the last day of the year

On this, the last day of 2012, we asked the students what they would be doing if they were home. Here are some of their answers: sleeping, listening to music, watching TV, sleeping, hanging out with friends, playing video games, sleeping, going on Facebook, and sleeping. (Apparently, they like to sleep a lot over break.)

This is what they did instead: Woke up at 6:30 for breakfast at 7:00 on the patio of the hotel. Mary Griesbach gave devotions this morning, encouraging us with the words of Philippians 4: "Whether in plenty or in want...I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

We arrived at Cielo by 9:00 and split into two groups. One group mixed, shoveled and passed hundreds of buckets of cement that formed the floor of a house. The other group mixed, shoveled and passed hundreds of buckets of cement that filled a beam in a 75-foot wall of the church. After lunch, we formed another line that moved over a hundred cinderblocks from a top of the hill to the foundation of the church, where we will begin to build walls tomorrow. All this without complaints or conflicts. In fact, there was quite a bit of singing and laughing as we worked. The last hour in Cielo this afternoon was spent on the streets, playing with the children and visiting with people in their homes. It was difficult to leave to go back to the hotel, and this was only the second day of our trip.

Tonight we will have dinner in Santo Domingo, then go back to Cielo for a New Year's church service and bonfire. From the comments we heard today, we would guess there is nowhere else these students would rather be on New Year's Eve, than with the new friends they have made, worshiping and celebrating what God has done in each life.