What a week! God put together a unique team to do the perfect project! He brought together Roberto and Jill's brother-in-law Ryan Delvecchio (who is from one of our home churches - LifeChurch Livonia), Brent Buttermore, missions pastor from Jill's home church growing up - OakPointe Church, Mark and Ellen Cramer (also from OakPointe Church,), Robert and Rhonda Walker, who serve as missionaries near Tena, Ecuador, and ourselves (Roberto and Jill). We weren't sure how everyone would mesh together, but we learned that when we all work for the same purpose, are of the same mind and spirit, and choose to GLORIFY God with our work, A LOT can be accomplished! A common theme during our devotion time was about giving God the glory for the work that was and would be accomplished. Giving God the glory for the skills used. Giving God the Glory and NOT ourselves, or the group at the end of the week that everyone stayed safe, that much work was accomplished, and that someday hearts will be changed BECAUSE OF HIM!!
Meet the Team: The team left Detroit Monday and arrived to Sucua Tuesday evening, and were eager to check out their new surroundings! L to R: Mark Cramer, Ellen Cramer, Ryan Delvecchio, Brent Buttermore
Meet the Team: The team left Detroit Monday and arrived to Sucua Tuesday evening, and were eager to check out their new surroundings! L to R: Mark Cramer, Ellen Cramer, Ryan Delvecchio, Brent Buttermore
Work Day # 1 - The team took time to get on the same page as to the work that needed to get accomplished, and the best way to go about it. The exterior walls were 95% framed by the end of DAY 1! Everyone was very thankful for the new roof as it rained most of Day 1!
Work Day #2, #3 (Thursday/Friday) - Ever heard the phrase "it's not the size of the dog in the fight, rather the size of the fight in the dog" ? Well, that was this group! God gave this strong and mighty team the strength to work efficiently! Day 2 and 3 were spent putting up the siding on the exterior walls of the second floor.
Work Day # 4 - Saturday morning the crew woke up ready to work! Even though they were tired and sore, they still got in a great work day! They headed inside the house and worked on the interior frames and siding. It was SO cool to see the house taking shape and life!
Sunday FUNday!!
Sunday the team got a chance to experience a typical church service, as we took them to the church we attend in Macas. We headed home to have lunch and time of fellowship. After lunch, we took the team to a Shuar community about 20 minutes outside of Sucua, and we were able to learn about the Shuar culture, go on a hike, and enjoy God's beautiful creation!
Work Day # 5 (Monday) - the last work day was spent work on framing the interior walls of the second floor. While not all of the siding for the interior walls got finished, the team left us in a GREAT position will all the interior walls framed (which required a lot of planning, designing, and measuring - something that would have take Roberto a long time on his own). They worked on the interior walls and then spent time cleaning up the work site.
Below are a few miscellaneous photos from the week. The week is often filled with lots of sweat and hard work, but there are some sweet times with fun, food, and play as well!