Dedication!

For the last time I wake up in a large room.  Actually its the sanctuary of a Pentecostal church in Acuna.  But for the past three days it’s been our home base, sleeping quarters and evening devotional location.  One of our leaders (Carolyn) made extensive use of the adjoining kitchen.  

I use that kitchen’s sink area also.  Since the bathroom the men typically use holds the four shower stalls there is no vanity or sink.  I’m told by one of the women sponsors that the ladies’ bathroom has a sink with a rather large mirror.  No shower area, though.  So, making the best with what I have I use the kitchen sink for the evening brushing of teeth and the morning putting-in of the contact lenses.  

In case you're curious, come evening the men showered first, then the women had their turn under the almost-no-water-pressure shower heads.  

But back to the story.  I woke early, as is my nature.  So early that I was either the first or second person in our entire entourage to put feet to the floor. 

Before lights-out the night before our youth minister decreed 6:30 would be the wake-up time.  

With some coffee already working its way through my veins and brain cells I kept an eye on the time.  

As the waking time approached I decided to get a little gratis entertainment.  Sat down right beyond the church’s foyer, affording me a great view of the entire large room.  

In a couple of minutes the alarms began to ding, buzz, chime, hum and mambo.  Right away I went to the light switches and bathed the whole area in nice incandescence.  

Probably had a grin on my face.  Maybe even an evil one.  

Soon all are up and about and it’s time to get very busy.  Deflate and roll up our mattresses, fold the linens, pack everything.  Clean, clean, clean.  

Load the vehicles for the last time.  Get everything belonging to the mission organization into Jason’s truck.  Everything else?  Into the vans and the trailer.   

 

More clean, clean, clean.  

Then I’m asked to do a unique task.  Since I am one of only two in the whole group who is proficient in Spanish, our missionary excepted, Carolyn hands me a card and asks me to write the Acuna church a thank you message.  En espanol.  

I think I composed a good one.  However since I’m a southpaw I did smear some of the ink.  Dang it!  It’s the thought that counts, right?  

Soon we’re ready to head to the house site for the dedication ceremony.  I packed well and have a fresh shirt to wear.  I notice some others in our entourage picked out his or her cleanest dirty shirt.  

We are again welcomed warmly by Juan, Emma, Christal, Antonio, Garcon, and many others.  

Also on hand are Amos y Gloria, the people for whom Jim and Carolyn built a Casas Por Cristo house two years ago.  The same wonderful folks who brought us the empanadas ayer.  

Did I mention Amos and Gloria pastor the church that our Acuna family attends?  Again, small world south of the border.  

Prayer time, and there is nothing quite like Pentecostals doing group prayer.  Only one person praying publicly is unheard of to them.  It is a lovely cacophony of spoken blessings, thanksgivings, and petitions in both English and Spanish.  Mostly Spanish.  

Our family receives the keys to the house.  We all then participate in a ritual in which a small, almost like a bicycle-size license plate is nailed to the window frame to let all visitors and passersby know this is a Casas Por Cristo-built house.  Jason the missionary starts it but everyone steps up one at a time, takes the hammer and gives the nail a strike.  The last one is Juan and he finishes the job as he should.

 

Then it’s picture-taking time.  My only goof of the morning was to stow my sunglasses away in Geoana’s pack which wound up in the trailer and inaccessible at this time.  And that desert sun is bright.  

Oh well.  Tough it out.  

After what seemed like endless abrazos and goodbyes our team finally is ready to leave the work site and move on to the rest of our daily agenda.  

And that, dear readers, is a story worth its own blog entry.  Watch for it tomorrow.