Mexico, Day 5
Thursday was rainy in the morning, and God provided a relatively cool day for work on the playground, benches, and the real work which is being a light in this community.
After breakfast, a group carried most of our construction supplies across the street from the park to work in a permanent tent that was relatively dry. Our goal was to complete cutting as much of the lumber as we can while simultaneously beginning assembly of the playground. We initially struggled through the learning curve of squaring and lining up the pieces to be attached. Eventually, we worked out a technique that worked despite very uneven and warped boards and assembly picked up speed. Within a few hours, we were standing up two identical sides of the playground in the street (the only mostly level spot we could find) and attaching fascia pieces to connect them together. In less than an hour, we had the sides connected and the fort part of the playground began to take shape. Before we stopped for lunch, a group moved the now erected fort from the street to the park.
After lunch, we moved construction from the tent to the park. Meanwhile, another group split off and began working on more benches while yet another group headed to the store for more lumber. After much deliberation, we eventually found the final resting spot for the fort (and therefore the swing set yet to be built) and moved and oriented it correctly. Then we took inventory of our lumber (so the group at the store knew what to purchase) and continued construction of the playground and began work on the swing set A-frame. This continued into the evening.
We took a short break around 5:30 pm to enjoy a snack of camorónes (shrimp) prepared by a family in the neighborhood operating a small business out of their home (a common occurrence in the community). We invited them to pray for the food with them as a small way to witness and bless the family and one person prayed in English while another translated into Spanish. The shrimp were quickly devoured and we went back to work.
The additional lumber arrived and we cut a few additional pieces. However, it was getting quite late so we needed to wrap up our work and head home to the Matthew Training Center, which was for the best since our battery powered tools were out of charge. We snacked on pizza as we cleaned up. All in all, our was a very productive day.
One very encouraging thing about the day was that people in the neighborhood passing by began to notice what we were doing. Besides the general bustle of activity, this was largely because the playground began to take shape, which led to a natural amount of curiosity from children and adults alike. As we reflected on the day, it was also noted that several people who opened up shops out of their home for Thursday evening activities, they expressed gratitude for the work happening in the park.
Please pray that this will plant seeds that go beyond curiosity and leads to open hearts and minds that want to know why we were doing what we were doing. Pray that as people in the community begin to seek, Punta Vida can be able to receive them, evangelize them, disciple them, and ultimately help them to develop true saving faith in Jesus Christ. Please also pray that our sick team members will recover quickly and not have effects that linger for the flight back to the states.