Last Post from Oaxaca

What a great day but a tough day too. It has been very hard to say goodbye to the folks here. One of Saul's goals was for us to build relationships here and we did in such a short time so it is difficult to sever those ties. It was a great day in that we ran though 30 more panels today and all but 5 small walls are up. We would have finished if we had enough panels. It was so neat to see both groups jump on the task and most of the construction of the panels were done in a hour, two at the most. We were late getting to site because we had to wait until 11 when the panels were to be delivered to the site. When we got to the site of course the panels were not there so we sat around and played a bit. Then we decided it would be a better use of time if we ate lunch while we waited for supplies. You know what happened, just after everyone started eating the truck came up the road with the panels.

We completed putting up the walls by 5 so there was time to play while we waited for the Felix the bus driver to return from running some folks to the house to start working on dinner. An impromptu soccer game was set up with the Mexicans against the Americans and we were spotted 4 points. We needed them. The Americans pretty much held their own defensively but could not score. There is a very short clip of the game if you want to watch.

We had a special dinner of some local fare. I have no idea of the name but it was good and lots of it. Yesterday we had grilled chicken and just barely had enough for everyone to have one piece after a hard day's work. There was no shortage of food tonight.

Dinner was followed by a the beginnings of saying goodbye. Photos and exchanges of email addresses etc. Then Saul gave us a condensed version of his sermon for tomorrow (today) in English so he sent the Mexicans home to do whatever they needed to do with the promise they could come back after the teaching time. At the end of the teaching time Saul brought back the Mexicans and we had a group closure time. He asked both groups what they had learned this pass week and what the trip meant to them. The tissues were being passed all around as there weren't many dry eyes in the lot. Saul and Pilar did the translations so both sides would understand. This was followed by prayer requests for the groups to be praying for the other and then some prayer time.

After that there were more photos and also an extended time for singing and worship. Followed by more tears and goodbyes. The main group has to be up by at least 4:30 to be on the bus by 5:00 so it was tough to round everyone up. As you can tell it is now 2:15 here. I won't get much sleep tonight.

I hope you have enjoyed the entries and we could give you a glimpse into our trip and the stuff we did and the things God has done on this trip. It is very difficult to try and condense into a few paragraphs the activities of each day. You might want to use the entries to prompt your friend or family member for further discussions and stories.

I will try and put more pictures or additional information up later. There will most likely be photos at different locations that will be able to be viewed and I will publish the ones I am told about.

I want to thank all of you who have prayed for us. Your prayers have kept us safe, healthier and God's work was done and will continue to be done as a result of this trip. Thank you again and please continue to pray for safety and flight connections.

Chuck