Yesterday… we began to put our bodies to work with some physical labor: Diggin’ Ditches.
Forrest and Carol have a ministry partner named Levi, who up until this time has shared a workshop together in a little village outside of Antigua. Levi‘s main ministry is building homes through Sharing His Plan Ministries. He’s an engineer, and has come up with an amazingly cost-effective way to build these homes that are stable, aid in healthy lifestyles, and are easy enough for mission teams to come and put together!
Levi has just acquired a piece of property to build a workshop/office of his own, and so we’re helping him break ground and get some of the basic stuff done! He shared with us the plans, and when it’s all done, there will be housing for mission teams that come to volunteer, a section for his workshop for the housing projects, a nice bathroom facility, and an office/meeting room.
Christine, Melina, and Jessica!
All day yesterday and today we worked with shovels, pick axes, and sledge hammers and we dug a 2 foot deep trench across the property for the electrical lines, with a few offshoots. I’ve only 
done a few small projects that had anything to do with digging holes… but this was by far the most manual labor I’ve ever done in my life. It didn’t help that this was the hardest ground EVER! There was a layer of cement, concrete, then ceramic tiles of some sort, then rock, then a layer of bricks… then more rock! Our guys definitely confirmed the fact that this was a layman’s nightmare. J
However, I will have to commend our teams because everyone had the best attitude the entire time! I mean… we have blisters (okay, the guys have MASSIVE blisters, I only have one) and a few sunburns, but we definitely sang songs and joked around and made light of the fact that our first two days of service definitely left us with a feeling of accomplishment. I must admit, we have some beasts on our team. Everyone worked so hard! This was the first time we really have done anything of physical work, and I was totally impressed by everyone’s efforts and attitudes.
Levi would have had to dig that trench by himself if we weren’t there, and chances are it would have taken him a couple of weeks, so we’re super pumped to have some time to help him get some of his new mission home started! God has definitely blessed us this month with amazing new friendships!
I can’t wait to tell you all about it!
Pray that our muscles and hands heal quickly!!
Pray that the work of our hands and the attitude of our hearts will be pleasing to the Lord!
Pray that we will continue to share the love of Christ as we meet new people in new villages!
