DAY 8 (June 27): God is bigger than a hole in the road!

The pleasant morning came quickly after the awesome previous day. I looked out the window with an hour before breakfast so I woke up Joel and other team members with me whistling a sublime tune. Breakfast consisted of an amazing new blackberry juice that shocked the tongue pallets of most. All of us were asked “Leche o agua?” And this would determine what else we drank—coffee or hot chocolate. The ham and eggs gave us the energy to start our day off right.

We all boarded the bus ready for the hard work that we were prepared for. The bus ride started off with the sound of some gracious strumming by Aaron, but sooner then later we all broke out into song. Before we knew it we were at the bridge that we crossed the last time by foot. We crossed our fingers hoping the ancient looking bridge wouldn’t collapse.

We made it to the other side and boarded the second bus in which Kyle and I rode shotgun with the bus driver. Unexpectedly we reached a large gaping hole in the road over the river as a result of the other nights pouring rain. Three cars lined up and some local Ecuadorians were busy filling the hole precisely with wood planks. Thinking of this as a huge set back it was quite enjoyable to see all the efforts and teamwork of everyone collaboratively trying to fix the hole. Rocks and rocks and rocks the hole filled up and the guys got together to lift a truck out of the way. “Yes! Lift a truck out of the way” Anywho… we watched with hope and anticipation the bus crossing the new bridge we just created.

This predicament seemed to build up our great attitudes and we started singing Bohemian Rhapsody. To our surprise we managed to sing every verse and with great ease. After that song we kept singing until we arrived to the church at Tuniame.  The church was mostly completed and it looked very awesome, the aroma of the wood and burning sawdust gave off a nice calming vibe.

We took a moment with the Pastor and the other workers and prayed over the church and were thanked for our being there. I thought after we left the church they did a great job and finished all but one wall.  As we took a group photo, I remembered the great joy we had in being able to help build a church we got on the bus and headed for Chai to our next destination.

At this point on the ride the unexpected was the expected and the morning held many surprises. At Chai it was a steady flow of rain. Due to the hole in the road our work was canceled and we were all to do VBS with the kids. But unexpectedly to us, me and Dario and the pastor were outside in the rain looking at the bottom of a 20 foot deep pit which was suppose to be our project of the day. The thought of a bathroom being located there was hard to see but we started to put planks over and got ready for the rebar and soon enough concrete.  Surprisingly after some base work the sun appeared to us and the heat came. The view seen from the church was phenomenal. A look into the jungle was foreign to the look most of us see in Minnesota. It was breathtaking pretty much breathtaking.  

Back to the work however, lunch couldn’t come soon enough. PB&J, chips and Oreos was the delicacy of the day along with water, water, agua y mas agua. We soon all congregated in the school to sing some songs and do crafts, play games, do a skit and tell stories.  After that, we broke up our groups and we went to work on the bathroom again. Nathan Ledesma and I brought over the bags of concrete and the other tools necessary. The project was becoming more and more, concrete was being poured and rocks were being gathers to place over the pit. 

Throughout the day I can say that me and Kyle found the most interesting creature. We stumbled upon a creature with many many legs that was the size of Kyles hand. The other interesting creature was found by Rachel and it was a frog that was black and yellow with orange spots on the side.

Nonetheless the project was becoming more and more as the concrete was being poured and every one was taking turns mixing and drinking water and enjoying the view. By the time we were finished our work there I noticed a smile on everybody’s face as well as a bunch of sweat.

We all gathered in the church with the most magnificent view and met with the pastor of the church whom just arrived by bus. He hadn’t expected any of us to be there since earlier in the morning the bridge was washed out. He was very grateful that we persisted on going to the church anyway. He also thanked us for helping out because if we had not been there then it probably would have been washed out for a while.  (The pastor told us how throughout the day when people got to the road that was impassible they asked how the road got fixed and the news was spreading that the Americanos came to fix it and that they are the ones that love Jesus.  There are five different villages or more that use that road that will hear that witness) 

We prayed over the people of Chai and we were given a great thanks. Personally I would like to thank them for the great opportunity we had to experience all that could be experienced. I felt a great joy in my heart knowing that I could benefit society a little bit more than I could in Minnesota. I would also like to thank all the warm hearts that greeted us at Chai and all the happy children that were there to chill with us. All the support that we had was awesome.

After the goodbyes and the thanks and the prayers we set out on our journey to the other bus. Out of everything that has happened I realized with Diana on the bus that I’m learning my Spanish better than when it was taught at school. We took a group photo on the bridge and then to the bus for another journey to find dinner. We eventually had burgers and cola for supper with was muy delicioso. After supper and an interesting contemplative conversation with the guys at my table we walked for some ice cream the “Mora” was very tasty.   Then we walked home. 

          The contents of the day cannot truly be described by words unless I wrote a book. But the thoughts and feelings of everyone were blessed and today was a great day. Knowing that the only expectation in life is unexpectation, everyday turns to be an adventure. And no matter what your plans are for the day, God can change plans whenever he likes. God allows us to do things.
Working at Chai gave the greatest joy and feeling of accomplishment to me. It was truly a Nice day.


Lucas Arneson (Derek’s comments in brackets)