House completion

We are finished the house!!! Today was a unique day. We all went again in the morning to the building site, and started the last finishing touches. I spent a few minutes with the kids, and then got to work on the house. I got to paint some trim under the edges of the roof and try out lots of creative positions – laying on the roof hanging over the edge (and got my clothes all tarred up from that); then auntie Minna helped me use a long ladder to get up underneath the roof edge by steadying it and moving it when it was time, and it went twice as fast for the second coat. The men built partitions on the inside of the house so that there are two bedrooms, and one big open living area. We painted the walls, hung the door, put the finishing touches on the window edgings and the outer walls, and finished all the basics on the house.

This afternoon, most of us women went on an outreach with Erma to a needy community. It was fun. We had about 8 people in the 11-seater van on the way to the outreach, and picked up 3 more loads of people until we had 29 in the van! It was quite something. Thank goodness about half of them were little kids!

At the outreach there were a few Bible classes for the kids, and then they came out for their meal. It consisted of a cup of milk, a spoonful of peanut butter, a tortilla, and a cup of soup. They all seemed pretty happy with their meals! They also got toys and picture cards with Bible verses on them. I bet there were 150 to 200 people there this afternoon. Erma and her crew do this outreach faithfully every Thursday. It’s pretty amazing what they do. They passed out shoes today, and sometimes they pass out clothes too. They just give and give as much as they can! What a great example of the love of Christ at work in this world!
Tomorrow we’re going to get it all set up on the inside with bunk beds, curtains, shelves, etc. We’re doing the landscaping, putting the outhouse over the hole, cleaning up garbage, etc. I’m not sure what the whole day will consist of, but I’m sure it will be good. In the late morning, we are going on an outreach, which should be fun. The dedication is at 4 pm, and we have lots of gifts to shower on them, so we’re pretty excited about it all! It’s really been a wonderful week!