Wednesday the 30th brought a phone call from James that the team was safe in Villahermosa (minus Elizabeth and minus Joseph's missing luggage) and would arrive at the camp by noon. Cheryl and I began to prepare the teams first lunch at the camp and waited with anticipation for their arrival.
Janell rode in the van with James and was first to arrive at the camp:
The other team members traveled from Villahermosa to the camp in a private bus. Because the streets in town were riddled with deep muddy holes, torn up for construction, and were narrow the bus parked a few blocks away and the participants walked to the camp.
Doug meeting team members: Bob, Chad, Scott, and Steve.
Entering next is Beverly and Yves:
Then George and Rincon (James):
Joseph:
And our team wanderer: Barney.
An elder of the Plan de Ayala church used his truck to shuttle the team members luggage to the camp. We settled in for our first meal together followed by the morning devotional that had been delayed until we were all together.
Our first devotional was called Living with Each Other and focused on Ephesians 4:1-6 and John 13:35. We introduced our team Scripture: Isaiah 30:21 and team motto: Faith, Teamwork, and Flexibility. This devotional stressed that the biggest witness we would have on this trip would be how we interacted with each other and with those we encountered along the way. Team members really took this to heart and we heard time and again how we made an impact on people just by how we conducted ourselves.
Bob, Beverly, Pastor Chuc, and George (seated):
The team members helped set-up the portable shower units after lunch. We initally set up 4 units, but the following day we only had 2 up because the windy weather kept toppling them over. One of the remaining 2 units was tied off to the grate on a window and the other was free standing near the fence. Showering was a buddy system with one person holding the shower up while another stood inside and hosed off. Since it was cold water no one took too long inside! The water tank on the roof leaked so we couldn't use the existing shower stalls at the church. Instead we hung the 5 gallon portable shower bladders on a hook in the stall and this helped us get the workers showered in a more timely manner, but 4 showers for 17 people really put a kink in our schedule.
Steve, Joseph, and Yves assembling showers:
George holding up a unit while someone was showering; Bob on stand-by:
5 gallon shower bladders warming up (hopefully) next to the block building:
Doug filling the shower bladders:
Our team motto (Faith, Teamwork, and Flexibility) was put to the test on a daily basis...on a minute by minute basis sometimes! And Maranatha's team motto (Flexibility, Flexibility, Flexibility!) was consistently chanted throughout the day.
We had heard that the local man who donated the land to the Peñitas church was interested in meeting us and that it would be nice if we had he and his girlfriend over for dinner "some night". Well it became tonight; now. Fortunately we had dinner ready and an ample quantity for additional people so we were ready to go. Juan and Brenda do not speak English, but we enjoyed our time with them (Rincon interpreted for us). Juan is a very friendly man and his actions showed him to be a loving, doting father to 8 month old Juan, Jr. Juan is not a church member, but his mother is. It is wonderful to see God working through Juan to help the Peñitas church (and to work a change in Juan himself).
Cheryl and Janell working on a meal:
Juan Jr.
Doug making balloon animals for Juan Jr; Brenda, Juan, and Rincon across from Doug:
We closed the evening with another devotional that focused on faith, teamwork, and flexibility. We read Mark 2:1-12 and 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 and 1 Thessalonians 3:2 and studied how God is our teammate and that it's not about what we can do as a team, but what God will accomplish through us as a team.
After dinner the kitchen crew cleaned up the evening dishes and started on the next days meal(s). The kitchen crew worked from 5:30am to around 8pm each day and did their job with a smile on their face and the heart of a servant. Without their commitment to serve in this capacity, the remainder of the team would not have been able to fulfill their role.
Cheryl and Janell:
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