Standing on the Rock!

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

    my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

    my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 18:2

Can you imagine the difference that having your dirt floor changed to cement?  Especially if you live in a country with rain more than six months of the year!!

The church in El Coquito worked this passed Sunday to help out a member of the community, who is also a recent member of the church, by putting in a cement floor.

We labored together to put in a cement floor and then exhorted the family to let the rock-like surface of the cement be a reminder to them that Jesus is their ROCK!

They told us that they would start at 7:00 am, and we where there just after seven, but the men had already been working for a half hour!

The man with the big number four on his shirt is the owner.  He has six children ranging from four years old up to two older married daughters.

Francisco built this adobe house himself.  It has no indoor plumbing, no bathroom, and the kitchen is outside, but he is quite proud of his home and it is very well made.

Here is one of his daughters inspecting the work!!  Such a sweetheart!!

Here is Francisco's wife, Marcela, cooking out front.

The sand is piled high, the dry cement is loaded on top, and then everything is pulled back to mix and make a place to hold water.

After the water is added, the dry is moved into the middle mixing everything.

It sort of becomes an unruly mess that we have to chase around with shovels.

The pastor, Gustavo - in the ball cap, has lots of experience working with cement so he is leading the project.

Around 9:00 am a breakfast was brought to the house by Ellen and the pastor's wife.

After a little bit more work they brought lunch!  Well, it was after several hours but it seemed like a short time.  See, just like church programs in the states, food is an important part of the day!!

While the pastor was leading the cement floor project, he also had to break away to start the children's Sunday school program!!

These are two of Felipa's daughters.  Felipa received the first cement floor from the church!  

Gustavo built up these lines of cement to fill in between to make the rest of the floor.

What a beautiful floor!!

Just before putting the final touches on the finished floor, Pastor Gustavo shared Scripture and gave a blessing for the family!

Everyone there at the end was given an opportunity to share and it was so beautiful to hear how these men who had worked all day gave all the glory to the Lord for His goodness!!  Francisco shared powerfully, filled with gratitude to the Lord, and exhortation for the church!

What is so exciting to us is seeing the church members step up and purpose in being a blessing.  The reality is that this is a poor community, they probably all need cement floors, but they are working through deciding who has the greatest need and blessing them!

The community is also taking note because they have never seen a church working in this way... which reflects the Scripture in Mt 5:

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. 

Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds 

and glorify your Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:14-16