Paint Brush

Today was a rainy day (something about Hurricane Ida?).  We went back to the same village as yesterday to continue building houses.  It was wet and muddy, but good progress was made.  It is very special working along side the homeowner.  Standard practice is to wrap the portion of the wooden posts that will be buried in plastic tied with pita, which is our word for "string".  The homeowner usually does this out of a strong desire to help us with his home.  There is no treated wood.  But the homeowner of this particular home today painted his posts with pitch instead.  He used corn stalk to paint it on.  I have thrown paint brushes away before just to save the time it takes to clean them.  It seems I learn a new lesson each day I work here.

Tomorrow we will go back to both villages where we have been working to finish the homes.  We build everything but the front wall and leave it open for the homeowners to hand mix concrete for the floor.  Then we return and finish the front, and install the door and window.  These homes only have one door and one window.  So, our goal for tomorrow is to get all of the homes finished.  Then we will go back to each home on Saturday, dedicate the home, present the family with a Bible written in Spanish, and the Gospel.  Pastor Breck has said this will be the most memorable part of the week.  I don't know how it can get any better, but I trust him.

A special thanks to my Sunday School class (Akers-Jones class) for providing the financial resources to build one of the homes.  You will never know how much this means to a family here.  But don't worry, we will tell you all about it as soon as we get back!

Scott Kirk