2012 - Nicaragua Construction Trip

Hard at work!

Today was our first full workday. Brian Weed started us off with some history of the church and clinic then went on to challenge us. He posed this question. Are you striving for success or significance? Everyone can achieve some kind of success but not everyone can achieve significance. That started some good conversations for the ride up the mountain. The ride up the mountain has been a such a great time to really bond all together as a team. Today we split up more into two teams to work on the two projects. The holes were the big part for the pavilion and with that out of the way we were able to start on the playground. So the girls took off on digging the 14 holes for the playground. We are really moving fast on the projects. Yesterday we had a few people helping from the community but today we had 25 people come out. There were some men and a few women but the rest were kids. They worked so hard and wanted to help out in anyway. I love how we are able to be such a light to the community because God has blessed us with so much. The doctor even came out this afternoon, learned how to use a screw gun and was helping us put the playground together! While we were waiting to start the next part we were able to talk with them about there lives and share our faith with them. The day started out just like yesterday, nice and sunny. The difference is that today it stayed nice all day! It was a hot one but we took it like champs! Pastor Guy wanted me to thank you for praying for the weather. Please keep praying because good weather really helps! It really was a great day. Thank you for your prayers. Please keep it up and pray for our team's health as we continue to give our all each day.

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off to a good sunny start!

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Here comes the playground poles!

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I dont know who is working harder?

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Tracy was working with the Doctor this morning.

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King of the concrete hill!

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It looks a bit crazy but dont worry it was just as crazy as it looks!

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are you on a coffee break down there??

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First one up!

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Working hard.

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The Doctors first time using a power tool.

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These are the ladies that came to help us build- so sweet!

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The girls have there guns and are ready for anything!

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Bob sharing his sunflower seeds....He gave the kids a few...then came back a little bit later...to find the bag empty! we all started laughing because we were watching the kids eat them, then when he picked up the bag and was like- what? where? hahaha! The kids make things so fun!!

The guys

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The start of the playground today.

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The end of the playground today!

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After day two!

Off to a wet start!

Today was our first trip to La Esmeralda and the layout day for ourprojects. We started up the mountain at 8am. It was nice and sunny to begin with, but the weather changed often and I think we have seen everything but snow today! It was a great day, but a true test of how the team was going to do in this crazy weather! We were able to attend church in La Esmeralda just up the hill from the clinic. Then we were off to start the job of laying out the projects. We started out thinking we would try and dig a few of the huge 6-ft footings. That was going well until we hit a pipe (note I didnt say break!) in our first row of footing holes. We ended up having to change some things around so it all work out ok. It was awesome to see how everyone jumped in to help out! We stopped for a great lunch that the staff had made for us. Then we took off from there. The girls were moving and getting the lumber ready as the boys were stuck in the holes. Haha! We were able to get all 8 of the holes dug despite all the clay they had to dig through and the crazy weather that gave us the hot sun and then rain that would just come and dump on us. After a few times through the cycle of rain and sun we stopped trying to put on our rain gear and just got wet. After all, the sun would come out and dry us off. Coming from someone who is not in construction, I was really impressed with how much it really takes to get it to the point you will see in the pictures. Bruce and Bob did a great job keeping people going and dealing with the challenges that came up along the way. The bus ride home was so quiet. We were all ready for a hot shower and some food! The team is all doing great job working together and really blending as a team. If you would join us in praying for the weather - the rain is really hard to work in and the area around the clinic is all clay so it's messy! Working through the weather will be challenging, but we are so excited to finally be here and work on behalf of Fox River to provide facilities for greater outreach through the church and clinic. We appreciate your support and prayers!

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This is from our drive up the mountain

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This is just one of the bridges we have to cross over on our way up.

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Church - I dont know if you can tell where our team is ;)

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Our awesome team!!!

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We all were helping ding the holes!

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Lunch time

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Go girls!

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The first team done!

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Working on where the playground was going to go....should it go in this mud...or over there in that mud?

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almost ready to put the first post in!

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putting the first post in....yes this was just a few min after the last pic!

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Now comes the really hard working- making sure it is all lined up right!

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We had 4 standing post done!

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Just to give you an ideal of what 5 pounds of clay looks like on your shoes!

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This is the before pic of where we are working.

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This is where we left off today.