Breaking through the barriers

After a stressful week of ill-health and science fairs, I have had the most unexpectedly wonderful weekend! Truly.

I had been dreading this weekend for several weeks, yet it could not have been better.
Saturday afternoon was Rocio's 7th birthday party at Wendy's (think McDonalds). Rocio is in my 1st Grade class and quite adorable. I get on very well with her parents and so on being invited to her birthday was happy to go to her party. I was somewhat apprehensive, not knowing who would be there, would form of a party this would be. However, almost everyone I knew was there - it was hilarious and a good chance to catch up with friends I had not seen for a while. Also a good chance to practise my Spanish in a non-threatening environment.
So a success!

I then had to leave the party to get to Youth Group. Now after the trauma of last week's meeting I was somewhat apprehensive yet again. However, it turned out to be great. We were again split into groups, and again I got the gist of what was going on. We were tired though with all the concentrating that listening to Spanish brings and so we did not stay for the groups. No-one seemed to mind and so we scuttled off after the main talk/discussion. So....a success.

Now Sunday was to be the day I had been dreading the most. We were going with the Youth Group to help build and re-roof a house in a village our church supports. I was looking forward to getting to meet with people and loved the thought of building...and yet was terrified of a whole day in Spanish, not really knowing what would be going on and standing out! I knew it would be the best thing for me in terms of actually getting to know people. Amanda and I were both worried about the day and so before we set off we prayed together that we would get through it and enjoy it.

What an answer to prayer it was indeed!! I had the best day I could have imagined. Great fun! We met at the church and somehow ended up with 12 of us squashed into my car. 4 in the boot with the amplifier we were taking, 6 in the backseat and then Amanda and I in the front (with lots of space!) Impressive. Everyone was excited about the day ahead.

Well, we were split into 2 groups to work on 2 different projects. It was in a very poor community and we worked on an adobe house, we were to take off the very old aluminium sheet roof and replace it and then rebuild one of the rooms. The walls were made of cardboard/wood/plastic bags/tarpaulins. So we went with our group and Freddie said we were needed on the roof to help take the nails out. We weren't sure if he was serious but we climbed the ladder and got onto the roof anyway! As we were up there they started taking the sheets off. Interesting! There was no real support to this roof and so at this point I decided it was wise to get down whilst I could! Anyway, we worked hard and helped with the sawing, hammering, measuring etc. They said all the girls had to go to the kitchen to make lunch. Needless to say we both refused and said we were going to carry on working - and we did! There is no such thing as health and safety in any form. If something needs to be done, it gets done regardless of how unsafe the ladder is or what you have to stand on to reach it!

Lunch itself was interesting - Seafood Soup. Which is exactly what it was! We took sandwiches as we had been sick all week and didn't want to push our luck with seafood in our stomachs. This however seemed to cause great offense and so we went to get a bowl to share. In the bowl were whole crabs, whole fish with just the heads cut off and the tails sticking out (scales on etc). You name it. Mixed in was yuka, rice etc. Not really my thing, but Amanda seemed to get into it.

After lunch we got on with work again. This time the girls were asked to go and hand out invites to the village telling them about the drama in the evening. We were told to stay and work on the house and so Kike, Freddie, Amanda and I kept on hammering etc.

After the house was finished with a new roof, new walls, a door etc the bed was put back in the room. There was no floor, simply dirt and dust. A really humble house. One day's work changed someone's life. Then the drama was presented. It was powerful - may have been more so if the dog had not been sniffing everyone throughout it!

I cannot put into words everything I saw yesterday and everything I experienced, it just does not do it justice. I can however summarise what I got from it:

• Breaking through language barriers with a common goal/task
• Getting to finally know people from the church
• Showing people we are willing to work and join in like everyone else
• Being able to mess around with people - not just the serious side
• Showing we do want to join in, but just need patience with our language skills
• I feel we broke through so many barriers that we have, mainly due to language. Now going to Youth Group and church will be that bit easier.
• We have done the hard part of putting ourselves out there, we don't mind being laughed at etc!
• Seeing how much God answered our prayers in so many different ways that we didn't expect.

It really is hard to explain, but I feel that yesterday was a turning point for our relationships with friends, people in our community at church. We were able to show we want to join in and are prepared to show our weaknesses and lay ourselves on the line. God worked in such a positive and awesome way (can you tell I live with Canadians?) I think from now on it can only get easier. For now anyway!

There is so much more I can say, but I have not done this justice and so I will stop here!