In the village, we had five more houses to build. We started with two that were on the side of a mountain, very very high up. It was quite a hike! The post hole digging was extremely difficult; the house sites were basically carved out of a mountainside. As hard as it was, our team was still able to get 4 1/2 houses done, even with a lower number of our team in the village building. God provided lots of energy and motivation for a hard work day in the sun! Thankful for no injuries or sickness on this long day!
In the market, items were purchased for the house warming gifts. This included things such as baskets, brooms, laundry soap, rope for clothes line, and large tubs for water. These are all things that seem non-essential or easy to get for us simply with a trip to Meijer, however they are difficult for the villagers whom we build for to buy. Even the people whom we bought the items from in the market showed more gratitude for our business than we are used to.
In the late afternoon, both groups met in the village at the local church where we are building the houses. Many of our team members spent time playing with the children and getting to know them. Once the food truck arrived, we had the privilege of handing out 3 weeks of food to 150 families. This food distribution was the highlight of many, as some of them had no food to feed their families tonight, we were told.
Once the food distribution was complete, our hard working team decided to work until we lost daylight. God definitely put a group of hard working people together on this trip! To end the night, we came back to the mission house and had another fantastic dinner, complete with strawberry cake. Our cooks are so good to us!
- Matt & Nicole Bouwman
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