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Wow the days are flying by. Our team in our nightly debrief on Monday night said “the days are long but the trip is short.” We are packing the days full each day and Sunday and Monday were no exception.
Sunday we did have a slower start and made a “fancy” breakfast with scrambled eggs and French toast - spearheaded by cooks Anne and Christina. We were not allowed to drive anywhere on Sunday as it was election day in Santa Cruz so we stayed at the centre for most of the day. We had our own short time of worship and study together in the courtyard, made delicious taco salad for lunch and began the work of prepping and painting the stairwell. Thankfully Marty is a painter by trade and brought the supplies we needed. It has hot and sweaty work but even after the first coat painted over the previous green colour made a world of difference. After a long day of work we headed out for more chicken, fries and rice for dinner - and of course, my favourite part - the ice cream for dessert. I recommend the lemon mouse and passion fruit but the coconut with dulce de leche is a close runner up. Sunday night we had our nightly wrap-up team meeting on the windy rooftop patio enjoying the view of the city.
Monday morning we were back at with an appreciation breakfast for the staff of El Jordan. We cooked bacon and pancakes, made syrup and lemon sauce and of course served ensalade de fruita (fruit salad). It was HOT in the kitchen, especially over the stove, but it was so rewarding to be able to serve the staff and give them some gifts of appreciation: a jar of maple syrup, a chocolate bar, assorted chocolates on the table and a team shirt each. We were also able to celebrate Devon’s birthday with some gifts we brought for him and his mom asked us to bring along - as well as the cake Rudy bought for him and then smashed in his face! Apparently that is a regular thing here.
After cleaning up we split into three groups, most of the guys went to the boys centre and did welding with the boys there. Most of the ladies started cleaning the donation closet that was stuffed full and needed to be sorted and cleaned. Marty and I continued on with the painting. Rod and Anne had the privilege of meeting and having lunch with the leaders of the denomination they worked with here in Bolivia all those years ago.
Over these days I feel like our team really showed the quote from our day 7 devotional: “Unity isn’t uniformity; it’s diversity working in harmony.” Each of us used our talents and skills in different ways to serve those around us. This was noted by Rudy as he thanked us during for our work and the appreciation breakfast. He spoke about may of us individually and the gifts he has seen us bring to the work. Along with that, the El Jordan team gave us a 25th anniversary plaque and a circle of raw chocolate. The plaque is especially special as it says “There is no service to God that is insignificant.” That perfectly summarizes what is happens here at El Jordan - small acts of service and love that mean the world to those around them.
To end the day, we ended up sitting around our team table and snacking on fruit, peanut butter and dulche de leche (a wonderful combination). The ladies ventured downstairs and learned how to open coconuts on the bricks. Eventually most of the group ventured out for a late night dinner and ice cream before returning to meet Marlee’s pet monkey, Pepin. For many of us the nightly meeting on the roof was our end to the day, but the fireworks and then music that was heard drew some of the team into the streets to find the band/drummers and see what all the excitement was about.
After a night of rain and wind, we are back back at it for two more days…
