Go Watch the Videos

This will be short this morning. For one, I've slept too late to write my usual book. For two, I woke up in the middle of the night and posted some videos from the volcano, I want you to go watch them. (Hope they open for you.) That lava is so hot you can hear the heat. No kidding, although the Flip cameras may not pick up the sound.

Yesterday, we did a lot of work in the village. We built one house from scratch, poured 3 concrete floors, put on doors and windows, and more. Others in our group went to an orphanage and hugged lots of kids and played with them, among other things. The coloring books some of you sent with me were used there. Still others in our group did a Bible program with over 100 kids in the village where we built the houses. Then, we all knocked off early, went to a church near the Mission House where we live, and did a food and clothing distribution. We gave 100 families bags of food staples that will last them at least a month, they tell us. It cost us about $6 per family for the rice, sugar, oatmeal, several pastas, salt, oil, chicken gravy, drink mix, and other cooking supplies. We also gave away the clothing that we had tucked into our luggage. If you gave me flip-flops to bring along, they were handed out at this distribution yesterday. This chaotic scene of gratitude is what I will think about over the next year every time I eat a meal out back in Iowa.

Today, Wednesday, is really the last of this first week. We'll finish up our house work, dedicate the houses this afternoon, and most of this group will head to the airport in the morning. Not me, I get to move to another place and stay on. And start into a second phase of the trip, the Farm Phase.