Tuesday, March 31, 2009
First VBS in Sparks
The group last week from suburban Chicago, in addition to all the construction, also did the first ever VBS in Sparks affiliated with YLM. Only the kids who attend the year round schools were able to come, so the attendance was low, (19 was the highest), but all who came had a blast. And it laid the groundwork for those groups who would like to continue to work on this side over the summer. The group this week did a school kit distribution on Monday and gave out over 200 bags of school supplies. That should definitely help with attendance at future events as well. Pictures of that will come on the next blog. Enjoy the photos from last weeks VBS. The themes were Jesus as fisher of men, Jesus walks on water, and Jesus calms the storm. Have a fantastic week.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Better than the snow in Colorado
So it was another great week. The busy spring season of groups is winding to a close. We have found ourselves continuing our work in Sparks, still repairing damaged homes from the flooding of 2 1/2 years ago. It is very difficult to see some of the conditions these families are still living in. Most of the time, when there are groups, they elect to have the meal plan as well, which is when Rita cooks for them, and it is generally amazing food, however it can get old over time when it is a very similar menu week in and week out. The last 2 groups of the spring have elected to cook for themselves, so those of us who are here, are also having to plan our own meals. Having Erin here has been fantastic, it is so nice to have someone else living on the campus who shares my love and desire to serve here at Ysleta. Last week, we decided that we should cook together, because it is much easier to cook for two than one. (I think she likes the fact that I used to be a chef too :). We planned our meals, and our shopping lists and we are really enjoying doing this. Some of the highlights of this week were chicken and broccoli alfredo, sloppy joes, and BBQ chicken salad. We have even talked about doing it even when groups are on the meal plan to break up the routine. I really enjoy spending time with her, and we have developed a great friendship, and it's funny that we get asked a lot if we are dating, but no, we are not. We are just really good friends who will be there for each other through thick and thin. It makes me feel very special to have a friend like that, as many of my "friends" from the restaurant business have turned out to be anything but. So, be nice to her, otherwise it will be like you are not being nice to me, and we wouldn't want me to get FIRED UP!!!!!!
This week we had a group from suburban Chicago work on several projects, both on campus and in Sparks. Additionally, they did the first ever VBS in Sparks because the kids are on break from their yearround school. The attendance wasn't as high as we had hoped for, but those who came had a blast. I'll be posting a VBS blog shortly.
Since I began working in Sparks in July of last year, I feel that I have developed a very strong relationship with a few families in the area, none stronger than the bond Erin and I have made with the family we've been working with this past week. Erin brought up a good point the other day about how we feel that Sparks is kind of our town now, and that no matter how long it takes, we would eventually like to repair almost every home in need. However, we have to do that one home at a time, and this was has proven to be quite the challenge. Every time we go to repair the initial project, we find 2 or 3 other things that must be done either before we can start to repair it or before we can finish it. For example, we pull the old water-damaged drywall off the ceiling and find rotted and cracked rafters, so we were forced to replace the rafters from the inside. Or, we pull off old floor tile that's badly broken and damaged and then realize that we have to replace the entire subfloor in a bedroom before we can put the tile down. As you will see in the photos below, we just thought we were replacing an old, nasty, broken toilet. But no, that was not actually the case. We actually did replace the toilet, but also had to run over 50 feet of PVC so it would connect to the sewer line. Erin really wanted to be involved in the repair of this home because we have such a strong bond with the family, so she decided that she was going to be responsible for all the plumbing in the house. One day when we were at Lowe's getting 10 ft. long pieces of PVC, I accidentally hit her in the head with it while we were loading it in my truck.
