Tuesday

Yesterday was a good, busy day. We once again headed out to the colony's outside of town to do repair work on some houses. The house that my team went to needed four new poles, a new wall, and part of the roof replaced. We dug the holes, and they were so deep our arms didn´t even reach the bottom. We needed Andrew to finish out the holes with his Go-Go Gadget arms. Then we filled in about five inches of the hole because it was too deep! This is construction in Mexico at it's finest. We just go with the flow and make adjustments as necessary.

The house we worked on was on the edge of the colony, and the view was amazing. In Albany it would be at least a half a million dollar view, and in Seattle it would be a 2 million dollar view. In Mexico this is where the squatters, the poorest people, and the city dump is.

We learned that the population of these colonies is mostly people who have moved from the mountains down into Oaxaca because there are schools, better jobs, and better opportunities for families. Usually what they do when then first move down to the community is be a garbage picker. This means going into the dump and picking through the garbage for cardboard, glass, tin, aluminum, and plastic. They then sell this the the recycling companies for small amounts of money. There are stray dogs everywhere, and a ton of vultures above the dump waiting for a new load to be dumped so they can scavenge. We didn't see it, but I imagine there are a few fights between the dogs and the vultures for the food.

The other group went to a different house, and it was a very small project and they were done in a short time. Once the wall was repaired, they painted the kids fingernails and played soccer with them. This family was relatively rich compared to their neighbors. They had cement floors in their house, a large yard and a large shed where they stored their car (most families don´t have cars). The father is a lumber truck driver, so their house had more wood than most houses.

We gave both families food boxes and aprons, and prayed for both. We didn't get to finish our project at the first house, but that is ok. The family then works together to finish it.

At 3pm, we split up into three groups (with one translator per group) and we went to visit families in the community. We had a food box and an apron for each family we visited. The first family my group visited lived on a small plot of land. They purchased their land a year ago and were slowly building a latrine and a house. The father was a police officer (one of the easiest jobs to get in Oaxaca), and this was his day off. They work 24 hours on, and 24 hours off. He and his wife came from the mountains, but they met in Oaxaca. They had three children, two little girls and one little boy. We talked to them for about a half an hour, then presented them with the food and aprons. We prayed for them before we left.

The second house we went to had a similar story. They came here about 7 years ago, and purchased a plot of land. The woman had 7 children, and they moved so the children could go to school. She was a believer, and she gave her testimony to us. The father, Omar, was not a believer, and he told us about some things that have happened in his life that has made him wary of the church. He told us about his uncle who was a pastor and got a girl pregnant, then got into alcohol really bad. He told us about another pastor who committed adultery, and the whole church knew about it but ignored it. Also, a few years ago, he had a near death experience, and he said that he saw nothing. No God, just emptiness. He also said something that was very interesting. He said ¨I hope I don't offend you, but this is what I think. We have a saying here, sweep your own house before you sweep someone else's. You guys come down here, but you need to focus on your country first.¨ The pastor talked to him for a long time, and ministered to his hurt and confusion. It was pretty awesome to see, and a really good experience for the team. We talked a lot about it last night. We felt that there was a pretty big spiritual battle going on with Omar, and he was throwing everything he had at us. Luckily they have some fantastic pastors there to help minister to him and give him some answers he desperately is searching for, even though I don't think he knows he is searching.

When we got back to the hotel, it was almost 7pm. We got Pizza from up the street, and celebrated Joy's birthday. After we had eaten the pizza, Joel pulled out the Chapolines, the little baked grasshoppers that are sold on every corner. He told Joy he had put about 10 in her pizza! We then all had to eat one, and they were gross. I'm pretty sure Kimmee, Kelli and Taylor almost threw theirs back up. They were squishy and salty, and the most disgusting thing I have ever put in my mouth!!!!
We had our nightly debrief and prayer, and then headed to bed after 10. A lonnnngggg day!!!