Youth Activity

As I mentioned last weekend a group of young people came to camp for the day. The plan was to spend the first part of the day working on projects around the camp and then take the afternoon to just enjoy the day. About ten people from one of the local churches newly formed youth group arrived around 9:30. They were divided into different groups to work on a variety of odd jobs. Matthew had some young guys helping him with the firewood and hauling brush - they'd pick it up in one place, load the truck, then go and dump it by the woodpile, ready to chop.Logan joined the wood crew and realized you could still laugh and play around, even if you didn't know Spanish=) Zach helped out the guys at the house while Monica went with a group of girls and waxed all the cabin floors. I don't have pictures of those things since I was working on other things when they were at work. In the group there was a guy who did glass for windows and brought his equipment with him. So he, and one of the girls helping him, went along and found the broken windows all over camp and set about to cut some new glass and repair them - a much needed job! Don't be deceived by her heavy winter jacket - it was a beautiful, warm day!He also had quite a soft spot for the cute little blond kids running around camp.After a morning of work we all ate lunch together, Liz made some spaghetti as well as some brownies for dessert (they were good but again, a bit different from what she was used to). Danny led the teens in some music and a devotional. Most of these kids are new or baby Christians and this kind of environment is unfamiliar to them - we pray for even more contact with hundreds of other young people in the surrounding towns.
The afternoon was spent playing volleyball, soccer, and just hanging out. One of the younger boys even borrowed Zach's swimming trunks and hopped in the lake. Monica and Zach did so well doing their best to fit in and communicate and be a part of the group!Having had just 10 people here for one day of camp really showed what an incredible impact this place can have on the lives of many, especially when there are often over one hundred here for a week. Now that Danny and Liz are here the ministry of Camp Lican Ray is in the hands of people who love the Lord and seek to see HIS name glorified and the gospel told!

House Update - Part II

As we woke up once again to a sunny day the work has started on the house. Dan is in town as I write this picking up more materials so that the roof can be finished. Right now there is more work being done on the siding and yesterday Greg started on the plumbing inside the house. Each day something gets checked off the list. Right now, though, I'll continue on from where I left off in the last post.

Once the trusses were up on the house they had to finish sheeting the exterior of the second story. During the time that some of this was taking place there were a lot of rainy days. Most of the time the guys put the hoods up on their sweatshirts and just kept right on working! After the roof was sheeted it was time to put up the fascia board, soffit, flashing, (spelling?) etc. Often a slow process and the changes aren't as noticable. One thing I regret not getting a picture of was the homemade metal break the guys made for themselves. They used lumber, some door hinges, and couple clamps and it worked extremely well. All these things had to be done before they were able to start putting the metal on the roof. The goal was to work on the metal when it was cloudy since it is very bright, silver metal that is going on the roof - kind of hard to handle in the bright, hot sun! So, if it got too bright, the siding was worked on at the same time as the roof and a lot of progress was made in both areas.For several days last week a man from the Thompson's church came and helped on the house. He works in construction so he was quite capable and able to help a lot! Chilean believers refer to each other by the title 'Brother' or 'Sister', it was really nice to have Hermano Ramon here! He and Matthew worked together quite a bit and spent most of the time trying to outdo each other with their jokes=) Here's the tar paper that went on both the roof and served as housewrap.

The very first piece of siding going up! The siding is concrete board, similar to what is used in the US but not exactly. The plan is to paint it as well ,as the metal roofing, at some time down the road.The siding goes up relatively quickly, it's fun to watch the progress! The metal for the roof has been quite a process as well. It is VERY bright and they have to cut it by hand as well. Another thing that has been worked on this last week is the wiring. I haven't taken any pictures but Greg has the outlet boxes and lightswitches in place as well as the electrical panel. Here he is cutting the metal sheet into the needed size to be placed on the roof.Here is our hardworking crew, taking a minute to figure out the next step. As of yesterday we have our final NTI member here, Brett Kunnari is here for the last two weeks of our stay. The guys refferred to him as 'fresh meat'.=)

Dan and Liz have a few short weeks before they have to move in. Camp season starts shortly and they also have another short termer coming a week after we leave. She plans on being here for about a year and helping with the kids homeschooling. So keep them in your prayers, as well as our team, to continue getting a lot done!

