Workday #2 at Luz de Vida

We arrived back at the worksite on day 2 after a full and welcomed night of sleep. We could really tell the progress we made on day 1 and we were motivated to continue preparing for the consecration festivities! We got busy on a variety of projects.

John helps out with the ongoing masonry.

As the scaffolding comes down, we removed all the old nails.

We are beginning to see some level ground underneath all the piles of earth!

Sue and Lisa doing cleanup inside. Lisa was smart to wear a mask because it was DUSTY!

Today we moved to the other side of the house to make the ground nice and level over there. First we had to remove the posts much like Henry and Katie Fitch did on the other side of the house. Ashley begins to pick around the post.

Removing these posts was a challenging task...of which we have some funny video. It took a lot of shoving and digging and sometimes more than one person hanging their body weight on them to loosen their tight fit in the ground. We laughed really hard.

This was the hole from the very last post. The picture really doesn't do the situation justice. It was deep. We weren't sure this last post would ever come out and it became a project for Emily and the Katy/ies!

Still more to move tomorrow before the party begins tomorrow night!!

This is the sign they posted above the main street in the neighborhood. Translated: Three days of singing and reflection together with the Methodist community "Luz De Vida" (light of life) Friday, the 22nd; Saturday, the 23rd; Sunday the 24th

Workday #1 at Luz de Vida

After our late arrival in Cochabamba we headed straight to our dormitory at the Institute Americana. We finally got in bed about 1 am and woke up bright and early for our first workday on Wednesday. About 8 people out of our group went over to Bethel Methodist Church to begin a 3 day VBS and the rest of us went to Luz de Vida's constructions sight.

Those of us who had been there last year were pleasantly surprised to see all the progress. This time last year there was not even a foundation for the first floor.

But as you can see, it was still very much a construction site. We had three days to turn this construction site into a party site. There was a lot of work to be done and we were up for the task!

We began by moving all the boulders to one big pile along the wall. We made assembly lines to speed the process and save our backs. The rocks were about 3-10 lbs. each. Every few minutes we would rotate the line. You should have heard the funny conversation we had about these rocks to make the effort fun!

Meanwhile, Henry, Katie Fitch, and others got busy removing these support beams that were staked into the ground about 3 feet deep. This side would be the new garden site so they had to go. Stay tuned for more updates on the garden.

A view of the building from the other side

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And now to move all the small pebbles! We got very familiar with the shovels and wheelbarrows.

And also with the small metal buckets...Go Jim!

...and pick axes!

This is Chris. Roger and Chris were strangers before this trip. They both have electrical experience. When Pastor Daniel said they had some electrical work that needed to be done, Chris and Roger volunteered their electrical expertise. You won't believe what they accomplished!! This was one of the many cool things God worked out on this trip!

That was a glance of day 1, as Sue is indicating! We can't wait to show you more...stay tuned!

Traveling to South America

It takes some time and patience to get to South America. We were so excited about the trip and ready to get acquainted with our group full of new friends. We were joining Lakewood UMC from Houston, St. Paul UMC from Houston, and First UMC from La Porte, TX. We arrived at IAH airport at 7:30 am -ish for our 10:25 am flight to Miami.

Here we are in the Miami airport. We arrived and grabbed a yummy lunch and settled in for our long layover in Miami. We were scheduled to take off at 10:35pm for the long overnight flight to Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Here we are at the Santa Cruz, Bolivia airport waiting to purchase our Visas. We are all smiles because we are one step closer to Cochabamba, Bolivia!!!

Getting to know new friends in the Santa Cruz airport by playing Phase 10...fun card game! Gotta make the best out of a flight delay!

After one cancellation and one delay by Aerosur airlines., we arrived in Cochabamba about 9 hrs. after we had planned. But we were still very excited!!! Here we are about to hop on the bus to the Institute Americana where we would stay for the next week.

This is how they carry our luggage in Bolivia!

Here we are all packed in this bus. The middle isle had fold down seats for added seating. There were 25 adults in the group and most of us are pictured here! We were excited about what God had in store for us, but boy were we in for a pleasant surprise. God loves to exceed our expectations!

2011 Bolivia Mission Team

Watch and listen to hear how God called Trinity UMC in Beaumont, TX to Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Stay tuned for the story of our 2011 Trip!