The 2017 El Salvador team is in the community of Getsemani this week as part of Myers Park Presbyterian’s renewed partnership with Habitat for Humanity El Salvador. Follow along with their work all week here on the blog!
Manos Artesenas women’s co-op
Tuesday had all the makings of an easier day, or so it seemed. Our plans called for initially stopping to visit the Gethesmani co-op, Manos Artesenas, a group of women who, supported by Habitat for Humanity, create soaps, jewelry, hammocks, and other goods. It was easy to buy items from these smiling faces, so proud of the small business they’ve created.
Once leaving the co-op with our newly purchased goods, we headed for the job site and several commented that we were blessed with another beautiful day.First things first, however: We got to the site and found our team of masons unloading a huge truckload of cinder blocks. As if on queue, we dropped our backpacks and helped form a human chain to two lines between the truck and the directed destination for the blocks. It certainly looked like a circus act with the blocks being tossed between hands, literally!
The cinder block toss!
Now it was back to the real work at hand. It was a bit hotter and there were more than a few sore muscles from chopping stumps and wielding pickaxes the day prior. After what seemed like a couple hours, Dave P, Mike, Derek, and John were finally able to extract the stump … no small feat with only an axe for a tool. Others continued digging the trenches … slower work as the loose dirt unveils the hard clay underneath the surface. By mid-day, we were all pretty excited to head to Ana’s house again for another delicious lunch. How did our seemly easy day suddenly turn so hard?
Meanwhile, Cliff and Lindsay had their first full day at the clinic, Casa De Salud. Cliff teamed with community dentist, Dr. Lenoras, focusing mostly on fillings while Lindsey worked alongside Dr. Edgar and villagers’ medical needs. We are not only blessed with a team of hard laborers this year but also medical disciples as well.
Community soccer stars
By 3 p.m., we needed to wrap up all efforts and walked over to the soccer field for a planned match with come members of the community. Teams were divided up with the “gringos” on one side and the locals on the other. Surprisingly, our team jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but then we realized: The other team’s average age was probably 10 years old! So to make things more even, we created two mixed teams. There … much better! After a great effort (and no injuries) the final score was 3-2…..but the score really didn’t matter, right?
Later, back at the hotel, our team became complete with the arrival of Court Young! We now stand 19 strong in numbers albeit maybe not as strong physically!
Derek’s evening devotional continued to explore some interesting characters from scripture Tuesday was focused on Mark 10:17-27 and asks “what keeps us from trusting our Lord?”.
“The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man, this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27-28)
So, with much gained today, we ended our day thinking about all that we have seen in the poverty of the village, the hard work of the masons, the smiles of the children, and how we might use these experiences to channel ourselves and others towards the Kingdom of God.
Blessings!