Tammy & Sylvia purchased red carnations for the table vases. We had homemade lasagna, broccoli, cauliflower, tossed salad, and dinner rolls. Dessert was homemade rice pudding (one of my favorites), and 2 homemade cakes. Again, no one is losing weight on this trip!!! Following dinner, Suzy Q’s led the group in some Valentine’s Day activities. As usual, we got a little carried away, but we all had a great time.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

Newspaper Article on VBS

2008-02-14T21:49:00.003-05:00

Escuela de verano está en marcha

Hasta el domingo 17 de febrero, entre las 9:30 y las13 horas, se realizan diversas actividades orientadas a niños de 5 a 14 años de toda la comunidad valdiviana.

Y está en marcha la tradicional "Escuela de Verano" que cada año realiza la Iglesia Adventista en conjunto con el colegio perteneciente a la misma congregación. La actividad comenzó el pasado lunes, a las 9:30 horas de la mañana, con la llegada de niños entre 5 a 14 años.

Para inscribirse sólo es necesario realizar un aporte consistente en materiales que son usados durante las jornadas de aprendizaje. Sin embargo, quienes no puedan cumplir con este requisito, también serán incorporados a la actividad.

Hasta el momento ya se cuenta un total de 100 pequeños por día, los que acuden al Colegio Adventista a pasar una mañana distinta, en la que pueden disfrutar de juegos, manualidades y enseñanzas sobre la vida y obra de Jesús.

Durante la jornada los niños, reciben desayuno cuando llegan y antes de irse comparten el almuerzo. Los participantes de la "Escuela de Verano" son divididos en dos grupos, según las edades.

Las distintas actividades son guiadas por monitores, estudiantes de enseñanza media y universitarios, además se encuentran participando cinco mujeres pertenecientes al grupo de la Congregación Adventista.

El programa de actividades también considera a los padres de los menores, quienes a las 12:30 horas pueden participar en distintos cursos.

OBJETIVOS
"La idea principal es enseñarles a los niños las cosas que son buenas y malas en la vida, a través de la vida de Jesús e historias que dejan una moraleja", expresó la directora de la "Escuela de Verano", Cecilia Quirapán.

Al finalizar la experiencia estival, los participantes recibirán un diploma que les acredita haber participado. La entrega será el sábado, mientras que el domingo podrán compartir un desayuno para después pasar a los juegos.

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Summer School is in Progress

Until Sunday, the 17th of February, a variety of activities will be provided to the entire community of Valdivia between 9:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. for children of the ages 5 to 14 years old.

The traditional "Summer School" the Adventist Church, as well as the school of the same denomination, provides every year is in progress. The activities began last Monday, at 9:30 a.m., with children of the ages between 5 to 14 years attended.

A small contribution is requested to cover the cost of the materials that are used during the days of learning is requested. However, those who cannot contribute are still invited to attend.

At the present time, 100 children are anticipated to come to the Adventist School daily each morning, in which they can enjoy games, crafts, and learn about the life and work of Jesus.

Children that come will receive breakfast, as well as lunch before leaving. The participants of the "Summer School" are divided in two groups, according to age.

The different activities are supervised by monitors, students of secondary education and university students, and five Adventist women.

OBJECTIVE:
The director of the "Summer School", Cecilia Quirapán, indicated that, "The principal idea is to teach to the children the things that are good and bad in life by instructing them in the lessons and principles of Jesus’ life".

Upon completion, participants will receive a diploma. The commencement ceremony will be held on Saturday. On Sunday, they will be able provided breakfast that will be followed by games.

http://www.australvaldivia.cl/prontus4_nots/antialone.html?page=http://www.australvaldivia.cl/prontus4_nots/site/artic/20080213/pags/20080213000623.html

Newspaper Article on Church Construction

2008-02-14T21:37:00.004-05:00

Desde Estados Unidos

Un total de 28 personas provenientes de Estados Unidos, integran el grupo "Maranata" (del hebreo Cristo viene), que se encuentra en la ciudad.

La agrupación perteneciente a la Iglesia Adventista, se dedica a financiar distintos proyectos, como iglesias y colegios que después ellos mismos construyen.

En Valdivia se encuentran levantando una nueva Iglesia Adventista, que se ubicará en el terreno donde está el Colegio Adventista.

Para el próximo domingo se encuentra planificada la inaguración del recinto, por lo cual se invita a toda la comunidad a participar del evento, día también en que el grupo dejará la ciudad.

