I will finish this house even if it kills me :)

Well, here we are. All finished with the spring groups. Most of the groups worked in the Sparks Colonia. As you have read in previous blogs, a lot of good things are happening in Sparks, and we are definitely "in" good with the community. I can't wait to see what other things happen with our summer groups who elect to work on the U.S. side this summer.

Speaking of that, I was talking to Pastor Hernandez yesterday, and he told me that there has been a 70% decline in the violence in Juarez since the extra military troops arrived at the beginning of March. Even though Erin and I both personally have never felt unsafe when traveling and working in Juarez, this is still really good news to hear. Basically, that means the Juarez is safer now than it was when I first came to the mission full time last July. I am still ecstatic that we were able, and will continue to do extra work in the Sparks neighborhood, as we have developed some long lasting friendships there.

This past week, as you will see from the pictures, we got o so close to completing the big project. Like I said before, every time we go to fix the initial repair, we find 2 more things that must be done first to really fix it right. As much as it has been frustrating and a pain sometimes, I feel it is better to spend the time to fix it right now than to bring a group back again next year or in two years to redo it all again. Let's do it right now, and watch the joy in the family's faces as the children grow up in a safe home that has working plumbing and electricity. The biggest example of the "double challenge" as I like to call it this week came when we were going to change the element in the hot water heater and fix the cold water line to the kitchen sink. We got into the sink, and realized that there was so much rust, dirt, and corrosion in the pipes that the water couldn't get through them. We checked a couple other spots to see if that could be the reason why the water was either running slow or not coming at all, and it was. Guess what that meant? A trip to Lowe's. Aisle 13 for plumbing parts. Pipe, couplings, adapters, elbows, solder, flux, etc, etc, etc, and now the family has water running everywhere throughout their house. I think I might even hook it up to their refrigerator because it has one of those water and ice things in the door, but I don't know if it works or what the "double challenge" will be with that.

Erin and I found out that it is the youngest son's birthday today, so as we speak there is a chocolate cake baking in my oven that we are going to take to him tonight after dinner as a little bonus surprise. We told the mom about it yesterday, and she got very excited and said he would love it. We are also going to take some food we bought for them, as it pains us to see the empty cupboards and refrigerator at their house. For some reason, this family truly touches every group they come in contact with. One group a couple weeks ago left some money for us to buy things like towels, washcloths, towel rods, tp holders, etc for the family. Another is taking up a small collection to contribute towards what it cost to get the water to come back on. It is such a joy for me to be able to do all this work in His name and to see the appreciation and joy on his face. I can't wait until more groups come to do this wonderful work, and I think in the meantime, Erin and I will go over on our own time to finish some last minute details that this past week's group couldn't complete at the two houses they worked on.

Sorting, cutting, and threading the copper pipe.

Sorting all the plumbing elbows, couplings, adapters, etc.

It's finally painted, but something should be done with the porch.

I guess it can be torn out and broken down.

Let's build a new one, since only one person could stand on the old, and might fall through depending on where they stepped.

Build some new stairs.

Put the stairs next to the new porch.

It's starting to come together.

Railing is up, putting the "skirt" on.

Working on the new plumbing.

I must have been in a good mood, because I offered to smoke brisket for them. I smoked it for 11 1/2 hours. P.S. thanks for the shirt Kristine. :)

This is what it looked like when it was done.

Finishing up the plumbing under the kitchen sink.

The new porch, all painted and complete. What do you think as compared to the old one from a few pictures above?

Had some bad elements, and plumbing to the hot water heater as well, who knows how long they didn't have hot water, but they do now. :)

All the plumbing is ran and tied in, and goes where it needs to. HOORAY!!!!!!

The finished shot of the front door, check out the new numbers over the window.