Tuesday

I'll be honest. Yesterday was tough. We spent the day picking up rocks and leveling tough ground. It wasn't the work that was tough. In the morning, as the sun rose high in the sky, we were a team on a mission. We were loading bags and buckets and a wheelbarrow with rocks (not dirt clumps!) and created piles outside of the greenhouses. (These are the greenhouses that are going to supply the peppers and other veggies to the Central American Walmart chain.) Sidenote - they took out a loan to build the first four greenhouses from an American business man. He is not charging them interest and they only have to pay him back as they find sponsors for the project. I think that kind of faith is awesome, to KNOW that God is going to provide the money and to go ahead with the project. Some would call it crazy, why go into debt? But for some reason, at this mission, it doesn't seem crazy. It's faith.

Anyways, in the morning, we were good. Working hard. Moving rocks. Leveling dirt. We went to lunch (which was delicious as always). Once we returned to the work site after lunch, it was a little bit of a different story. To quote Aaron, "We took a walk on the sun." It was easily 95 outside and then even hotter in the greenhouses (because they are made to retain the heat afterall). We had to take a break and sit in the shade after (literally) 10 minutes. Some of us were getting dizzy, got headaches, just couldn't get our bodies to move. We couldn't get our core temperatures down (Thanks for the verbage, Graham!). Somehow, I think with a miracle (and mandatory team breaks every 20 minutes or so), we completed the project. I'll be honest, a few of us are struggling with a little bit of stomach unrest this morning and I really believe that it's the heat. It was a tough day.

But, after showers, some pool time, some orphanage time, and ice cream after dinner (!!!), we had a great devotion with Natalie talking about making your whole life an act of worship. Even moving rocks.

Please pray for health today. We are painting the wallboard in the hospital and are excited to be on the site! Thank you so much for your prayers so far. They are felt and appreciated!