Today was a bit different than our last 2 work days. We woke up at the same time this morning, but instead of heading straight to the 2 1/2 acres of land we've been working on previously, we headed to another few acres of land also owned by Nathan Hardeman, the onsite missionary. About an hour out of Antigua we stopped at a school for children. The road was quite bumpy and treacherous and I was honestly shocked out vehicles made it up to the side of the mountain where the school was located. The facility was placed in the midst of farms and other pieces of land owned by the locals.

As soon as we pulled up the children ran to the make-shift tin fence to greet us. We rolled in with our cameras and started talking to them and taking pictures right away. After a brief conversation with the teachers (there are only 4 for 150+ students here), Nathan told us that their recess had been pushed up so that we could play with the kids more. There were games, hacky-sack, football, soccer and many other things going on. We tried to converse with the kids as much as possible, but just having fun with them in the mud was really enough for them, you could tell.

After this, Nathan shared the gospel with the children en Espanol and prayed with the kids. It was a really great experience to hear a brother-in-Christ sharing the Good News with another culture in another language. After this, we passed out some food and candy to the kids. You could tell that it was more food than they're used to eating in one setting. Some of them we actually saw scavenging after we left for other stuff on the mountainsides.

A team volunteered to stay behind at the school while another broke off and took a hike with Nathan. Literally. We took some agricultural-type trail to what I thought to be the highest point on this mountain (at least one of them). The whole trek was in the rain and through the mud. After nearly a mile of hiking up steep hills we came to a piece of property 3 acres large. Nathan shared with us his vision to build another similar type of facility as the other piece of land. He is going to begin the plans for this facility Monday morning with his interns. We spent some time praying on the top of the hill and listening to more of Nathan's stories. Then we trekked down the hill another way and along the way met a man named Augusto chopping down a tree. For some reason this part stuck out in my mind; I felt like sharing it, however irrevelant it may seem.

We left the land and the school to head back to the worksite where we were blessed enough to see a back-hoe working on parts that we had prepared for it; progess! We also continued to prep the guard-shack floor for pouring concrete on Friday. We left the site and headed into Antigua for a bit of tourism. Antigua (which translates as "antique") is truly a beautiful place full of fountains and 16th-century architecture. After a nice trip through the sites and a shop or two, we came back to the guest house for another wonderful meal prepared by Nathan's wife, Claudia. She is a fantastic cook and we have been blessed to have her preparing our meals this week.

God has given strength through many known sources, such as Claudia's cooking, and I'm sure other less tangible one as well. I've been amazed at just my willingness and ability to help in certain areas. Looking back on the property now, we're all amazed at just how much us poorly-acclimated Okies have done in a few days. I'm excited to see how we end this week and have started praying for doors to open for my return next year. This is certainly a ministry worth supporting and in need of support. Continue to keep the team, especially Nathan and his family, in your prayers as we finish strong this week. Thank you for your prayers thus far... and I'm sorry for the length of this blog! We miss you guys and we'll see you on Sunday!