Greetings from the Espinosa family! We would like to share exciting news from our AWA Philippines – Palawan Project!
The mission base was suddenly alive with the sound of Canadian teenagers who had whipped out their travel hockey sticks and were hitting the ball around in the bumpy yard. The days had been long and hot, but they still had the energy to play a game!
After an early breakfast, we all walked about a mile to the village of Sagpangan, where our church is located and went to work. We are now in the dry season, which is great for building, but it is also extremely hot and dusty! We were just SO excited and grateful that students from the Peace Christian School from Chetwynd, BC, Canada decided to come and help us build a new church! Termites are eating our present church at a much faster rate than we would like, and the structure’s life is limited. To keep the termites at bay, this time we are using concrete!
Before they could pour the cement, the students hauled many loads of rock, and dirt had to be wheel barreled in, dumped, and then packed down by hand with stumps nailed to sticks. Mark Haddad, a short-term volunteer, carried water all morning from our well at home to the worksite to keep the cement-making process going. A group of boys became proficient at running the cement mixer, while others negotiated wheelbarrows full of cement for the floor around bumpy terrain before dumping them. Still others hoisted cement blocks and carried block after block to where they steadily built up the walls of the church. It was exciting to see the walls going up a little further every day. The sidewalls will only be three blocks high and will have a steel grid for the remainder of the height to provide security but also air-cooling during church.
The students would take frequent, short breaks to tank up on water and Gatorade, and then cool off in the shade before they rejoined the work team. In the afternoon, everyone would quickly take showers. The showers were short, not just because of time, but also because the well where they were staying ran out of water and we used the well water at our home. We would then pile everyone into the AWA mission truck in two loads to go to the school. The mission truck has been a wonderful truck that just keeps on going, although more and more parts seem to be falling off or breaking! During the entire project, we had to push the truck to start it. Every. Single. Time. We believe the problem is the starter, but since the truck was the only source of transportation for people and supplies, we did not have any downtime to fix the truck.
By the time they had to go home, the group managed to pour a good portion of the floor, erect all of the sidewalls, almost complete the back wall, and pour the speaking platform. The portion of the church that the group did not finish, local workers will finish it over the coming months as we have the resources to do so. Work is very hard to find in our area, especially now in the dry season, when rice paddies turn brown and crops dry up. The men that we have hired to finish the work are very grateful for employment. The finished church will have a huge impact on these children and their families. It will be so wonderful to have a larger place to worship. Up to 50 children meet outside under a roof, which we have outgrown. We will use the old church as the new fellowship hall/children’s department.
When we visited the children at the Sagpangan Elementary School, the students took on a new role as youth leaders. Eager local kids would gather around the Canadian students for activities such as singing, telling Bible stories, and crafts. As we left the school, the local kids walking home would shout and wave to the Canadians who were affecting their little lives. All of this is possible, because an awesome group of hockey-playing academy kids decided to come and make a difference on the other side of the world! Thank you!
Your AWA Mission Family stationed at the AWA Philippines – Palawan Project,
Edgar, Raylene, Edrei Von, and Earyl Ann Espinosa
