Day 6
Work
Not gonna lie, we had some hard work to do today and it got done. We made concrete with a machine (adding buckets of sand, rocks & water plus a bags of concrete) poured it out, shoveled it into buckets and then made a link to get the buckets to the roof where some team members were putting it out. The “roof” will actually end up being a floor for another room sometime down the road. They say it will take 2 years to finish. Serious work. And the team was awesome. Simply awesome. Everyone was covered in gook, sweaty and making it happen. At the end we needed to fill a big hole/pole area with concrete and it started raining and we finished filling the hole in the rain. Good times. Not sure I ever thought I would love working in the rain so much, but as hot as it is here, it was a refreshing break.
It’s cool to think about what God might do in those rooms one day. It’s cool to think of those of you who gave and are praying to make this happen. Your investment is in that floor. I could not be more proud of this team. They are working their booties off and I think God is using it in cool ways. So, so, so proud of each of them.
It’s also cool to see what a team of 13 year old students are capable of. There have been times this week when I’ve forgotten that they are just 13- they have been work horses and amazing. (Of course there are times when I’m reminded they are 13 too!) They really have been awesome and I think for many of the guys they might have had a “validation” moment or two in the midst of construction.
Tour
We took a guided bus tour of some of the sights of Merida tonight. A sad thing was how many “old” churches were shown to us. It’s sad because of how in many ways dead the church is in this city. It makes me more excited for our friends at Shalom and all the hard work they are doing to be a place to lead people into a growing relationship with God. It was fun time though- it was an open air bus and it was a good relaxing time after an intense day of work. The bus made a quick stop at a mall and everyone enjoyed looking around for a few minutes. I made a purchase of an “el jefe” hat. That means “the boss.” That’s what the locals call the team leader and I’ve not been called that much this week- some folks on the team said I needed to get a good “el jefe” hat. So I found one at the mall and am not sporting it. I kinda like it.
After that we hit up Shalom again for dinner (tamales & some crazy good potato stuff). We’ve noticed most meals are simple meat and potato. Not a lot of salad, vegetables, or fruit… the ladies on the team are ready for a salad. I think the thing folks miss the most is some ice cold sweet tea. I’ve actually started taking a little liking to the local coffee brew. Shocking, I know…. I said little.
We finished up with a quick team meeting and some called it a night. A few folks walked a couple of blocks to a cool square in downtown Merida. It was cool walking and taking in a bit of the city at night. Also scored some great local ice cream and a decaf americano from the “Italian Coffee Company” in Mexico. I know. We are all drinking a ton of water to stay hydrated so something different is a welcome thing. I’m only letting the students drink sodas at meals, not during the work hours and they’ve been great about that.
We go back to construction in the morning and then tomorrow afternoon we take a long road trip to a massive sinkhole that you can jump into. Then we have our last team meal… the last supper if you will. I’m excited about taking some time as a team to stop, think, and share about some of the things God has been teaching us- yet I’m sad to almost be done with this team. I’ve grown to love every member of this team- all 18 are great, great people.
Not sure if I’ll be able to update tomorrow night- we have a long day and leave in the middle of the night for the airport for a long, long day of travel. We leave the hotel at 4:30 am and won’t be in Atlanta until after 6:00 pm. I might not update again until Saturday night- but I will post about the rest of our trip then.
On that note- I wanted to publicly thank Mama Carr for staying at my house this week and watching the Murph. Thanks mom! I’m honored by your service!
Can’t wait to see my boy! I’ve been gone a lot lately and it was cool to have someone be able to stay with him this week.
Also- thanks to all for your kind emails, facebook messages sending thoughts and prayers our way. It really has sustained us. Keep it up for another day and a half! Pray for strength tomorrow, wisdom to hear from what God is telling us and safe travel home. Talk to you soon friends…