I truly appreciate the fact that I am here working for the mission, and that once the job is done or a week is over, I don't return to my hometown and occasionally think of a family that I was able to help. I frequently see a wonderful lady named Perla and her daughter at events at the community center or I stop by to say hi while we're in Sparks, and now we have an even stronger bond with a new family. Maria had mentioned to Erin and myself that she didn't just want us to fix her house and be gone, that she wanted to keep in contact with us. She asked about our church, so we took her a brochure and invited her to attend with us this past Sunday. We picked her up because her family doesn't have the money right now to get new license plates so they can drive their vehicle. We brought her and 3 of her 4 children to the service and we feel that she really enjoyed our small, close-knit church. As Erin was taking her home, she mentioned that she would like to come back again next week, as well as enroll 2 of her children in the first communion classes that they were speaking about in the announcements.
As usual, I had more I wanted to write about but I can't remember what it is. Enjoy the multitude of pictures and have a great week!
The youngest daughter Alejandra, who is just adorable. She says hello to us like 40 times a day and hates it when we have to leave.
She is very ticklish and we love her laugh.
My pseudo-niece.
She still needs a little work on her painting skills, but she certainly wanted to be helpful.
She's way too clean--this must have been early in the process.
Her brothter, Junior, got a little on him too.
She seemed like she understood how to do it.
Doesn't that look good?
I was helping get it out but I didn't get it stuck. I actually had to tow it out with my truck!
One of the ladies from the group sprang for the rental truck to haul 2.5 tons--that's over 5,000 lbs.--to the dump.
What a great place to spend spring break!
This was the shower before.
This is the new shower. Which do you like better?
She's mesmerized with how it works and apparently wants to get that paint off of her right now!
This is E-MAC's first toilet installation. She took great pride in her work.
Taking out the old one.
This is were the toilet drained to. Open air and the ground. Grrrrrr!!!
The first piece of the pvc puzzle.
Starting the long journey to the sewer inlet.
Wow, that's far. Notice how the existing brackets for the pipe on the trailer don't keep the pipe at the correct slope?
Putting in the final piece of the puzzle. This is on the complete opposite side of the trailer from the bathroom, and you can see how big it is from the picture of the fresh paint. Erin did a fantastic job with the plumbing. She is well on her way to becoming a master plumber.
After the toilet, it was time for the sink, I think she really enjoyed throwing the old sink into the trash pile, and this was the first take with the camera. What a great photo.
So, here I am uninstalling the old sink. It was kind of a tight fit for me, where is E-MAC?
The new vanity and sink, installed in the freshly painted blue bathroom.
This week we had a group from suburban Chicago work on several projects, both on campus and in Sparks. Additionally, they did the first ever VBS in Sparks because the kids are on break from their yearround school. The attendance wasn't as high as we had hoped for, but those who came had a blast. I'll be posting a VBS blog shortly.
Since I began working in Sparks in July of last year, I feel that I have developed a very strong relationship with a few families in the area, none stronger than the bond Erin and I have made with the family we've been working with this past week. Erin brought up a good point the other day about how we feel that Sparks is kind of our town now, and that no matter how long it takes, we would eventually like to repair almost every home in need. However, we have to do that one home at a time, and this was has proven to be quite the challenge. Every time we go to repair the initial project, we find 2 or 3 other things that must be done either before we can start to repair it or before we can finish it. For example, we pull the old water-damaged drywall off the ceiling and find rotted and cracked rafters, so we were forced to replace the rafters from the inside. Or, we pull off old floor tile that's badly broken and damaged and then realize that we have to replace the entire subfloor in a bedroom before we can put the tile down. As you will see in the photos below, we just thought we were replacing an old, nasty, broken toilet. But no, that was not actually the case. We actually did replace the toilet, but also had to run over 50 feet of PVC so it would connect to the sewer line. Erin really wanted to be involved in the repair of this home because we have such a strong bond with the family, so she decided that she was going to be responsible for all the plumbing in the house. One day when we were at Lowe's getting 10 ft. long pieces of PVC, I accidentally hit her in the head with it while we were loading it in my truck.
