new year's day

The New Year's Eve service last night (which was mostly in Spanish) included plenty of worship music, and ended with "Felicidades!" and fireworks at midnight. We returned to the hotel at 1:00 AM and got a good six hours of sleep.

At breakfast devotions today, we were reminded that God often speaks to us in a gentle whisper (not always with fireworks and fiestas). "After the fire came a gentle whisper..." (I Kings 19:11–13). God wants to make Himself known to us; we only need to pay attention and listen. God asked Elijah, "What are you doing here?" The students were challenged to listen carefully this week for God's "gentle whispers" and to think carefully about why God wanted them here.

We rode to church in Cielo this morning on Rodolfo's bus (one of many trips this week). In the daylight, the mountains and all of God's creation were visible from the open-air church. A special part of the service came when Marcos and Luis and their families (whose homes will be completed this week) came forward and we dedicated the three new babies in their families. The Erickson family stood as godparents for Davidson and Daihana, Marcos and Guerda's four-month-old twins. The Ancona family stood with Luis and Leonela as we dedicated newborn Rosealina.

Before lunch, we walked to the construction site of these two homes. Built on a hill, the walls of Marcos' house stand tall (a challenge for painting this week). We prayed with Marcos and Luis, asking for safety as we all work together this week.

We also had some time on the streets of Cielo, which were decorated for Christmas with hundreds of milk cartons strung on wires. The children grabbed the hands of students, climbed on their shoulders, brushed their hair. We already heard one student say, "I want to stay here forever."

After a lunch of Dominican chicken, rice and beans, we went to Pura's house in Nazaret, our third job site for the week. The foundation has been poured next to the scrap wood house where Pura and her family of six are currently living. We will begin laying cinderblock for the walls of the new home. Before we left, Pura, standing next to her outhouse, prayed for our team.

It is afternoon now, and we have a few hours to rest before dinner at a Chinese restaurant. We'll gather for a team meeting later and talk about where we saw God today. What we heard Him say to us. And to answer the question He asked Elijah on the mountain: "What are you doing here?" (I Kings 19:13). Why have we come? What does God want us to see and hear?