Building a Church and Other Things

"Let them build Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them." Ex.25:8

Sunday, December 21st, was our first work day at the church site. We all put on our hard hats, gloves, and saftey glasses, grabbed our trowels, and walked the 4 blocks in clear sunny weather. Stepping through the door in the fence we were greeted with the site of a cement foundation, including a platform area, and the steel frame of what was to become the Freire Seventh-day Adventist Church. Terra Cotta bricks, a local building material, lined the edges of the foundation, ready for the first row to be put in.

Steve Yeagley, our project coordinator, and Art Moffit, the construction coordinator, gave us some safety instructions and let us in a prayer. Then the youngest volunteer, Hanna Arnott, helped to lay the "cornerstone." After that, we dove into work with all the enthusiam of novices. (We pitied Art!)

(Steve Yeagley, project leader)

The first day was somewhat chaotic, especially since our group was pretty large and had lots of young kids. We worked extremely hard that first day, some of us hoping that we weren't doing too much damage, and I decided at the end of day one that Dr. Kretschmar would likely be pronouncing me dead by Wednesday.

However as the walls came up things slowed down to an orderly brisk pace for the rest of the week. We all seemed to find our niche after a few days. Luke layed a few bricks, painted (including the top of the roof supports), wired rebar together, and cut bricks.

I was part of the grout team. We went from brick to brick pouring gravelly grount in each large hole that had rebar in it. This got quite challenging when they began laying the wall for the baptistry. We had to not only pour grout in the large holes, but also pour a smoother gravel-free grout in each tiny hole of each brinck for at least 5 or 6 levels of brick. This was to help hold the sideways pressure of the water in the baptistry. Whew! Hard work!

Leah was often seen breaking blocks with a pick as well as smoothing the mortar between the joints. This is done with a special tool called a striker, and it gives the wall a it s finished look.

Madelyn sifted dirt, mixed morter, swept the floor, and helped lay bricks. She also took the camera around one day and took a lot of "record shots" of the work. Many of the pictures in the slideshow are hers.

As the week went on the girls got invloved in other areas. Leah joined the medical team and rode with them to several outpost medical clinics to provide health care to areas that normally got a doctor only once a month. She also helped at a clinic the Maranatha medical team set up in Freire. "The kids were SO cute!" said Leah. She enojoyed entertaining them, handing out gift bags, taking pictures, and trying to be helpful in general.

Madelyn got very involved in the Vacation Bible School that was held in the afternoons. The pack of mostly eleven year old girls did Bible skits and helped with crafts and games. She really enjoyed this and it gave the kids a great opportunity to interact with kids in the neighborhood. Because the VBS was held close to our dorms, it wasn't long before the local children figured out where we were and began coming by to play out front. This attracted more children and soon there was a happy conglomeration of kids having a great time playing soccer, biking, and learning new languages.

(Madelyn teaching English)

Luke remained at the work site every day working hard to try to get the job done before Sabbath. He was very stiff and sore each day, and much in need of back rubs.

I got involved in some community service projects, one of which was rather unusual. In Freire and many other areas they paint the bottom of the tree trunks with a white mix of lye, glue, and water. So when Steve asked the mayor what else our group could do in the community, he said, "Repaint the trees!" I helped lead a group of adults and eighteen kids in doing that on two days, and it really made a difference. The work was surprisingly hard, and Madelyn was a real trooper, pluggin away even when other kids had stopped to play.

(Newly painted trees on the main boulevard)

I asked Dick if he had any idea why they painted the trees and he told me some story he'd heard involving rats in trees and poison. If you make up a story of your own, you might be just as close to the real answer.

Christmas dawned as another work day with a few special treats. Madelyn went out with a group on special assignment to take pictures of the people of Freire. Then they brought these back to Dick to be printed and put in little black matte frames. The next day the kids went in search of those same people to give them their pictures. I think this had one of the biggest impacts in getting to know the people there in a very special way. Leah went out with the medical team, and I did laundary and then went to the work site to join Luke. That evening the Maranatha cooks created a lovely Christmas Banquet!

(Our dining hall, decorated for Christmas)

After supper we divided into three caroling groups and went in different directions to sing to the residents of Friere in both English and Spanish (sort of). Some really enjoyed it and came out to meet us and have their pictures taken. Others shut the door when they saw us coming, but we really had a good time. It was a memorable way to spend Christmas!

By Friday a little after lunch time we were nearly finished with the church! With all the teamork, the expertise of a few of the volunteers, and maybe a few angels, the project was well ahead of schedule. All that remained was to get as much of the roof on as possible before Sabbath (which was done by some of the local Maranatha guys helping at the work site) and to clean up and hose down the church in preparation for the first worship service the next day.

Here's a slide show of the work site.

The Freire project had a special significance for the Deurksen family. Dick's parents, Victor and Arlene, decided that for Victor's ninetieth birthday they wanted to provide materials for a church, and this was it. Normally Dick and Brenda just spend a few days at each project, but they (and some other family members) were there for the duration on this trip. Although Victor and Arlene couldn't be there on the trip, they were in our thoughts as we worked on the project.

(Thanks, Victor and Arlene!)