I truly appreciate the fact that I am here working for the mission, and that once the job is done or a week is over, I don't return to my hometown and occasionally think of a family that I was able to help. I frequently see a wonderful lady named Perla and her daughter at events at the community center or I stop by to say hi while we're in Sparks, and now we have an even stronger bond with a new family. Maria had mentioned to Erin and myself that she didn't just want us to fix her house and be gone, that she wanted to keep in contact with us. She asked about our church, so we took her a brochure and invited her to attend with us this past Sunday. We picked her up because her family doesn't have the money right now to get new license plates so they can drive their vehicle. We brought her and 3 of her 4 children to the service and we feel that she really enjoyed our small, close-knit church. As Erin was taking her home, she mentioned that she would like to come back again next week, as well as enroll 2 of her children in the first communion classes that they were speaking about in the announcements.
As usual, I had more I wanted to write about but I can't remember what it is. Enjoy the multitude of pictures and have a great week!
The youngest daughter Alejandra, who is just adorable. She says hello to us like 40 times a day and hates it when we have to leave. 
She is very ticklish and we love her laugh.
My pseudo-niece.
She still needs a little work on her painting skills, but she certainly wanted to be helpful.
She's way too clean--this must have been early in the process.
Her brothter, Junior, got a little on him too.
She seemed like she understood how to do it.
Doesn't that look good?
I was helping get it out but I didn't get it stuck. I actually had to tow it out with my truck!
One of the ladies from the group sprang for the rental truck to haul 2.5 tons--that's over 5,000 lbs.--to the dump.
What a great place to spend spring break!
This was the shower before.
This is the new shower. Which do you like better?
She's mesmerized with how it works and apparently wants to get that paint off of her right now!
This is E-MAC's first toilet installation. She took great pride in her work.
Taking out the old one.
This is were the toilet drained to. Open air and the ground. Grrrrrr!!!
The first piece of the pvc puzzle.
Starting the long journey to the sewer inlet.
Wow, that's far. Notice how the existing brackets for the pipe on the trailer don't keep the pipe at the correct slope?
Putting in the final piece of the puzzle. This is on the complete opposite side of the trailer from the bathroom, and you can see how big it is from the picture of the fresh paint. Erin did a fantastic job with the plumbing. She is well on her way to becoming a master plumber.
After the toilet, it was time for the sink, I think she really enjoyed throwing the old sink into the trash pile, and this was the first take with the camera. What a great photo.
So, here I am uninstalling the old sink. It was kind of a tight fit for me, where is E-MAC?
The new vanity and sink, installed in the freshly painted blue bathroom. Saturday, March 21, 2009
Exciting times in El Paso
So this pic is supposed to be at the bottom, but I'm an idiot and hit the wrong button and deleted it so it is up here. I have heard of body art with paint or tattoos, but E-Mac takes it to a new level with "Tar Art." I accidentaly got that one spot on her leg, so she drew some pics and then had to take a bath in paint thinner to get it all off.Good afternoon,
It is such an exciting time to be here at the mission. So many awesome things are happening, despite all the bad things you may hear about Juarez, it just opens up so many more opportunities. When you hear things like prayer team, and church planting, and mission starting, you can't help but be excited about all the possibilites and the opportunity to be involved with something so cool and rewarding. I don't want to talk too much about that here, but I would be happy to share it with you, or check out Erin's blog because I am sure she is going to write about it too, because I stole the idea from her. Thanks Erin. :)
So, otherwise, it was just kind of a normal week, did some construction with a group from North Dakota State University, some office stuff, and today, Erin and I are making a Chicken Alfredo Spinach Lasagna. We are part of a blog group that you make recipes for each month, and this month's subject is lasagna. We are not allowed to use our own recipes, and are supposed to try something new, so we will see how it turns out. It sounds really good though. Let me know if you want the link to read that blog.
I have some other news that could be super exciting, depending on if it develops like I really hope it does, but I am not going to say anything just yet, I want to keep you all in suspense and make sure it really happens first.
