Our Last Report

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Today we took part in a soccer tournament organized by some local churches to benefit a young boy undergoing a very aggressive cancer treatment. Though our team showed moments of promise, we lost twice and landed in the basement. But despite losing twice, all of our players played joyfully and warmly congratulated the teams we lost to. The tournament ended around 4:30 Guadalupe time. While the soccer tournament was going on, others from our group were finishing a larger-scale painting project.

Tonight we heard the last testimonies from the team as well as Dean Adamek’s testimony. It is a joy to partner with this like-minded brother in Christ. After Dean shared his testimony, our team asked him questions for several minutes.

After sunset, we gathered with the kids from the ranch around a bonfire. We sung several songs together: Jesus, Thank You; Blessed Be Your Name; and The Gospel Song. The melody carried all of us as our team sang in English and the children from the ranch sang in Spanish. Blessed Be Your Name takes on new meaning when you sing it with orphaned children in Mexico.

Our final move of the night was to gather for our last evening meeting. We played a game of encouragement called “I Spy God’s Grace In You.” For an hour we encouraged one another with how we have seen God at work in each other’s lives throughout the week. It was a sweet time of fellowship and a good way to begin drawing things to a close.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll have a brief devotion, build a “pyramid of praise” as a team, eat a light breakfast, snap a group picture and then leave the ranch at 9:00 AM. Our flight out of El Paso is scheduled to leave at 1:25 PM and arrive at O’Hare a little after 5:OO PM. We anticipate arriving at the church building around 7:30 PM. We’ll contact you if there is a delay.

Well, all the tools have been put away and many memories have been made. God has been kind to us. We thought you would like to see our checklist. We sought to work as unto the Lord. By God’s grace, we were able to finish what we started.

1. Paint a house for college students with great attention to detail. ✔
2. Clean school to NASA standards. ✔
3. Transport and spread manure around trees evenly. ✔
4. Weld over 100 rebar fence panels together and install. ✔
5. Meticulously prepare and consume 17 gourmet-like meals. ✔
6. Weather seal over 40 wood support beams without dripping. ✔
7. Throw a seismic birthday bash for the kids at Rancho3M. ✔
8. Paint ceiling of girls’ dorm. ✔
9. Install window in the bathroom of girls’ dorms. ✔
10. Clear storage room and transport contents. ✔
11. Copy hundreds of pages of translated lesson plans. ✔
12. Win local soccer tournament. ✔
12.5 Take last place in local soccer tournament. ✔
13. Relieve over-extended staff of nagging jobs. ✔
14. Make the Rancho3M director happy. ✔
15. Love on 45 kids without moms and dads. ✔
16. Knit 40 people together in Christ. ✔
17. Share and enjoy 40 testimonies of God’s wondrous grace. ✔
18 Savor the fruit of the Spirit individually and as group. ✔
19. Worship the Savor with all of our hearts. ✔
20. Be changed by God. ✔