Day 3 in Juarez

Two things I have learned you don't do in Juarez...

1. Assume the road signs are marked correctly. For example, when the youth pastor has a van load full of students and he turns onto a one way road into oncoming traffic because there was not a sign that told me different. Yeah, you dont do that.

2. Assume that you can say "English words" in a Spanish accent and expect the locals to understand a darn word you are saying. For example, today we ran out of ice on the work site. I grabbed Alex Whitmore (no, he only speaks a little French) to go to a local store to pick up "purified ice." I got the store, told them I needed icea (yes, I added an "a" to ice) and I fake shivered. The guy looked at me confused. Alex picked up a piece of ice in the cooler and the guy nodded his head. I told him "Pure, Pure, Si.." He again looked at me like I was an idiot. He went back, packed a bag of ice and came out and put it on the counter. I said "Pure, Pure?" No response. So, I picked up a piece of ice and pretended to eat it and said "Si, ok?" He shook his head and said "Si." I paid him some pesos and moved on. When we got to the van, Alex looked at me and said "You know, I am not sure that this is Pure, what if someone dies?" I told him that I trusted the man behind the counter and that I was sure (not all that sure, but I had to comfort Alex) that the ice was totally pure. Anyway, I got to the site and one of our guides told us that the store was legit and we would be fine. By the way, no one has died from ice poisoning.

I say all of this for you to get a good laugh and pass it on to the elders with a note of concern for the health and safety of your children :)

We had a great day today! This morning we were able to put up all of the outside part of the walls, finish the roof and begin dry walling the inside. Tonight we worked hard getting parts of the dry wall up and the students put "stucco" on the walls. The kids had a chance to play with the neighborhood kids tonight and Andy Kuhn got a soccer game going with some of the neighbors. Today we went to the Soriana (Mexican Wal Mart) and bought a Kitchen Table, chairs, towels and some other items for the home. It was cool to let the kids hang out around the store and see them interact with people.

Tomorrow we are packing up from the church we have been able to stay at. We should be finished with the home by noon tomorrow! The students (and adults) are so excited to pass off the keys to the home off to the family, it is going to be a great day. Be praying for our return to the states tomorrow. We will need to go through some check points and hopefully we will have no hold ups.

Forgive me for my improper sentences and slurred stories, we are all pretty tired tonight. Thanks for your prayers and thoughts this week. See you tomorrow night.

Matt