Oh, and last week, Erin totally helped me put tile in the house I am living in at the mission. There are a couple pics on here, put none of the finished product, cause I don't have any yet, but I will get one or two on the next blog. She is super multi talented, but I think she likes roofing more than tiling. Oh well. I had a bunch more that I wanted to write about, but I can't remember, so when I do, I will put up a new entry.
I am glad to see and hear that the weather is getting better for most of you. It has been perfect here. Until next time, God's Blessings on your days.
Chipping out the old carpet tacks. Check out the stylish kneepads. Can you say supermodel?
So, Erin hates this picture, but it is the only one I have right now that shows the new tile. I love the way it looks.
It's not roofing, but it was great to have her help.
This one creeped me out a little bit. She looks like she wants to get my jugular with the circular saw.
Get in your home. What do you have against your home? I said that to this nail, because it was not cooperating and going where I wanted it to.
Just put this one on to show you that I actually work sometimes and not just take pictures.
I couldn't run fast enough to catch the ice cream man so I made her a tarsicle.Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Juarez violence update
Good morning,
As many of you may know, our sister city has been plagued with violence over the past year. Having spent much time in Juarez throughout the drug wars, and always feeling safe, the coverage on the news has been bleak. Regardless of my opinion that the press makes it seem like a war zone, and the feelings of teams who work over there, that all times they have been safe, we all still must take notice of the things that are happening. I am posting a link to a newspaper article from todays paper, please take a moment to read this, and see all the good things that are happening, and continue to keep the people of Juarez in your prayers.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_11929149
God's blessings on your ST. Patricks Day.
Chris
As many of you may know, our sister city has been plagued with violence over the past year. Having spent much time in Juarez throughout the drug wars, and always feeling safe, the coverage on the news has been bleak. Regardless of my opinion that the press makes it seem like a war zone, and the feelings of teams who work over there, that all times they have been safe, we all still must take notice of the things that are happening. I am posting a link to a newspaper article from todays paper, please take a moment to read this, and see all the good things that are happening, and continue to keep the people of Juarez in your prayers.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_11929149
God's blessings on your ST. Patricks Day.
Chris
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Home Makeover Sparks Edition
So, another week has come to a close. As many of you may already know, the Mexican government has sent another 7000 troops to Juarez to combat the cartel violence. They have said they are not going to give another inch to the cartels, and will reclaim their city. In many ways this is a really good idea. In the days after the troops' arrival, there was an article in the paper talking about how much the violence has slowed down since the arrival. As a precautionary measure, we have elected not to take groups to Juarez through March to see what the cartels may do. It turned out to be a good decision, because a whole new area of ministry has opened up on this side of the border. Although we plan to be able to return to Juarez this summer, God has truly blessed our ministry here by giving us the opportunity to perform more work in the Sparks Colonia.
Sparks is an area of El Paso County that reminds many who go there of doing work in Juarez. There is a lot of poverty, and homes that are in terrible shape. Flooding of 2006 ravaged the area, and through some previous grants, YLM was able to help repair 14 homes. It is great to have another option for work here for anyone concerned over going into Juarez. I have taken over many of the responsiblilites of finishing out the grants in Sparks, and am really beginning to know families in the community. We have established a great relationship with the community center there, and they will allow us to host VBS at their location. We also hope to help them by building an addition to the center. They also help us identify families who still need help and repairs to their homes.
I have been visiting many homes and preparing project lists for anyone who elects to do some repair work over there, and it just amazes me to see the level of need of some of these families. Hopefully, with the help of the Lord we will be able to continue to help these families have some more suitable, safe living conditions. This past week, we started rebuilding a trailer for a family of 6. Each time we took something down, we discovered even more need. For example, we took off old ceiling drywall, and realized that the beams that were supporting the roof were in bad shape, so we had to create new supports for the roof. 13 students from Martin Luther Chapel, at Michigan State Universtity spent 4 hard days of work there, and we will still be continuing the work this week.
