In the trenches.....

Right in the trenches....

Once again I am struggling with words on how to describe today. We were up and having breakfast by 7am and on our way to the village of Rio Frio by 8am. Two trucks one full of Canadians and one full of equipment and El Salvadorians.

When we arrived there wasn't the same big welcome as yesterday.... There weren't many people around at all. We figured they were working. But somehow we knew something wasn't right.

We got to work right away. I got to help build Marta's house, she's the single mom with three kids. They have me the "girly" job, as they said it, of drilling holes. Now this is holes through metal so a tiny bit harder than wood. Very glad my brother-in-law has taught me how to use a drill and I can find my way around a construction site alright. Later I was working with Shane on securing the sides of the house down (more drilling) and then got up on the roof to secure that down too....funny all the guys were impressed a girl would get up on the roof..... They don't know me very well, eh. But man was it hot up there. I only got half the roof done and had to switch and go get water and shade.  The houses are so much bigger than I thought. And nice and cool inside. They are 400 sq ft, have two bedrooms and a living/ kitchen area as well as a covered patio. Each room has a window and there is a front and back door. All very sturdy and lock up tight. Theses houses are very safe. Very luxurious for these people and vey cool inside too. What an incredible gift to be able to give them and they only cost $2000 each!  This year alone Shelter has built 300 houses!

As we were working leadership found out where everyone had gone to. Shelter has been building houses in El Salvador for 12 years and on average build upwards to 300 houses a year. This a new community that Shelter is building in and a first they have run into a situation like this. After we left yesterday the local gang found out who was getting houses and didn't agree with the village committee and ran some of them out of town. Now we did hear yesterday they didn't want someone to get a house, since it was a safety issue it was decided to go with the gangs decision for now and take that family off the list. We are in a different country and will most likely never understand how somethings work here. But it was said as long as the one family wasn't getting a house we were welcome.

Part way through we could see our local contact Tomacita (very strong feisty woman) looking a little anxious and moving fast. Myself and two other ladies sat and prayed for our safety and the safety of the people in the village. Sadly, we got word just as we were finishing three houses that the gang was coming back and they decided they didn't really want anyone to have a house. We quickly gathered the equipment and left before they came back. Tomacita had gone back to the village and it is heartbreaking that everyone, including Marta has decided it's no longer safe for them there and have left the village. A team of local went and took down all but one of the houses we built.

We serve a great God, and although His ways can be confusing at times for our finite minds to even begin to comprehend. I know that when someone intends something for evil He will turn it in to good. These people have been living in fear of this gang for sometime now and this was the final push to get them out. We will be continuing to pray that although today and the next few days will be hectic and stressful for them, we pray that each one of them will end up in a much much safer area.

This will change up the week a bit. We will still get to build some more houses but they will be in communities where shelter is well established, respected and very welcomed.

A tough morning and as I said workings of other countries are very very different from ours and sadly unjust and just don't make sense.

For the afternoon some of the team went to the local pool, which they say is beautiful. I decided that my very red skin (despite putting lotion on three times in three hours!) needed a break from the sun and I enjoyed a ciesta in my air conditioned room.

Although today was rough it was good.  God is faithful and He always has a plan.  Please do not worry or fret. But prayers are most welcome for continued safety.