Overdue House Update - Part I

This past weekend I meant to update on the reason we are actually here, the construction of a house for missionaries Dan and Liz Thompson. When I scrolled back over to see what I'd included in the last one I couldn't believe how much time I'd let go by - my apologies!!! Since there is so much to update on I'm going to divide it into 2 posts.

I didn't post anything this past weekend because it was just plain old too nice out and too relaxing to spend time sitting in here at the computer, also we celebrated another birthday, Liz's! She turned 29 for the first time=) Cousing Greg got some big time brownie points by making her cinnamon rolls for breakfast - they were pretty much the best I've ever tasted. But, now that it is Monday and the kids are once again doing schoolwork, it is the perfect opportunity to sit down and write. Saturday there was a group of young people that came from one of the area churches and they worked until lunchtime and then just spent the day enjoying the camp and some fellowship (more on that later). That night we had a bonfire and grilled hot dogs and finished off the smore's. Sunday we attended church where the Thompsons go then came home and once again ate outside, but this time we had a clam bake!!! Sooo good! After a relaxing afternoon of naps and some paddle boating we had baked potatoes and strawberry shortcake for supper. Our cooking improves with each weekend=) But I hardly took any pictures....

Now back to the house - I think the pictures will mostly explain themselves and show the incredible progress that the guys have made!

Here is the house as it stood once all the outside walls were up.

Once the outside walls were finished they began framing up the downstairs rooms, here's a look at one of the kids bedrooms.

The sheeting going down for the second story floor, originally it was going to be 2 small bedrooms, but with slant of the roof and lack of head space they decided to leave it as one big room, the master bedroom.My genius camera skills at work=)

The happy, soon-to-be homeowners standing in their 'room'.Building the trusses for an open beam ceiling in the big room downstairs which includes a living room, kitchen and dining room.We don't go too long without someone goofing off=) These trusses weighed a LOT, more than these guys are usually dealing with. Plus, since they had to be put up with just manpower, it was quite a process. Thankfully it went well and each successive one went up a little faster than the last.Once they were up they had to be secured into place.A perspective of the whole house as the sheets of plywood were starting to go up on the roof.

Zach with a power tool....=)Here is the front half, first story part of the house being sheeted. The gable ends have presented a few challenges along the way - there are two handmade ladders about 8 feet tall, so some rather interesting scaffolding has been made to compensate. Here's Matthew working on the gable end on the second story side of the house.This was how the house looked about a week and a half ago - walls were up, rooms were framed in, and the roof was sheeted.

THANK YOU!

As we approach the one month mark of being here in Chile I've been thinking a lot about those who have helped make it happen. Our family prayed for quite a while to be able to come down here, all of us together. To be honest, sometimes I prayed about it with very little faith that it would actually happen. However, we weren't the only ones praying and it is to those people that I wish to say a big THANK YOU! Along with prayer we also needed a huge chunk of finances, taking a family of seven on a 6-week trip overseas is not for the faint of heart, or for those with a limited budget. But in that aspect as well, God was faithful. Those that I mention may not care for the recognition but I have no problem sharing publicly about the people who have given and prayed for our family in this endeavor.

First of all are our parents, both my parents and Matthew's gave to us financially - they understood better than anyone else what it meant to our family to go back to Chile all together, and while we are down here I have no doubt that we are in their prayers daily. Speaking about praying, we are also very thankful to our church family - people like Peter Johnson, who let us know before we came down that he had committed to praying for us each day of our trip. Or my best friend, Kristi, who has a list of personal prayer requests of mine that she is specifically praying for since she has an insight into me that very few have. Then there are people like the Browns, who gave a gift so generous we are humbled at their trust in what we are doing with Nehemiah Teams International. The list does not end there....we are so thakful to be surrounded by many godly friends and family!

Of course now that we are looking back over the past 4 weeks it means we only have 2 more left to look forward to....=( Growing up I'd often get the question "Where are you from?" It was really hard for me to answer! My dad was from Maine and that's where I was born, my Mom was Canadian and we spent most of our furloughs there, I did most of my growing up here in Chile....?! But each time I come back here there is a feeling of coming home stronger than anywhere else I've ever been, so I'm not looking forward to leaving. The consolation is that shortly after we get back it will be Christmas and then my parents will be coming for a visit. As glad as I am to be here however, there are a few things that are 'off', my Mom & brother are missing, and Kristi Lynn is missing. While there is no one more excited for us, it's still killing them that we are without them! So, to them specifically, I say this.