The family is so wonderful and friendly, and each day Maria thanks us 4 or 5 times, and to see the joy in her when she looks at her new roof, or floor tile makes my heart jump a little bit. She has a great 2 year old named Alejandra who loves to play outside and help measure things or peel paper off the tile. She always says "hola", "hasta manana", "la muchacha", and "el muchacho". Erin has dubbed her "my amiguita" which is my little friend.
I never realized how happy I could feel by helping others. YLM is truly a blessing to me, and I absolutely love the work I do here, and I thank God every day for sending me here to make a difference wherever I can. Enjoy the pictures, and take care of yourselves. Please continue to pray for Enrique, and for our friend Esmerelda as well who will be having back surgery this week in Salt Lake City to correct a deformed spine.
Our "amiguita" Alejandra helping to measure wood.
Maria, with her youngest daughter, Alejandra.
Erin and her little friend.
This is where we had to put new supports in.
Old ceiling in kitchen.
Old ceiling in living room.
The floor was very unstable in spots, and we had to put in a new subfloor in area to keep things like this from happening. Their really is a body attached to those feet inside. Whoops. :)
Here is the old floor patter, just random tiles and carpeting thrown around. Many of the tiles were not even glued down and just moved as people walked.
This is what her new floor looks like.
Here is the old roof, water would just pool up on it and leak through into the house in almost every room.
Finishing up the new roof. We created a pitch in the center so water can run off either side and not pool up and damage all the stuff we did inside.
Sparks is an area of El Paso County that reminds many who go there of doing work in Juarez. There is a lot of poverty, and homes that are in terrible shape. Flooding of 2006 ravaged the area, and through some previous grants, YLM was able to help repair 14 homes. It is great to have another option for work here for anyone concerned over going into Juarez. I have taken over many of the responsiblilites of finishing out the grants in Sparks, and am really beginning to know families in the community. We have established a great relationship with the community center there, and they will allow us to host VBS at their location. We also hope to help them by building an addition to the center. They also help us identify families who still need help and repairs to their homes.
I have been visiting many homes and preparing project lists for anyone who elects to do some repair work over there, and it just amazes me to see the level of need of some of these families. Hopefully, with the help of the Lord we will be able to continue to help these families have some more suitable, safe living conditions. This past week, we started rebuilding a trailer for a family of 6. Each time we took something down, we discovered even more need. For example, we took off old ceiling drywall, and realized that the beams that were supporting the roof were in bad shape, so we had to create new supports for the roof. 13 students from Martin Luther Chapel, at Michigan State Universtity spent 4 hard days of work there, and we will still be continuing the work this week.
The family is so wonderful and friendly, and each day Maria thanks us 4 or 5 times, and to see the joy in her when she looks at her new roof, or floor tile makes my heart jump a little bit. She has a great 2 year old named Alejandra who loves to play outside and help measure things or peel paper off the tile. She always says "hola", "hasta manana", "la muchacha", and "el muchacho". Erin has dubbed her "my amiguita" which is my little friend.
I never realized how happy I could feel by helping others. YLM is truly a blessing to me, and I absolutely love the work I do here, and I thank God every day for sending me here to make a difference wherever I can. Enjoy the pictures, and take care of yourselves. Please continue to pray for Enrique, and for our friend Esmerelda as well who will be having back surgery this week in Salt Lake City to correct a deformed spine.
Our "amiguita" Alejandra helping to measure wood.
Maria, with her youngest daughter, Alejandra.
Erin and her little friend.
This is where we had to put new supports in.
Old ceiling in kitchen.
Old ceiling in living room.
The floor was very unstable in spots, and we had to put in a new subfloor in area to keep things like this from happening. Their really is a body attached to those feet inside. Whoops. :)
Here is the old floor patter, just random tiles and carpeting thrown around. Many of the tiles were not even glued down and just moved as people walked.
This is what her new floor looks like.
Here is the old roof, water would just pool up on it and leak through into the house in almost every room.
Finishing up the new roof. We created a pitch in the center so water can run off either side and not pool up and damage all the stuff we did inside.
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