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From the United States

A group of 28 people from the United States from "Maranatha", (which means “O Lord Come” in Greek), are in the city.

The Adventist Church group devotes themselves to financing different projects, like churches and schools that they later construct themselves.

In Valdivia, they are building a new Adventist Church, which will be located in the area near the Adventist School.

The inauguration of the enclosure is planned for the next Sunday, which the whole community is invited to take part. The group will also leave the city that day.

http://www.australvaldivia.cl/prontus4_nots/antialone.html?page=http://www.australvaldivia.cl/prontus4_nots/site/artic/20080213/pags/20080213000627.html

Day 6: Wednesday

2008-02-14T20:07:00.028-05:00

Okay, okay, I know. I'm sorry, but I was too tired to stay up and write today's blog. However, I have a lot to update.

First of all, here are the pictures from the beginning of the work day on Wednesday morning. You can see the progress we made. The remaining brick was laid on the front and side walls, the door to the baptismal tank was installed, and Stephanie spent a good hour or so cleaning the mess Melvin left behind from laying the brick.

The rebar cages were installed today. This took a lot of coordination and effort. First, tar paper had to be cut just slightly less than the width of the brick. It was then laid tight across the tops of the brick. In order to accommodate the rebar extensions, slits were cut into the tar paper using razor knives and the tar paper was stretched over the rebar. The trick was doing this and keeping the tar paper taut. Today was a windy day, so those laying the tar paper would create “U” clamps out of wire and push them into the tar paper into the block. If the tar paper was cut too far, the crew used duct tape to “paste” the paper back together.

As the tar paper was laid, rebar cages were wired together and then cut appropriately, so that they fit the entire length of the walls. This made the cages heavy and awkward to install. It took several in the group, about 10 people to lift the cages from the ground as they climbed the scaffolding, and installed the cages over the rebar extensions. Sometimes, the cages would not fit because an extended rebar should have been placed on the opposite side of a cage section, so the entire cage (for just the respective wall) would have to be lifted up and shifted in order to fit over the extensions appropriately. Once installed, the cages were tied to every rebar extension in 3 places. Once one side was completed, the group moved to the next wall, but 4 people began installing the wood used to form the concrete cap above the brick.

The rear wall of the baptistery was cut at a 45 degree angle. You can see Melvin cutting away at the chalk line in the first photo below. Next is a photo of Pastor Grahn using a hammer and chisel to knock out the extra brick. The final photo of the three shows the finished product. Not bad, eh?

By the way, has anyone seen “El Jefe” (aka “Melvin”) lately???

The children that are attending VBS were entertained today by a group known as “Mis Amigos” (aka “My Friends”). Needless to say, they had a great time watching the group and singing along. Even Lynn and Helen got into the action!

The lunch that the school serves is quite a bit different than what we would serve in the States. Today, they had mashed potatoes…with scrambled eggs on top. They were also served a chopped tomato and chopped onion salad, bread, and a dessert. It amazed me how many of the young children loved the chopped tomato and chopped onion salad. I know my kids would have never eaten the onions at that age!

Dinner tonight was a stew made of leftover chops, potatoes, and a variety of mixed vegetables. It was extremely good. We also had homemade bread, fresh tossed salad, and tapioca pudding for dessert. And yes, a couple of us still went out for helados (ice cream) afterwards!

Following dinner, the school board members met to work on EJA’s upcoming accreditation paperwork. While others in the group went into town and shopped at the artisan shops.

Here’s an exciting piece of news… the local newspaper, “Diario Austral de Valdivia”, visited the construction site and VBS earlier this week. There was an article about the construction of the church and VBS in today’s paper (which Helen Wippel bought the remaining copies of from the newspaper stand). Isn’t that just too cool?!

I'll post the articles and their respective translations on another page of the blog. Just click on the link on the upper right of the page.

Interested in posting a comment, but aren't sure how? To add a comment, simply scroll to the very bottom of the page. After the entry, there is a line that tells what time the entry was posted, and to the right of that is "# comments" (where # is a number). Click on it and it will lead to a page that will show you the comments others have left, as well as provide an area in which you can leave your comment. After entering your comment, you can leave your name by selecting the middle option for "Nickname" and enter your name in the space that follows it. Then just click on "Publish Your Comment". Simple as that. :)

Day 5: Tuesday

2008-02-12T19:36:00.000-05:00

Well, today was a long day. We got a lot accomplished though.

