Tuesday's adventures

  Hello,
         We started out our day with breakfast at 6:00. After that we headed upstairs and had devotions, led by Jessie Kool, with some help from Chloe Westhouse. It was based on our theme verse for this year, Matthew 28:19-20, the Great Commission. After devotions we got ready for the day, made our lunches, and packed our bags. From there, we split up into two groups. 12 people went to the village to finish building the houses, and the rest of us went to the El Tejar City Dump and then the Love the Child orphanage.

           At the El Tejar Dump, we passed out sandwiches, chip, cookies, and juice boxes to the people who live in the dump. This was part of Lazaro and Glendy's ministry. They believe that the people at the dump should know and understand how much God loves them. This is important because those people that live at the dump pick up recyclables and turn them in for money. They live off of about $5 a day. The dump is smelly and dirty. We don't realize how blessed we are until we see the people that don't have as much as we do.  The people were overjoyed when they received their food.

           After the dump, we loaded up the vans and headed to San Lucas to the Love the Child orphanage. They had a new facility to operate in. When we got there, Shyerl Osborne greeted us at the entrance. She led us upstairs to the newborns and toddlers first. They were adorable. The toddlers were all in bath time, so we had to take them one by one after they got out of the bath. We each either played with the toddlers, or took a newborn to hold. We were there for about 4 hours showing love to the kids. We loaded up the vans again and went back to the Mission House.

          We socialized for a few hours until dinner at 7:00. We had chicken and rice, with some carrots and jello. It was delicious. It was a really good day and we can't wait until tomorrow.

Kyle Bennink
Erika Velthouse

We were fortunate enough to head back out to the village today in order to put the finishing touches on the houses. The day started with us feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of work we had yet to accomplish and the limited number of people available to help, but as only God can, we not only finished early, but we also had time to play with some of our favorite kids for an extra hour and stop for a little ice cream (;  In this extra hour, Ryan had the opportunity to take a moment and sit down.... and wouldn't ya know within minutes he was surrounded by kids, sharing laughs and taking selfies (looks like Ryan got his good side). We may have lost a few super balls as well. Unbelievable time for all of us.

Everyday in this hospitable village we have had the privilege to build along side both the men and women that will be living in the homes. This village has made a unique impact on us because the people consistently call us by name and ask when we will be back. Having built relationships early in our week and being able to continually build on them has taken a hold of our emotions and we look forward to seeing them as much as they appear to look forward to seeing us. Getting to know the children this week has been a blessing to say the least, and through them, building close relationships with their parents as well. Parents and other adults have been very involved in getting to know us and helping out throughout the week in all endeavors, more so than other villages we have been in.

Tonight, Juan Manuel, our local foreman, and his family were able to join us for dinner at the mission house. After a great dinner prepared by Auntie Sandy and Becky, we ended up upstairs visiting. Before long Spencer DeVries started playing with a box drum to the delight of Juan's young children, and after a short time, they joined in with him. It was awesome. Scott Westhouse started tickling the ivories and Juan's oldest son kept the beat on the box drum for a heck of a duet. Again phenomenal! And for the closing act, Jess Kool jumped on the piano joined with Juan's two young daughters and performed an awesome grand finale. They may not speak English and we may not speak a whole lot of Spanish, but we all speak joy and music. Fantastic end to a fantastic day. We are so lucky to be here, thank you for allowing us this opportunity.

Mike DeVries
Tori Vonk