Please remember to keep our team members in your prayers daily.

TEAM MEMBERS
Charles Smith
Laura Smith
Chuck Smith
Fran Wells
Ann Brancroft
Ann Phillips
Christine Reuss
Sheryl Thornton
Wes Thornton
David Hurst
Cully Dorer
Bryan Sisson

Check out the lastest pictures from our team

Photo Album

Sheryl Thornton's journal entry from Friday, June 20...

Since it is now my turn to write in the team journal, I have to tell you how much fun it has been to convey these entries to you all through Kay's email! We have celebrated the rich diversity of our team, and I think it shows in the diversity of our writing! I have laughed and cried as I've sent their experiences to you all.

I go to Kay's house each day to email you on her computer, and I want to tell you about my personal assistant in this task. Her name is Gray, and she is Kay's 2-month-old kitten! She sits in my lap, on the keyboard, and on the journal I'm trying to read! She loves being right in the middle of our writing to you, and tells you all hello!

After breakfast this morning, some of us stopped by the Meganet to check out the church website and email family back home. Ann Phillips has been great about getting photos to you as fast as we can! A few of us spent the morning with a new American Airlines challenge. We have 3 team members (Ann P, Christine, and Wes) flying home tomorrow, and their tickets had been cancelled. I was halfway hoping they could just stay with us the rest of the trip, but it was eventually thankfully resolved.

The morning at the worksite continued the same tasks: chipping plaster, hauling bricks, digging ditches, clearing dirt and debris. Juan, the construction leader, has shown us the drawings, and the renovations at the Methodist school are going to be so attractive and much more functional.

We did not go back to the hotel for lunch. Instead, the Methodist district provided lunch at the school. It was delicious, and the team enjoyed the fellowship with new friends.

After lunch, we visited the Hasta Crecer next to Kay's house on the school campus. This is the original Hasta Crecer, established before the one our church's team helped build last summer. We had such a great time with the children and Leonor! We gave them hackey sacks and fingernail polish. The teachers and mom helpers enjoyed the nail polish, too! The children sang us a song, then we all went outside to play. We brought little bottles of wedding bubbles, and had fun blowing, chasing, and popping them. The boys loved playing hackey sack with our guys.

We then returned to the worksite for our last opportunity to work. At the end of the day, we laid out all of the snacks we had left, all of our new and used work gloves, and our last scripture cards from the Horizons Class. We pulled everyone together around the table, and Bryan thanked them for leading us, for their patience with us, and how much we have enjoyed working with them. Then Bryan invited them to receive these gifts of appreciation from us. Hasta Crecer brought homemade strawberry yogurt, and it was delicious! Several of us passed around our VHUMC hardhats for everyone to sign as a souvenir. I handed my hat to Juan for him to sign it, and he made fun of our wimpy hats! But then he asked me to sign his real hardhat. Now Juan has all of our names and best wishes on his hardhat. It was a great, but bittersweet, end to a wonderful work week.

Just before dinner, we had our last share time with the whole team here together. I read from John 1, how the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Each of us shared one special way we have seen God's grace revealed through another person this week. We were then surprised by ONE MORE scripture card from the Horizons. The cards read, "Make a joyful noise to the Lord - CELEBRATE!" Each card had a party horn attached, and we did some celebrating then and on through the evening.

After supper, we returned to the school for a goodbye party. They set up a volleyball net, and we divided up in teams. It's a good thing our Bolivian friends split up, because they are great at volleyball!! Modesto, the pastor, led us in a devotion from Luke 10, about how the 72 people sent out by Jesus returned from their mission with great joy. He affirmed how Jesus has been present in our time here, and he hopes we will return with great joy, and that we will tell the stories of what God has done with our church, families, and friends. After the devotion and singing, we played relay games - we weren't so great at those either! We had hot dogs, hot chocolate, and sat around a campfire as an early celebration of the Festival of St. John. The actual holiday is June 24, and combines the celebration of the Winter Solstice and the life of St. John. Brave guys - including Felix (The Methodist District Superintendent!), Chuck, Cully, Bryan - jumped over the fire, and we all danced around the fire. These are a part of the tradition. Late in the evening, we said our goodbyes and got to be late at the hotel.

What a rich experience this has been for all of us!

We are so thankful to everyone who has made this trip possible and so wonderful. People in the church have donated money, children's things, books and tapes, transportation, and so much more. All of you are on our minds when we think about how blessed this whole experience has been.