Today has been an amazing and exhausting day. We started early with breakfast, and quickly departed for the village of Bercy, where Mission of Hope has another campus. We spent the entire work day there, and it was fantastic.
Our day began with VBS. It's a lot like what you'd expect, because kids are kids. We traveled from station to station working with the kids. There were a couple of unexpected stations. There was a hygiene station, where the kids were taught to wash their hands and brush their teeth. There was also an agricultural station, where they learned some of the basics of planting basic bushes and fruit trees. It was fun to work with the kids, even though we couldn't speak the language.
In the afternoon we stayed at Bercy, but began to do some manual labor. We helped in the building of a pastor and teacher institute. This will have a huge impact in the country for years to come. They hope to have it completed by January, which is when they have their first conference scheduled. A pastor can attend as long as he brings 5 farmers and 1 teacher to be trained. Many of our team tied rebar for hours for the foundation. Others backfilled gravel and dirt. We also dug trenches for future footers. Words cannot describe the intensity of the sun, or the gallons we both drank and sweated today.
We're back on campus, enjoying cold showers, and waiting for dinner. We will sleep well tonight.