"I miss you tons and tons and not a day goes by that I don't wish we were all here together...just like in the good old days! But, Mom, I'll see you soon and Kris, your turn is coming - now I'm the one that is jealous because you just got to buy a one-way ticket!

The Flincks, close the the beginning of their deputation ministry. But as of January 12th, 2009, they will head to Chile for their first term!

The last picture of the three of us together, January 2006.

Keep us in your prayers, we desire to be faithful to the end!

Fishing Expedition

Sometimes in the evening a few of the guys (both big and little) take off to do some fishing. This is the first time I'm mentioning it because they just had their first successful fishing trip=) Here they are, hard at work bringing home the bacon...I mean caviar=)

Notice Danny's fishing pole....

The excitement really went up several notches when Danny or Matthew pulled in a fish - the volume level went up as well!

The boys took it upon themselves to introduce each new arrival to the others.

Of course then came clean-up...

It was a beautiful evening, dressed in pink - the pictures of course don't do it justice.

Man...I love it here.

As you can conclude there is no Veteran's Day here in Chile so yesterday went unobserved by this country and by most of us here at camp. But I do want to say a belated thank you to all those who served our country. They are worthy of being honored more than just one day a year so thank you - especially to those in my family. And by this time next year my brother, Kendrick will be actively serving in the Marine Corps. But the biggest thank you goes to my favorite veteran of all....=)
HAPPY VETERANS DAY!!

Differences

Things are a bit different here in several ways - one of them is not having a bathtub. When we packed to come down I specifically bought some larger sized totes to have to use instead - here we are on Saturday night, giving Jesse a bath in the kitchen since it's much warmer than in our rooms, or in the bathroom.

Cooking is also very different - Matthew and I cooked some meals this past weekend since Dan and Liz went back to their house and the cooks also go home for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday lunch was just 'once' or basically sandwiches; for supper all we did was heat up leftovers from last weekends tacos. But, I had an urge for dessert, so I made chocolate chip cookie bars. It was quite an adventure. I had to figure out how much 2 sticks of margarine translated to in kilograms, I had to find a chocolate bar to buy and cut it into little tiny pieces since they don't have regular chocolate chips, I had to guess at the amount of anything that called for teaspooons or tablespoons as there are no measuring spoons, and Matthew had to go online to figure out what to set the celsius oven at to be 375 F! They turned out OK, at least there were no leftovers=)

Sunday morning Matthew made brunch - pancakes and hashbrowns that were delicious. In the meantime I scrambled to find some recipe for pancake syrup. One cup each of brown sugar, white sugar, and water plus a teaspoon of vanilla - boil for 2 minutes and we were set. It actually turned out pretty good. By supper that night Liz was back and she made rice with a tuna gravy - also very yummy!

Sunday afternoon we went to a 2 o'clock service out in the country. It is a remote church where many people walk quite a distance just to make it to the service. Since that is the case they tend to take advantage of the opportunity to have a service and it is quite long - we didn't leave until 5 pm. The kids did amazingly well for that amount of time, it helped that Jesse slept for an hour of it. The pastor is only able to come once a month as he circuit preaches in some other country churches as well.

They ushered our group in to sit in the three front rows - since all the adults in our group were basically taller than any other people in the room I'm not sure that those behind us saw anything!It was funny to see this little country church have more sound equipment than many churches back in the US. It wasn't that the music was all that crazy but it did have plenty of volume!Another difference was the outhouses we used outside - most of the kids had to go since we were there quite a while....anyone bring any toilet paper...?One of the other differences that I'd forgotten about was how the Chilean people will talk about others and mention prayer requests very specifically, while the person in discussion may be sitting right there. In our Sunday school class two visiting ladies were pointed out as being unsaved and in need of prayer - they didn't mind a bit=) One thing that was evident during our time there is the need for a full-time, well trained and taught pastor. The people are so often left on their own, they often end up like sheep without a shepherd - the need is very great!