Day 2 in Mexico

Dearest friends and family,

Sorry we didn't post yesterday; we've been having trouble with the internet. [This post was actually written on Tuesday, but we again had trouble posting.]

Today was an absolutely wonderful day. After waking up very early, eating breakfast as a group, and doing devotions, we gathered outside to begin work--cement! Unlike yesterday, today all of us got to work together, building a ramp up to one of the sidewalks. The process contained a multitude of jobs, and all of us were kept continuously busy, shoveling gravel, filling water buckets, scooping cement powder, running back and forth with cement-filled wheelbarrows, and finally creating a beautiful ramp. When the job was done, and the cement was beginning to dry, Jessie carved Thrive Youth '08 into its edge. A job well done--what satisfaction we all felt!

During the course of the morning, Gary (one of the missionaries) found an itty-bitty baby jack rabbit, whose mother had died. All of us (especially the girls, I must admit) were extremely thrilled to have a new member added to our team, and took him to our hearts immediately. As she cuddled him in her hands, Jessie named him Winston Churchill. We found some powdered milk in the kitchen and have been feeding him every couple hours ever since. In fact, we have brought the little dear in his little box to our room, and are assigning shifts to feed him during the night. How dearly I already love the sweet bunny!

After work, we of course ate lunch and took our siesta. When all of those necessary evils (haha) had been taken care of, we again gathered together, this time to head to the Brick Yard. The Brick Yard is an extremely impoverished area where many families live and make bricks for their income. As we drove up through the dust and gravel, I was overcome by the abundance of blessings God has showered upon us in America. Compared to our big houses, green lawns, and sparkling pools, these people have nothing. Trash clung to the brush. There were piles of junk everywhere. Glass and scraps of metal littered the ground. And yet, the people are beautiful. The children embraced us and loved us in a way I have never before experienced. They know no favoritism, no judgement. They saw us only as their playmates, and so they played with us with a rigor that was exhausting and yet envigorating.

Visiting the Brick Yard was especially neat for the people who had gone last year. One of the little girls, Jasmine, actually remembered the team, especially jumping through rain puddles with Sarah and Jessie. We will tell more about the children on a later post.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday and today. Here's to hoping they actually show up!!

Please continue to keep us all in your prayers.
A few prayer requests are...

-Healing of Kate and Jessie's colds, Sarah's insect bites, Tali and Jessie's cement burns
-That Kate would feel especially loved, as she is feeling particularly homesick
-Energy! It's late tonight, and the workday begins early again tomorrow
-That Josh, Kenzy, and David would not get sick; in the midst of a water fight with kids at the brickyard, they got unclean water in their mouths.
-For Josh, Kim, and Mrs. H. (Kim's mom), as they continue to lead us
-For our new baby, Churchill, and those of us waking up to feed him.
-Also that we would have an effective ministry that is centered on glorifiying God

Thanks for all your prayers!

-Tali