Guatemala- Day 5

Wednesday was concrete day.  We had been told that concrete day was the hardest day so I was a little nervous as we arrived at the work site.  Plus Parker had woken up feeling under the weather with tummy issues so I was worried about how he was going to make it through the day.  Luckily, our work site had a little bathroom with a working toilet so we were able to join the group and didn't have to stay back at the hotel.  

There is a lot that goes into mixing concrete.  We had to mix at least 10 wheelbarrows full of rocks, 10 wheelbarrows full of dirt, cement, and water to make the concrete.  After A LOT of mixing, we shoveled it into 5 gallon buckets and carried it over to the bathrooms for the workers to pour and smooth.  We did this three separate times in order to have enough concrete to complete the bathroom floors.  In the extreme Guatemalan heat and humidity, it was exhausting work!

Parker tried to help for the first round, but quickly faded and spent most of the morning resting and playing with some of the local kids who had come to the church.

We were covered in concrete by the end of the morning!

After lunch, we dropped the men back off at the work site and went to our final day of VBS.  The kids were so excited when we got there and I couldn't wait to see Melisa and give her a hug.  Because there were no bathrooms at the VBS church, Parker was not able to go to the last day of VBS.  He was disappointed but we just could not take a chance with him being so sick that morning.

Diana was a beautiful girl who knew every word to every song.  She was so joyful and I'm so thankful that The Potter's House will be able to give her opportunities that she would have never had on her own in this poverty stricken community.

It was fun to watch the kids play games every day.  There was not a competitive spirit in any of them.  They cheered each other on, helped the little ones, and did not care who won or lost.  They were truly having fun!  And it was fun to watch our American kids play with them even though they could not communicate.  Laughter and play is universal with kids and it was so refreshing to experience.

The kids loved story time with Jonathan.  And we were all very thankful for Andrea- our translator from the Potter's House that went everywhere with us.

It was SO hard to say good bye to the kids we had come to love over the past three days.  It's amazing how God can use kids who have nothing to teach you so much about what's important in life.  They definitely made a lifelong impression on me and I will never forget these beautiful blessings for as long as I live.

Melisa and Diana

The VBS team with the pastor of the church and several of our VBS kids

Parker was feeling much better when we picked him up after VBS and couldn't wait to get back to the hotel to swim before dinner.

We had another great dinner and worship time that night but were very happy to see bedtime arrive after such an exhausting day!