Anyway, our third team for January was from Winnipeg Evangelical Free Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. This happens to be the home church for Dave and Kathy (our ministry directors) and of Pete and Faye (who are here temporarily helping out as interns). This was such a great team! They, too, came to work on the new church, and boy did they work hard! They even did some "home improvements" here on the base! This team finished pouring the first floor cement floors, finished cleaning and painting all the sanctuary roof trusses, completed the grey-water pit, completed constructing the parking area roof, poured the parking area concrete slab, the cap to the grey-water pit, and the picnic area concrete slab (to one side of the parking area), poured columns that will support the second story walkway, began bricking the foundation for the first floor sidewalks, poured a slab of concrete at the entrance to the church in order to anchor the doors, smooth-walled the library, began bricking the first floor classroom walls, ran all the electrical wiring, poured a new floor in the church palapa on the base, painted the back base wall, painted a Noah's ark mural in the nursery, and painted the name of the church and our motto on the outside wall of the church.
Grey-water pit
More poured floors 
Bricking the walls
Working on the sidewalks 
Sandy, Pete, and I working with the cement as the team mixes and pours the new floor in the current church palapa on the base. Sandy was taught to tamp the cement!
Me smoothing the cement along the walls
The finished new floor in the church palapa!
Finished parking structure (grey water pit underneath) and picnic area
Smooth-walling the library
"Centro Cristiano: Crece y Deja Crecer" = "Christian Center: Grow and Let Grow"
Painting the mural -- this is the entrance to the nurseryNo, seriously...they really did do all of that!!! This team worked ridiculously hard! It was even neater to watch them go because they were an older team, and at the beginning of the week many of the team members shared that they were nervous that they wouldn't really be able to contribute very much due to disabilities or limitations, etc. But there was something for everyone, and every one of them invested 3,010% into whatever job they were given!! What an inspiration!
One of the neat things we did with this group was that for devotions each night we asked someone from the local church to come and give their testimony! Tonia, Luis, Sandy, Julio and several others shared about how the Lord called them to himself as well as how He has grown them through the challenges He has allowed in their lives. I was especially touched by Sandy's testimony as she chose to focus this time on how God has changed her life in the last two years through answering her prayers for a friend.....that just happens to be me! She and I have marveled before at how amazing the Lord is and how he has used our friendship to change both of us, but it was neat to hear her share her particular story and perspective on the last few years without it being a dialog between us! It was also neat to see how the team members took her under their wings after she shared. They were so great at encouraging her in various challenges that she shared with them that are facing her right now. I know she felt especially blessed by them!
This team not only worked hard, but they had a good time too! One night, we took them over to Tonia and Feliciano's house to have a late-night snack of fried armadillo!! This is actually a very flavor-full meat, and the team devoured what they had prepared! We also took them one night to eat tacos with our favorite taco-vendor in Pilas. They devoured those as well, and with good reason!! Then in the middle of their trip, we took them to San Blas to do the Tovara Jungle Tour and relax on the beautiful beach! What a blast this was! It was especially exciting for me because it was my first time going! I've heard so much about this experience but have never been here when the staff took a team. Sandy also went so that she could take pictures, since that is something she has wanted to take pictures of for quite a while. And she did just that! She took several hundred pictures at the Tovara and at the beach! And it was a ton of fun all around!
Arriving at the taco stand in Pilas
Enjoying the best tacos ever!The Tovara Jungle Tour is a boat tour up a natural, fresh-water spring that runs through a Mangrove. These are the kind of trees that "walk". They grow up and then their branches shoot roots back down to the ground. Once those roots have taken root in the soil, they break off from their mother branches and become new trees. They're amazing! In addition to the mangrove, there is a crocodile farm nearby that releases the crocodiles into this fresh-water spring. This farm was started a while back because the croc population in the area was waning. So, as we boated up to the head of the spring, we saw not only beautiful varieties of birds, iguanas, and even a boa constrictor, but also CROCODILES of various sizes!! The best one was found right at the head of the spring. He was HUGE and has to be the granddaddy of all the crocs in that area!
Loading up the boats
Mangrove
We encountered these during our tour. Apparently folks used to live here, though we have no idea how long ago! Cool!
The granddaddy crock!At the head of the spring, the tour company has created a swimming hole. Of course, they have fenced off the area so that the crocks can't enter into the swimming area, but it's always a possibility to be swimming in the water and see crocks swimming on the other side of the chain-link fence! There is a dock out in the water that attaches to the walk-way and a swing hanging from a tree for throwing yourself into the water. There are also bathrooms, tables, and a little snack bar.
The swimming hole
Sandy and I in the boat heading back to the beachWe stayed there and swam for about an hour and then headed back up to the start of the tour where we then loaded onto the bus and headed to the most beautiful beach about 1 km away from the Jungle Tour. There we stayed for several hours enjoying soda, sun, and fun in the Pacific Ocean! Sandy and I spent our time at the beach taking photos.
There were rock formations there and even an abandoned house on top of one of the rock formations. Seeing it made me think of Jesus' exhortation that we build our house on the rock and not on the sand so that when the storms come we will continue to stand strong. It is obvious that this house has seen it's share of storms, and though it's missing a roof and doors, etc. (for being abandoned), it's still there and still has a rustic beauty to it!
The house on the rockFinally, we headed back to Cofradia for dinner and rest and a few more days of work. On Thursday, Jan 31, they headed to Puerto Vallarta for some Mexico-tourist fun before heading back to Canada and the -40 C temperatures!!! What a great team this was! I had such fun with them, and we are all so thankful that they were able to come and share in this ministry with Dave, Kathy, Pete, and Faye and to encourage the local body through their work and their conversations!
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