New Happenings at Church and Boy's Home

In addition to the travel and surgeries we have posted in our blog, we still have been very busy both in our little Mexican church in Ixtlahuacan and the boy's home, Hope House. We continue to play in the worship band at church and are helping out as much as possible to get a more permanent place for worship. On some of our previous blogs we showed photos of our church and how we meet under a tarp hung by rope between trees. This last rainy season it became rather dismal as each Sunday that we showed up to rehearse before the service, the rain and wind had blown the tarp down and we spent precious rehearsal time rebuilding our "church". The other alternative was to use the original terrace, which, because of church growth, has become too small for the number of people who now attend, so people would go home, not finding a seat. We approached the pastor and said something had to be done. The upshot was that we were able to help out in getting a massive steel structure built, with a new and very durable covering over it. People have been getting motivated to beautify the (rented) property, painting and pruning. As part of this we asked pastor if he would like to have a platform to get the band and the speaker off the muddy ground. So Walt and some of the men built a platform and now the place is beginning to look more like a church. There is a lot more room under this new tarp and we add more chairs every Sunday now. Here are before and after photos of the old and new tarps. The new tarp, framework and platform can all be moved to the other property when we are ready.

The workshop is now fully functional and in operation. We were concerned that the high-end level of the power tools were beyond the boy's abilities. However, they have proven us wrong as they work with every tool in the shop. Of course we are very conscious of safety! Work began with building simple Christmas items such as reindeer and snow flakes. These are items that have sold well and we are beginning to earn some money for the shop. The boys have progressed beyond the Christmas items and have helped build workbenches for the shop. Now that it is fully operational they have successfully built five bunk beds, in reality ten beds, for another orphanage in the area. Funds for the material were provided by the local Rotary Club and the boys donated their labor. They, in fact, with the help of four adults completed construction of all the beds in four days. These are not full days as they still have to attend school. Not only have they become proficient with the tools they are very careful about quality control. If something is not routered properly they will redo it until they are satisfied. Same with sanding prior to varnishing. Here are photos of the workshop and the boys at work. If you enjoy woodworking and have a little patience, we welcome you to come on down for a week or two!