The work was hard. The hours long, and the last 20 minute scramble before the doors opened felt like something straight out of HGTV. The two hour grand opening fiesta felt like a miracle. Over half the village came – adults as well as children – and although they enjoyed the crafts, games and piñatas, they POURED over the books and continually asked for more stories. Twenty minutes after the fiesta was supposed to have ended the children's corner was still full and you could hear the low hum of children sounding out words. This was their first experience in a library – for many, it was their first taste of recreational education. I can not thank you all enough for your prayers and support. For those of you who gave us money for ministry before we left – know that you bought those book shelves. We know that this is just the beginning as we hold twice weekly story times, craft times, train librarians and more . But the Lord has blessed so far, and we know that it is in his hands. Please keep your eyes out for Spanish books – as you can see – there is plenty more space to fill!
The space AFTER a week of cleaning and sorting and BEFORE a week of AMAZING team work that transformed it to:
A place of joyful learning.
The group who made this happen (Minus my amazing husband who was the everything handyman for this project and the driving 'can do' force behind it. ½ because he wanted the community to have a library – and ½ because he wanted to move the community center out of our house!)
2 ½ hours in...
Vicki, Jude, Delmis, and Seyli enjoying the reading nook Vicki created. Jude stayed there for over an hour!
Standing room only at story time!
Along with participating in the library miracle – his last group built us a walking path and STEPS!! In four months we have gone from a trench to castle like luxury at our back door.
Building the path between the houses
Blowing bubbles on the 'stoop'.... the luxury of a stoop – where once stood mud!
This group was amazing and encouraging. The Lord's work here in hearts and lives is apparent. Our life here is beautiful and fulfilling. But the count down to the unknown begins... 10 weeks to uprooting once again.
P.S. Lucy is up to about 5 signs and a dozen words these days – including 'chicken'. She spends most of her time walking instead of crawling. Her fascination with shoes continues... and last night she threw mine in the toilet twice (It makes you really wish you had doors to close). Thankfully she picked up that bad habit after the team left with all of their shoes! Here she is in Pastor Paul's shoes... although she seemed to favor Vicki's bright pink Crocs.
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