I started writing this yesterday, and then ran out of time...Oh well! Here it is, one day later!

Happy Friday!

We have made it almost completely through week one! The group leaves tomorrow, and the only hiccups of the week have been a lot of rain and a pretty nasty stomach virus hitting the staff and group. Since I am not in charge of viruses or weather, I think I did ok! We completed Carina's house, and were able to join them today for a dedication. The group poured floors, primed, painted, and the family is ready to move in! The hardest work of the week, though, was on Glendy and Bijo's house. We poured the footers all morning on Wednesday. If you are not used to construction in the DR, this means people lined up from the pile of cement next to the cement mixer, a lot of buckets, and a lot of passing buckets to get them across the lot to the footers. Shoveling, passing full buckets, passing back the empty buckets...we all arrived at lunch on Wednesday covering in cement and sweat. This is the most difficult part of any house we build, so it is nice to have that behind us! Walls are beginning as we speak, and the house will continue to progress throughout the month.

By far, one of my favorite parts of each week is Wednesday evening. The staff has some fun alone as we spend the evening in Cielo cooking together for the American visitors, and then going to church. I love that time when we are halfway through the week, dressed up for church, fighting off the mosquitos, and gather around the grill to cook. We listen to music, tell stories, get work done, but mostly act silly. It is always a fun time to be together. Then, it is topped off by a wonderful worship service with all of the people we only see on Sundays and Wednesdays. Every worship service feels like a reunion, and is a great time to greet friends and be reminded of why we come to the DR and why we serve. This week was different though. Thursday was a holiday in the DR, so everyone had the day off of work and school. In the US, that means a cookout, a party, inviting friends over, whatever. Here, that means they drop everything and spend the entire evening at church, worshipping from 8 until midnight. It makes me wonder how Americans would respond to that idea...I imagine they would not be lining up to attend. There is such a huge difference between the American church and the Dominican church. I have watched it for years, and I continue to think that the daily dependence on God for basic needs is a major source of that difference. This stay-at-church-all-night-for-your-holiday-extravaganza just feels like another example of that. A day off of work is a day for celebrating what God does each day, and what God provides each day. I am challenged and convicted by it. I think I need more celebration with God. I think the church needs more celebration with God...of God...