The Drilling Begins - by Deb de Flores

Monday morning began with a devo led by Paul on purifying the heart which had half of us in tears before breakfast.  Since my part on the hygiene team included a lesson for the kids "clean hands, clean heart" it was particularly moving for me.  Jenny from LWI gave us a tour of the village we are serving in Guayapa Abajo and we were so impacted by how close-knit the community is. They live in extreme poverty and share all of their resources.  They were incredibly welcoming to us as we wandered through their homes - showing us how they live, do laundry and make tortillas, patiently smiling for our pictures and graciously answering our questions. The sense of peace and security among them set our foriegn hearts at rest.  As we walked we invited the women and children to the drill site, on their local catholic church grounds, for hygiene classes.  Meanwhile, they prepared a delicous feast for our lunch which we ate at a leisurely pace before the drilling began. We split into three groups: The Drilling Team - Ato, Brad, Frank, Jerry, Paul & Will; The Video Team - Erik, Lance & Matt; The Hygiene Team - Deb, Mel & Vashti.

As we each went about our work what really impacted me was that when children arrived at the church where we are drilling the well, they had changed their clothes and put on their Sunday best.  They were so eager to learn.  Before the drilling began the guys had time to engage the children in games like limbo and tag, football and red light green light. While they drilled 40 feet through solid rock and dry hard dirt, Vashti, Mel, Sarah, Jenny and I built relationships with the kids, did crafts, taught about hand washing, germs & the transmission of disease.  Thanks to our amazing cameramen, who managed to be everywhere at once and worked nonstop - we have fabulous footage of it all!  We love working together as a team and it feels like no matter what our individual responsibilities are, we function as one body. There is so much more I would love to tell you about, I'm sure the pictures will convey more than words and I am exhausted.  Please pray for us to make great progress tomorrow and be the hands and feet of Jesus in this village. 

Comments

[Christian]

Great footage! Keep it up.

[Donna Smith]

So glad to get to follow your progress!