One side wall is completely done, and the other has about half the blocks laid on the last course. One to two courses are still needed on the front wall. The remaining side wall and the front wall should be completed tomorrow. The rear wall and the baptistery wall, each have about 4 courses to go.

Here are pictures of the building as of this morning before we began working.

And as the day progressed:

What a mess! Guess who laid the brick on the bapistry walls? (above)

One reason Brent Ruth and his crew did not finish the last course today (below). ;)

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The rebar that was tied at the bapistry opening (below).
The top will be capped off with concrete.

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Bill Antle carrying wood planks to build up the scaffolding (above).

Stacey Hatch removing soaked blocks from the 55-gallon drum (below).

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Murray Holmes shoveling and sifting sand for the mud and grout (above).

Murray definitely made a dent in the sand (below).

In fact, Roger Hatch had to go and purchase another truck bed full today.

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Pallets of brick (below).
There was double the pallets when we first started.

Tomorrow, we hope to finish laying the bricks for the remaining side walls. After that, we will begin to cap off the top course will concrete. This may take most of the day.

Our hope is to begin the roof by tomorrow afternoon or first thing Thursday morning. We’ve been told that there has been no group that has completed the roofing in one day. One reason is that Tyvek paper must be laid from one side to the peak to the other side, and the tin is laid on top. This is because the Chilean’s heat their churches during the winter with fire. If the Tyvek paper was not laid, the tin would condense and the water drops would fall upon the congregation.

VBS had approximately 60 children attended yesterday, and about 75 attended today. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take pictures of the children today, but here are a couple of pictures of the bulletin boards that the VBS Team are using.

Paul has been busy dispensing eyeglasses. Every morning, he leaves with the construction crew and begins his work day. (The VBS Team starts an hour later than the construction crew.) There are usually several people already waiting for him. Today was no different.

Manuel (in yellow hat on left) helps translate for Paul Wippel.

And here is a picture of our Kitchen Crew: Tammy, Sylvia, Nancy Roberts, and Jean Long. The meals have been great. We’ve had quite a variety of meals from homemade gluten cakes, French toast, homemade burger patties, potatoes, beets, tapioca pudding, peach cobbler, homemade bread, oatmeal, haystacks, fruit salad, and on and on and on. None of us seem to be losing weight on this trip!

As promised here is a picture of a couple of the sea lions. The one lying down was sleeping when we arrived and began snoring! It was so funny!

And here is a picture of some of the artisan shops. Can you find Sue and Anne Bolen?

Day 4: Monday

2008-02-11T15:20:00.000-05:00

There isn't much to say about construction today. Our crew was a little smaller than normal, but we made excellent progress. At this point, we should be able to complete the church building by Friday. Below are some pictures from this morning, before we began working.

We managed to lay courses 8, 9 & 10. The baptismal walls are taking longer to grout than was anticipated. It took nearly 2 hours to pour the top course laid yesterday. The mud is just too wet and soft to hold the grout. Hopefully, this will get better tomorrow. Once again, Pastor wins the "Most Dirtiest Award".

And this was by lunch time!

Today was the first day of VBS. The VBS Crew (Helen Wippel, Lynn Sears, Anne Bolen, and Rosalie Peters) weren't expecting many children, but our God is an AWESOME GOD, and many children attended. They were hoping for at least 100 children, and I'd say they were almost there.

VBS children playing a game (above).

Rosalie Peters instructing some of the volunteers (below).

VBS children completing their craft projects (above and below).

One of the children enjoying helados (ice cream).
Isn't she beautiful?

And last but not least, Paul Wippel. Many people having been coming to get their eyes checked for glasses. Some have glasses already. He distributed 51 pairs on Sunday, and is nearly out of the low numbered glasses after today. Once again, he plans on going out in town to purchase some more.

Day 3: Sunday

2008-02-10T20:17:00.000-05:00

Today, VBS finished setting up their program in the school and the church construction continued. Quite of bit of progress was made on the building today. We were blessed with the help of several of the soon-to-be church members, the school’s chaplain, as well as the principal. In fact, construction managed to complete six courses on the side walls, courses 7 & 8 on the front wall, and courses 2 & 3 on the baptismal wall.

To avoid more Lyme burns, Lois wore latex rubber gloves under her normal work gloves. Others used latex gloves under their normal work gloves. This seemed to work really well.

Lois Ruth's gloves (above).

Striking and cleaning of the block continued. We are using several different types of strikers, i.e. pvc piping with a 90 degree and 45 degree elbow, copper piping with a 45 degree elbow, etc. The crew agrees that the best tool to strike with is pictured below.

