We thank the Lord for his protection over the structure of House #5 on Saturday night.  While we were all up at the House of Hope, the dog house behind House #5 caught on fire.  The flames reached high enough to scorch the concrete wall of the house and the metal stairway landing that leads to the second floor.   The fire was put out and everyone is safe.  It is unknown at this time what caused the fire.

Sifting the sand for the mortar

Sunday morning after breakfast at the House of Hope we headed next door to the C&MA church for Sunday School and Church.  Our team lead the congregation in singing I’m in the Lord’s Army – in English.  For Sunday School, most of us joined the girls from the House of Hope in their Young Adult Sunday School class.  Lissette translated the lesson into English for us.  She did an excellent job!  The lesson was on I Chronicles 28 and we learned about David and the temple and being a man after God’s own heart.  We attended the beginning portion of the service and sang a few choruses in Spanish.  Around 12:00, we left to get ready for our afternoon in San Antonio, a port city located south of Santiago.  Daniel, Jessica and Anais joined us for the day.  Most of us took a boat tour around the port.  San Antonio’s port is the largest port in Chile and has 9 docks/piers.  We saw many pelicans and seals.  We walked along the boardwalk and did some shopping.  For dinner, we ate at a restaurant that served a variety of meats.  Some ate fresh salmon and Chilean sea bass.  We had a relaxing day in the sun and were refreshed for a new week of work on the wall and painting.

Monday morning, Bob H. led us in a devotion on Micah 6:8.  He expanded upon being kind to one another and walking humbly with our God.

Building the Wall

At the work site today, the men continued putting cinder blocks on the wall.  Bob H. and John S. continued making cement.  Bob M., Dick, Marco and Kerry continued placing the cinder blocks in the wall.  A new task was given to Claudia, Diane and Eleanor.  We needed to shift the sand as there were too many small rocks in the pile of sand that had been brought in last week.  The small rocks were causing issues with the mortar used in between each cinder block.  About 30 minutes into this project, Eleanor was offered a job promotion in helping  Debby continue painting House #4.  She quickly jumped at this opportunity as the benefits were better than staying in her current role.  One of the ladies and two youth leaders from the San Marcos church came to help today.  Karen helped Debby and Eleanor paint in House #4.  Barrett and Aaron help load cinder blocks in a wheelbarrow so they would be closer to the wall.  They also helped put the cinder blocks on the wall.  What a blessing these three were to us today!  We received a delivery of small sized rocks that are used with building the wall.  We are currently waiting on an additional delivery of 1,100 more cinder blocks.  They were supposed to be delivered on Monday, but were not.  Please pray that they will be delivered on Tuesday so progress can continue on the wall.

Team visiting a casa

Tonight we ate dinner at three of the homes at the Hogar.  These were the homes with the oldest girls at the Hogar.  Tom, Bob M. and John S. shared with the girls.  The translators were the girls from the House of Hope – Estephania, Lissette and Kati.  They did a great job!  We shared with the girls about our love for them and prayer that they would have a desire to live at the House of Hope once they turn 18.

Tom has given a challenge to the girls at the House of Hope and to the team.  Tuesday and Thursday this week will be “English only” days, and Wednesday will be a “Spanish only day”.  Tom has asked Kathy Cerda and Daniella from the House of Hope to lead the devotions on the English only days.  At the work site today, some of the team members were practicing the few words we know in Spanish.  All the choruses on Wednesday will be sung in Spanish.  Please keep all of us in prayer on these days as each of us will be stretched in this growing experience.

We continue seeing answers to prayers in regards to God providing us just the right amount of additional workers each day to work on the wall and paint House #4.   Continue to pray for safety and health – some of us have been having issues over the past few days with the pollen.

In Christ,
Diane

Wall - Before

On Thursday, three Korean ladies arrived at the Hogar to help with building the wall.  When they came to tour the Hogar on Wednesday, they saw Eleanor hard at work and said if she can do that type of work, so can they.  They helped shovel small rocks into the wheelbarrow and put small rocks into plastic containers used to fill the holes in the cinder blocks.  One of the ladies worked with Debby and Eleanor in House #4 cleaning the walls and kitchen appliances.  The ladies even brought Korean food to share with us.  We enjoyed our time with them.  The men continued working on the wall.

Thursday evening, we took three cars into downtown Santiago for dinner.  We ate at a restaurant called Santiago Colonial.  We enjoyed a variety of meals – some with mashed peas and others had a Chilean dish called pastel de choclo.  For dessert, we had a sampler of desserts served in Northern and Southern Chile.  They were very tasty.

Wall construction laying block

Work continued on Friday on the wall. We are making progress on the section where we had to dig the 3 foot ditch.  We are at the stage where cement needs to be put in the ditch so after it dries, the cinder blocks can be placed at ground level.  Debby, Eleanor and Diane continued spackling sections of the wall at House #4 in preparation for the painting job on Saturday.

Girl with one of the Quilts given to all the Hogar Girls

Friday evening we had our traditional “Talent” show.  This year we were honored with a surprise visit from Justin Bieber (aka Bob H.).  The girls were so excited that Justin came to see them.  Eleanor shared a little bit about her life with the girls, John W. sang a solo and the girls at the House of Hope performed a skit with a spiritual lesson.  Some of the girls and team members participated in playing Telephone.  It was interesting to see how much the original sentence had changed by the time it got to the end.  We finished up the evening with ice cream sundaes.  Before the girls returned to their homes, Kerry and John had a special treat for the girls.  Women from their church had obtained quilts from an organization called “Wrapped In Love”.  Kerry brought them down to the Hogar and each girl was able to choose their own quilt.  On Saturday, many of the girls could be seen outside with their quilts.  They really enjoyed receiving this gift.

Painting

Saturday we were joined by many people from the San Marcos area.  Fourteen adults and 16 teen/children.  In the late morning two teens from the Korean church came to help.  Debby was in charge of overseeing the painting of the ceiling, walls and trim in House #4.  Most of the ladies and children helped with this project.  Kerry put the men and teenagers to work on building the wall:  making cement, putting cinder blocks down, filling the spaces in the cinder block with small rocks and then using cement to top off where the small rocks had been places.  Others pushed wheelbarrows of cement over to the ditch to fill it in and helped put larger rocks into the ditch in between loads of cement.  Needless to say with all the helping hands today, we made great progress at House #4 and with the wall.  The group stopped at 2 PM for lunch.  We had hot dogs, chips and soda.  The San Marcos church brought popsicles for dessert.  They were a big hit with the girls at the Hogar.

After dinner on Saturday, the group walked next door to the San Isabel grocery store to purchase ice cream cones.  Tom’s treat!

On Sunday, we will attend the local C&MA church next door to the House of Hope.  In the early afternoon, we will travel by van to San Antonio, and do a little sightseeing and shopping.  We will eat dinner in San Antonio before heading back to La Pintana.

Group Photo of team with Hogar girls

We thank the Lord for sending us all the workers on Saturday.  It was a true blessing.  A big Thank You to those who have contributed towards the supplies for the wall.  You are helping make this all possible.  Please continue to pray for us as we work towards our goal of completing the task of building the wall.

In Christ,
Diane