There's been a construction boom in Buena Vista!! With the approaching six month rainy season beginning in May, we are very excited that those coming to the Groundwork Faith Lessons will be a bit drier this year. In the past we have set up tarps and pop-up canopies to shelter us from the sun or rain. But with larger numbers attending and our January move to the ministry's little plot of land, we're now meeting every Wednesday under the newly constructed shelter. Chochi, ever on the look out for a good deal, managed to have some of the lamina (corrugated sheets of tin) and posts donated, keeping costs down for the ministry. We're always looking for ways to help the local people provide for their families, so Francisco, along with several other Buena Vista men were hired to do the construction.
As you can see in this picture, our shelter came with a built in (and quite unplanned) sun roof. With a bit of "adjusting" all is well, and will keep the raindrops from falling on our heads!
Of course, we all know that where two or three are gathered together, there needs to be a baño (bathroom)! So, after digging a deep hole and laying the ridiculously heavy "throne" over it, sinking a few posts and adding metal lamina, we have an official one holer!! I guess the two or three need to wait in line! Speaking of two or three, in true Guatemalan fashion, at one point Ody managed to get two or three pieces of 4'x8' lamina transported via bus from Santa Lucia to Buena Vista...I can't begin to know how she pulled that off...About three weeks ago, a truckload of black sand (looking suspiciously like volcanic ash, in my opinion) arrived. Another of Chochi's deals, to be sure. Keeping in mind that Buena Vista has no running water...just a few wells...Francisco will lay a cement floor under the shelter. He will accomplish this huge task in exchange for some leftover lamina sheets that he will use to put a roof on his house. Much more effective at keeping the rain out than the plastic that he currently has, to be sure.
All in all, this has been quite a project! How blessed we are to have willing servants like Chochi and Francisco and others on our ministry staff to give of their time and energy. And how God has blessed us with the resources to make it all possible!!
Check out our Groundwork Guatemala facebook page for more pics!