Preferred striking tool (above).

Stephanie Hatch striking the brick with one of the
copper tubes with a 45 degree elbow (above).

Ken "No One Can Pronounce His Last Name" cleaning off the bricks
with water and a sponge (above).

Rebar is very different from the typical concrete blocks we have used for previous church builds. There are 3 different sizes: 12mm, 10mm, and 8mm. Two sizes are used for the vertical extensions. The 12mm are used next to the windows, doors, and in the corners. The 10mm are used in between. We haven’t used the 8mm yet. We had to cut 64 five foot pieces of the 12mm, and 47 five foot pieces of the 10mm. The “L’s” are not provided, so I had to make the corner “L’s” by cutting the rebar in 48” pieces and using the rebar bender to bend it in half. However, I don’t need to make little “L’s” this year, since the window frames are different.

The mesh is different than I imagined, and much easier to lie than I thought it would be. The hard part is getting it over the vertical rebar and electrical piping so that it lays on the block properly. The mesh is laid every third coursing, and is simply laid over the top of the course, centered, and the next coursing of brick is laid on top.

Wire mesh and vertical rebar (above).

The rebar cages are coming along. Several of the soon-to-be church members worked on building the rebar cages that will be used as the last row over the doors and windows. A total of 10 need to be made, and they have to be tied together in a specific way. Once made and in place, grout will be poured in order to create concrete caps.

Soon-to-be church members and the Maranatha Jefe, in the center,
building the rebar cages (above).

Close up of a rebar cage (below).
The four corner rebars use 12mm and the two center use 10mm rebar.
Ties must be doubled and tied in a figure eight.

The Grout Crew has been busier than usual today, especially since Melvin began laying the brick for the baptismal wall. When grouting the baptismal wall, every single hole of the brick must be filled. This is to make the wall stronger to hold the water. Needless to say, filling every hole is very time consuming, and the crew has tried several different ways to accomplish this task. Since the blocks are very porous, the Maranatha Team will have to prime and seal the baptismal walls once they are completed in order to avoid water leaks.

Pouring grout with the measuring cup (above).

Pastor Grahn pouring grout into the side wall of baptismal tank (below).

Keeping up with soaking the bricks for the brick layers proved to be another challenge today. Each barrel will hold approximately 18-20 bricks. Six bricks are laid upright at the bottom of the barrel. Four bricks are then stacked normally with their holes up, three times. Sometimes, if the water level is full, you can place a couple of more bricks on top. The water must be replaced on a frequent basis, which is provided by repeatedly carrying 5-gallon buckets full of water and dumping the water into the barrels until they are full. Soaking the bricks and keeping up with the brick layers tomorrow should be a little easier. This is significant, because several sections of the walls have now been taken up by the windows, and will cut down on the number of bricks needed.

Roger Hatch looks on as the Maranatha construction foreman
begins the installation of the window frames.
Eventually, glass will be inserted into the frames (above).

Installation of the the window frames (below).

Unfortunately, we ran out of cement and Lyme about an hour before our normal quitting time. However, this worked out relatively well, because additional block can’t be laid until the windows are in place. So while we spent the rest of the time cleaning up the building and surrounding area, the Maranatha Crew began installing the windows. By the way, do you like the scaffolding?

Yes, seriously. Scaffolding of saw horses and wood planks
in front of the building goes up (above).

Day 2: Sabbath

2008-02-09T20:53:00.000-05:00

Thank the Lord for the Sabbath!

Several of us woke up a little sore and a little red from the sunburn we received from working yesterday, but overall, we were happy the Sabbath had arrived and were excited to be worshipping with the people we are building the church for. In fact, Brenda was so excited that she woke up at 4:00 a.m. and got ready!

Actually, Pops had set the alarm for what he thought was 6:00 a.m. When the alarm went off this morning, Brenda got up, took her shower, and finished getting ready for church. She looked at her watch to see what time it was, as she thought she should wake up Pops so that he could get ready, only to find out that it was 4:30 a.m. Happy she wasn’t! Instead of going back to bed, she sat in a chair in the room and read. At 5:15, Pops wakes up, sees her sitting across the room, and asks Brenda what time it was. After she told him, he simply said, “Oh.”, and proceeded to roll over and snore. Too funny!!! Pops says he has figured out the problem, and it shouldn’t happen tomorrow morning. All I can say is that if it does, Brenda will not be a happy camper! :)

Well we all made it to church, which was held in the school. The school is only a year old and is owned by the government, but the Adventist Church School is able to rent it. The government is highly supportive of education, so they subsidize the school and pay the teachers’ salaries. In fact, the government is paying for the children’s breakfasts and lunches during Vacation Bible School.

