Monday, June 15th

Off to work we go. Today was a work day in Pachacutec with a church in a very poor part of Lima. In addition to their church ministry, they also help with taking care of some orphans and feeding those in need. The have a piece of land but the structures on the property are made with plywood or other temporary materials.  They recently had someone give them an offering for building and repairing and have started to put more permanent structures in place. We helped move recycled tiles that will be used for the flooring, nail together wood panels to be used for the main property wall, dig a couple of holes for the main entry columns, mix cement, clean out some rooms and bookcases, and other miscellaneous items. We did have a few minor scrapes and cuts from handling materials with hands which are not used to that kind of work but all fingers (as well as everything else) are still accounted for.

Here, many people have built their house on the sandy hills around Lima. They live in simple plywood or wood panel homes until they can afford to build something more permanent. Most houses never really look finished as they are always been improved when money is available. They realize that they need to dig deep to lay a proper foundation if they want the houses to last. When earthquakes come, the temporary structures without the proper foundation crumble. It reminds me of Christ's parable of the foolish man who built his house on the sand. If we do not take down the old "structure" and let God replace it with one founded on Christ, then our "structures" will also crumble on that day of judgment that we will face.

After a good day of serving, we returned home for food, rest and relaxation.