Making Stoves

Dear family and friends,

Thursday's activities have come to a close in San Lucas.  Before the specifics of the day, a couple of general comments.  When we saw the light of day on Sunday and enjoyed our boat ride, God's handiwork was on display.  A beautiful, blue lake nestled under high mountain peaks.  Quite breath-taking.  Second, the people of San Lucas are delightful, normally sharing broad smiles and polite greetings, even though my greeting in Spanish was weak.

The Gannon crew was delivered by van to a "housing development" 20 minutes from San Lucas.  We broke into two groups to go to separate homes.  We assisted the men there that were installing brick stoves for these families.  The bricks and smoke stacks were in place, we helped filter dirt to be combined with cement.  Once the cement was mixed, we each tried our hand at spreading the cement on the outside walls of the brick.  We did okay, but the men in charge wrapped up the jobs with their cementing skills.  They also sealed the cement on the stacks and added tile to the top of the stoves.  We are told that within two weeks these families will be able to use the stoves, which will make a huge difference in their lives.  You can't spend a few hours in a person's home (we are talking one to two cement blocks rooms and aluminum sheeting for a roof) without getting to spend time with the children.  They adore playing with us and talking to us.  Very enjoyable for us as well.  

To the moms and dads reading the blog entries this week, you can be very proud of your kids (not that you aren't already).  They have meshed well and enjoy spending time with each other.  They have also put up with the "parent presence" (me) this week.  Most of all, they have directed their energies to serving and learning, just what we came to do.

Coming home soon,

Jeff