There were several first-time visitors at the church for worship this morning. That was great to see! There are several colporteurs here that are going door to door, and some are learning to speak English. Manuel speaks English relatively well, and even translated Pastor Grahn’s sermon. Jim Fortner and Karen Hatch led out special music with “We Have This Hope”, and it sounded wonderful!

Our new friends saying, "Hola".

We returned to the hotel for a haystack lunch, and then followed it with a walk to the river. There are several artisan shops river, as well as the open farmer’s and fish market. We didn’t go through the artisan shops, but we did walk through the market. It was really neat to see all the fresh fish, and the fresh fruits and vegetables. The vegetables were GIGANTIC. Melvin and Karen had brought back pictures in October from their stake-out visit, but it’s difficult to imagine and it’s nothing like seeing the real thing. Brenda and I saw a bag of green peas, and were blown away by their size. They were about the size of a chick pea.

Carrots at the market.
Stubby (about the length of my hand), but the fattest end was about 2-1/2" in diameter.

The best part of the market was that there were GIGANTIC sea lions. There were 3 sitting on the dock trying to get the fishmongers to throw them some food. One was in the water that would jump up and try to catch fish for his dinner. Another was just floating in the river, taking a swim. It was really cool to see them in the wild! (I tried taking pictures, but they kept ducking into the water before I could get them. I have video, and will attempt to take some more pictures later this week.)

On the way back to the hotel, we walked through the center of town, where there was an artist painting with spray paint and stencils. It was really neat how he would just spray the colors and use a torn sheet from the yellow pages or stencils to create a design on the canvas. (I had problems uploading photos of the process.) After he was done, the artist gave the finished painting to Rosalie Peters for free. How cool was that!

The finished artwork.

About an hour later, most of the group went to a local orphanage to visit the children. Many of the children were shy at first, but soon warmed up to the group. Lynn Sears had several sitting around her as she played with them. Of course, Brenda found a baby right away.

A few others went to a musical program held by the colporteurs at the school. Lois Ruth made her American Idol debut! A few others went to a farm for evening vespers. Denny Leckron managed to convince his daughter, Lindsay, to climb up and down a makeshift ladder. (No worries, Becky. He said he took video just for you!)

I guess that’s about it for today. It definitely was a full day, and a great Sabbath. Oh, before I forget…just an update on Lois…she has a couple of minor Lyme burns on her left hand. Nothing serious. Pops has doctored her with acetone treatments and Neosporin.

Well, I guess I better quit for now. It’s really late here and we have to get up early for work.

Day 1: Friday

2008-02-08T20:04:00.000-05:00

After an oatmeal breakfast (Taylor's favorite) and morning worship, we began loading up the van and headed off to the job site. The van was packed with about 13 people (including the driver) and all the tools. You could hear and feel the van bottom out a couple of times.

There is some similarity to what we have done in the past compared to what we are doing this year, but there are more steps involved that cause this job to be more time consuming. This year, we are laying brick vs. concrete blocks. This is much nicer as the blocks are easier to carry and handle. However, the bricks have to be soaked in water for 10-15 minutes in 55-gallon barrels before they can be used. We are using two barrels, which hold between 10-15 bricks each. You know when the bricks are ready to be removed from the water when the bubbles stop rising to the top. Once removed from the water, the soaked bricks must be laid within an hour or they dry out and must be re-soaked.

Bricks soaking in the 55-gallon barrels (above).

Each row of brick must be grouted, so the Grout Team was kept extremely busy. They had some problems with the initial pouring, but Karen Hatch went out and purchased a couple of measuring cups that have worked out really well. To top it off, each row of brick must be washed down and then the team must strike the block. The purpose of striking the block is to smooth the surface of the concrete and gives it a more finished look. This step is new to many of us this year. Cleaning and striking takes a lot of time. Of course, when you clean the top row of bricks, you have to re-clean all the bottom rows of bricks due to the falling grout. This is extremely important to the aesthetics, as the building will not be finished in stucco like our previous buildings.

Lois and Ken cleaning and striking the brick (above).

The Grout Team trying different methods to pour the grout (above).

Second row of bricks laid, cleaned, and struck (above). Looks nice doesn't it?

