On to the Job Sites - Reunited and Working

This morning, everyone in the group headed to the Iglesia Casa del Alfarero (The Potters House Church) in Miramar. Reunited with many of our friends the first order of business was hugs and hellos. The church here is growing steadily and quickly there was concrete being mixed, blocks being unloaded, and the sewing projects. Dr Efren along with many helpful assistants, helped clean and doctor a severely infected foot of one of our friends Nacho. The floor of the kitchen area and the walls of more bathrooms were quickly taking shape.

In the afternoon, the group split in two groups with half returning to Miramar and the other half traveling down the road to Casa Emmanuel (Emanuel’s House) to prepare for the needs of this location. In Miramar the Bible School kicked off with an Energizer song and dance to get the children ready to learn. Several children are participating the in the scripture memorization and all started decorating their tee-shirts with the theme of Rahab and the Red Rope. It could be moot to say the concrete is constantly mixing at Casa del Alfarero (it will be the same at Casa Emmanuel starting tomorrow), but hey, there is a lot of construction going on. Those who scouted the Casa Emmanuel site last year were amazed by the progress the people of that church community has already put into the structure with the walls and roof on and ready to have the floor poured and new pews built for the congregation of 50 souls.

All 39 Carpenters Have Arrived Safely in Costa Rica

The 39 participants in this year's 'In The Carpenters Footsteps' mission team woke up early Monday morning (some never going to bed packing and/or with anticipation) to fly to Costa Rica. Many people have confirmed that though they are completely exhausted…they are ready to serve the people of Miramar in the name of Christ. We met up for our reflections at the end of the day and the message is about the meaning of missions and servant hood.  Matthew 20:28 says "the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve" and so we are all called to be Christ-like, therefore we are all called to serve. We may not all called to serve abroad, but we are called to serve. Those of you who have supported us, prayed for us, sponsored us financially, or helped in any way, are here with us in spirit. Thank you!

The Banner has been created!

As one of the craft projects each child was given a square of white cotton fabric on which they were to create their own "reflection" of what they learned in bible study this week.  The women of the "sewing ministry" created the colorful panels onto which the "reflection" squares were sewn.  What's so neat is that each square has the child's name and their individual picture.  This will be hung on the wall of the church.  Isn't it beautiful.  This is just one set of panels - there are 16 in all.

the incredible leaders of Sunday school

These women have done an incredible job teaching the children the Word of God.  They are my heroes!

The winners are!

Here are some of the back packs won by the children for reciting their scripture verses.

Our work here is done - for now

The last day of our work but what a treasure.  Because Sonia is not here I had the pleasure of participating in the bible memorization challenge and it was such a blessing.  Pastor Pablo wanted us to focus on the younger children, so in the age group 1 - 11 we had about 70+ children.  Of those, about 37 asked to participate in the bible memorization.  There are 10 scripture verses, and some are very long!  I watched as children of all ages recited the scripture - from 1 verse to all 10!!!  The number of scriptures they recited determined the size of the prize.  What was so incredible is that the young man who recited all 10 verses completely accurately comes to the church and Sunday school by himself - his parents do not come.  But he has a heart of God and comes even without them.  Our God is so awesome!  The grand prizes are back packs that are filled with school supplies, shoes, clothes, toiletry items, toys (anything you donated!).  We could not accomplish this "backpack" ministry without the love and support of all those "missionaries" who stay behind to pray for us while we are on our trip.  Without your love and support we would not be able to do all that we do.

Even those who have little are giving of themselves

This is our friend, Christian, from the previous church of Pastor Carlos.  He is a very skilled craftsman and he has a heart for God.  Last year when he was out of work, he offered to come to the new church and help us work.  To do so, he has to ride several miles by bicycle to our hotel to catch the bus up the mountain to the new church, then reverse the process at the end of the day.  Last year he was robbed on his way home and they took the money we paid him for his labor.  This year he again was willing to come to help us, but he has a job helping rebuild the only hospital in the area which was severely damaged by the earthquake in September 2012.  It was so important to him that he got permission from his boss to come and help us.  So even someone like Christian, who has nothing, is giving of himself to help others.  It is this kind of Spirit that is alive in this community and we are blessed to be a part.

The pews are done!

The wood working crew finished the pews and they have been stained and ready for the next church service.

The children prepared their own "reflection"

of what the past week's lessons meant to them.  These will be sewn onto the panels that will decorate the walls of the church and which we will show you tomorrow.

Our work here is going great!

The work progresses (slowly now) on the tile in the sanctuary and most of the walls have had 2 coats of primer in preparation for the paint.

Special service today

We had a special service today with the dedication of a very special sewing machine for the church.  All the children prayed and Dr. Carbonelle sang a beautiful song.

The children are so creative!

We decorated the t shirts with the youngest children today.  They are so creative and they love using bright colors!

The tile in the sanctuary is making great progress

It's amazing to me how they are managing to lay tile while we walk all over it and paint primer all around them on the walls, but they do!

The walls are almost ready for the paint

This is the coat of primer.  Carlos is a wonderful member of the church and his wife, Johanna is one of my helpers with the children. He is being helped by Duane Searcy.

What an awesome day in the Kingdom

We had an incredible day today!  The walls inside the sanctuary are prepared to paint, the tile is being laid in the sanctuary and work is progressing very quickly.  We have the supplies we need and that makes a big difference in having work for so many willing hands!

The lessons we learn are passed down from one generation to another

Woodworking is a Skipper family tradition.  Jim passes his skill down to his granddaughter Nicole.

When it rains - move indoors

Katia leads today's lessons inside the sanctuary because of rain.  In spite of the noise of hammers, drills and saws, the children are paying attention to the scriptures.

Preparing the walls for paint

Inger, Tanner and Hunter, with the help of a church member, begin preparing the walls for paint.  Hunter and Tanner helped build the wall they are now getting ready to paint.

Creating colorful banners

We are creating colorful banners for the church.  On Wednesday, each child will create their own "reflection" of what the week's lessons have meant to them and their "square" will be added to the banner and hung in the church.

Sunday school room

Efren and Mark are almost done with the floor in the Sunday school room.  This is Mark's first trip with the Carpenters but he's a fast learner and a hard worker!