As our trip comes to a close…
The last day in Mexico was a long one, but incredibly memorable. Half of the team worked at completing the structure at the church and the other half was finishing Simplicio’s addition onto his home. I was with the group at Simplicio’s…
My muscles in my thighs were burning from the previous days work, but I knew that there was still much work to be done and this was my last chance at completing the task I had started the day before. My task was to stucko the walls inside the structure we had built. With a palette of heavy mortar in my left hand and a trowel of sorts in my right, I began my “squats” of going from the bottom to the top of the wall…remembering why my thighs were in pain. On this day, I had the help of Laura and Heather. This was no easy task, but the day went by quickly when working with others. Gayle was our “Master Mortar Mixer” and stuck with us throughout the day to make sure our mixture was up to par and even helped shovel onto our palettes.
Lunch came quickly and it became a nice break for our muscles! The other half of the team met up with us to eat and for the dedication of the home for the family. Once our bellies were filled we all gathered with Simplicio’s family inside the home, put our hands on the wall and prayed for blessings for the family and the new dwelling space. Tears were streaming down the wife’s face when I lifted my head. For all of those that have supported me and this team…I wish you could have seen how thankful they were and know how much you all helped to make this all happen. The tears of joy did not stop there…
Once we finished praying for the home Bob Ray spoke to the family with Enrique, the pastor, translating his words to Spanish. Bob told the family that our team would be able to sponsor two of their daughters through high school!!!!!! What some people don’t realize is that once the kids are done with middle school, they have to pay $300 a year per child to go to high school. There are many families that cannot afford this so the children end up working in the fields or getting married early, remaining in the cycle of poverty. The girls started to cry…I started to cry…many others started to cry. We put our hands on the girls and began to pray.
Throughout the trip the family was able to receive many blessings, but know that this team received many blessings as well. We were able to share in their joy, their faith, and the relationships we built…and hope to continue with the people of San Luis R