We got quite a bit finished for our first day. Many of us are sore and extremely tired. No one was injured, which is always a plus. Albeit, Lois has a few concrete burns on her hands, but Pops "doctored" her up, and she's good as new. The Vacation Bible School Crew stopped by the school to set up VBS, and then returned to the hotel to finish some planning items.

Before I forget, the Wippel's luggage arrived today. The Holmes's luggage was supposed to arrive at the same time, but when the luggage was retrieved from the airport, it wasn't there. The airlines is supposed to deliver it later tonight, though.

So far the trip has been a good one. The day is not too hot or too cold, which makes the work day extremely nice. We even get some gusty breezes every once in a while. One final note before I sign off today -- Pastor gets today's award for being the most dirty!

Pastor Grahn covered from head to toe in red brick dust.

Happy Sabbath, Everyone! God Bless!

Finally Here

2008-02-07T14:11:00.000-05:00

Well, we have all finally made it to Valdivia! Some were a little late, but we are all here now safe and sound.

I did wear the infamous "hot pink" shirt. Yuck! (See my eyes rolling?) As promised, I did make changes. I added ". . ." to the front, and on the back I added a disclosure:

What's it say you ask? "al menos el piensa tan!" -- in other words, "That's what he thinks!"

I had some really good suggestions, i.e. "Because I have more hair than he does", "Because he eats more ice cream than me", "Because he first loved me", and inserting "no" in the front so that it read "mi no encante mi jefe" (I don't love my boss.)

We all made it through Port Columbus without any mishaps. In fact, we were able to check our luggage all the way to Chile. That made it nice when we landed at JFK. Once at JFK, we only needed to focus on getting our tickets from New York to Valdivia.

In New York, all but nine of us were able to obtain our boarding passes from JFK to Santiago, and from Santiago to Valdivia. The nine were only able to get boarding passes from JFK to Santiago. Who were the nine you ask? The Castways, who else? The original cast, plus 3 new shipmates -- Jim & Brenda Fortner, Bill & Kathy Antle, Brent & Lois Ruth, Murray & Stephanie, and Stacey Hatch. So in the 2 hour lay over, the nine of us had to get our boarding passes from Santiago to Valdivia after we bought our Visas, cleared immigration, and declared our ketchup, mustard & mayo packets through customs.

When we got to the ticket counter, the agent told Pops that the 9 of us were not confirmed on our return flight. Not a good thing. So, the agent had to remedy the problem. In the meantime, Stephanie & Murray Holmes and Helen & Paul Wippel were filling out lost baggage claims. The Holmes's lost one bag; the Wippel's lost two. It took so long to fix our ticket issues that the plane was being held for us to board. Unfortunately, by the time Helen & Paul finished filing their claim, the flight had been closed for passengers, and they had to take the next available flight. Needless to say, they were nervous being left behind, but our God is an awesome God! Dan & Rosalie Peters appeared in the ticket line shortly after our flight left for Valdivia. So the four of them were able to arrive together on Thursday evening. Praise God!

Pretty in Pink

2008-01-30T11:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, here it is....the infamous shirt Melvin expects me to wear on Wednesday when we leave for Chile. Personally, I believe it looks much better on Bill. Any ideas on how the shirt can be "corrected" are greatly appreciated!

Getting Ready

2008-01-17T15:58:00.000-05:00

Well, there is only 3 weeks to go and everyone is getting pretty excited about going. This year, we will be traveling to Valdivia, Chile. According to Pastor Grahn, it is far south of the equator as Columbus is north.

Melvin and Karen Hatch staked out the city back in August 2007 in order to locate housing and eating facilities, as well as visiting the construction site. While there, Melvin sent us pictures and emails from his "strawberry lap held device".

Here is a picture Melvin sent of the stairs leading up to Brent & Lois Ruth's and Jim "Pops" & Brenda Fortner's rooms.

These are pictures Melvin sent of the Korean McDonald's and Starbucks knock-off:

As you can see, El Jefe is at it once again.

Oh yeah, before I forget...This year everyone, but me, got a white polo shirt with "Valdivia, Chile 2008" and a penguin embroidered on the left side. I, on the other hand, have a "special" t-shirt that Melvin designed especially for me. It's hot pink with "mi encante mi el jefe" imprinted on it -- translation: "I love my boss". Yuck! I will have to post a picture. In the meantime, I'm placing it on ebay for the lowest bidder! Any takers? :)