Abraham Project Blog
This week, we have enjoyed a team from Seattle, WA. They were a group of high school students who came with a lot of vigor and willingness to work. They put a lot of insecticide on the wood and re-organized the bodega and the wood they took out to cure.
Several of the young men on the team took time to pressure wash the fence and the sidewalks and Luke even helped a little! Luke "helped" one of the young men write his name on the sidewalk:
Last week we had a first-time team visit us from Redeemer Community Church in Little Rock, AR. Two interns from this team were here last year for four months and returned for one week as a part of this group.
These guys did a special project this week: they helped tear out old grass and put down new sod. It was a huge endeavor and we were so grateful for all of their help and excellent work.
A few of the guys also finished up painting the church roof! It looks great! Thanks to all of the teams that contributed to the final product!!!
One very skilled carpenter on the team worked on a shelf that will go in the lawyer's offices.
The team was also very involved in teaching in the daycare. They provided a variety of activities for the children and performed a skit that was very captivating and the kids really seemed to love.
We are very grateful for all of their hard work and the grass is looking great!!!
We were happy to have a return team with us this past week from Grace Community Church from Indianapolis, IN. The team did a lot of work with the wood, by putting on insecticide and organizing the bodega (the warehouse where we keep the wood).
A couple of the members of the team finished up pressure-washing the roof, so that we could finish painting in order to protect the metal.
The team leader, Mike, also worked on a special project all week. It's a rail for a "big-boy" bed for one of the kids in the Children's Homes.
Due to some VERY heavy rains last week, these guys had to make some last minute travel changes for their fun activity day. Instead of going to the beach, as planned, the team ended up going to the Volcan Arenal and they had great weather there and got to see the top of the volcano.
We were so glad to have the returning team from FCC here this past week, led by Dr. Randy Smith and his wife Tammy. This team is the home church of another of our missionaries here at the Project, Candace Brown and her husband Aarón.
While at the Project, the team worked on putting down sand so that artificial grass could be added as a final touch on the playground.
Some of the team members also spent some time welding and others were in the basement of the multi-purpose building putting ceiling tiles in the rooms where the lawyer's offices will be located.
A really great thing that the team did while they were here was an outreach to an indigenous group of people called the Cabécar Indians who live in a remote area in the mountains in Turrialba. While there, the team painted the church building, did a kids' outreach, enjoyed a service in the local church and slept in a three-room house for one night, that had to have been about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the church where the outreach was held. It was, from all accounts, a great experience for the team members and the Cabécar Indians as well.
Last week we hosted our team coordinators (Jonathan and Amy Griffith) home church and close friends. They were a huge blessing to the Griffith's as well as the Project.
Most of the team worked on putting insecticide on boards that will be used later on at the Project.
The rest of the time was spent organizing that wood inside the bodega, once it had the insecticide on it.
A few guys also worked on the roof of the church building painting one side and getting the other side prepped and ready for paint by pressure washing it.
Thanks again for all of your hard-work and support!!!
We now have a fence all the way across the river side of the property! It has taken a few months and a lot of hours to complete, but it is now finished. From the first pieces of aluminum that were sanded and primed back in January, to all of the effort that went into welding and painting. Many team members played an integral part in helping this fence come to fruition and we are very grateful for everyone's hard work.
The last step of the process was putting on the small roof to help with watershed and give a more decorative look.
Thanks to everyone for all of their hard work!
We were blessed to start the month of May with a great group of college students from North Georgia College and State University's Wesley Foundation. There were only seven members of this team, but they moved enough dirt for at least three times that many people. A whole lot of soil was moved from one side of the Project to another in order to level out the playground area. It was a lot of really hard work but they did everything with great attitudes.
They also worked on treating wood, and painting pieces of metal that will be put together to form a roof over the playground so the children can play outside, even in the rainy season.
The hardest part of the week though, was probably for the guys who pressure washed and scrubbed one entire side of the church's roof. Sadly, and oddly, there are no pictures to document the actual transformation of the roof, but trust us, it looks great!!!
We were so glad to host a returning team from Living Hope in Bowling Green, KY last week. They worked really hard around the Project doing everything from working in the Daycare to running electrical wiring to cleaning drains along the fence.
A lot of time was spent on the concrete mixer: sanding, grinding and priming. They did a great job getting it ready to paint.
We were so grateful to have this team at the Project, working very hard and giving of themselves in huge ways. Thank you all so much for everything!
Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting the Wesleyan School from Georgia here at the Project. A group of high school students and four of their teachers came down and worked with us for eight days, serving with the Children's Homes as well as on the construction site and Daycare. They came with planned games, had lunch with the children from the Children's homes and did crafts with them as well.
On Sunday, the team worked with our local church in a very marginal area called Rio Azul about five miles from the Project. Just over one hundred children came to the church in Rio Azul and they were given bags of goodies and Bibles.
These guys worked on everything from moving dirt to cleaning the professional offices, from sanding to treating wood!
We were very blessed by this group of students, as they worked with great attitudes and worked wholeheartedly.
This week we enjoyed a group from the University of Georgia! They worked really, really hard moving a lot of dirt to level out a wheelchair ramp and the road that will run beside the Multi-Use Building and connect to the bridge crossing the river to the new property.
They leveled out the remainder of the playground area behind the Daycare building as well, which will help us continue to prepare the area for the play surface to be installed.
Mostly, this team moved a whole lot of dirt around! We really appreciate all of the bulldozer-like work that they accomplished!
This past week, we had the pleasure of hosting our second team from Grace Community Church in Clarksville, TN! A lot of pieces of tubing were sanded and primed, and there were certainly a lot to do. There were approximately 700 pieces that needed to be individually cleaned. These pieces will be used to create a fence that will surround our newly installed playground.
The team also worked on moving part of the existing playground and leveling out the dirt area surrounding the new playground equipment. This required that they move loads and loads and loads of dirt from another location on the other side of the property. Thanks to all of their hard work, we now have a great foundation to begin putting down a better surface on which the kids can play!
Thanks to the entire team for all of their hard work this past week! We appreciate all you do!
Last week, January 24-28, a group of 14 people came from Love & Truth Church in Jackson, TN. This team did a lot of sanding... They sanded metal railings, desks, beds and baseboards. In addition, they also pulled a lot of nails and moved lots of wood from the location where it is dropped off for delivery, to the area where we store it. Two guys installed baseboards in the offices upstairs in the Multi-Purpose Building, two ladies scrubbed the floors upstairs in one of the Children's homes, and two of the men began the preparation for the area where we will install our Playground.
The team also brought lots of clothes for the kids in the Children's Homes and some things for Steve for his birthday which was on the 26th!
We are grateful for the 377 hours that the team worked last week and for all of the preparation they made before coming down.
During the week of January 10-14, we welcomed our first two teams of the year! Grace Community Chapel from New Brunswick, NJ and Grace Community Church from Clarksville, TN. Both teams worked side-by-side doing various construction jobs at the Project. We were so blessed to have thirty-four volunteers working all week. Seven from the New Jersey team and twenty-seven from the Tennessee team. The New Jersey team dug a ditch, filled that ditch with rocks, and of course, pulled lots and lots of nails. While they were here, the team shared in the celebration of the birthdays of a couple of kids from the Children's Homes, made an authentic Korean dinner for the missionaries here and donated 119 hours of labor to the Project. We are so grateful to their leader, Jooyoung Choe, and to the entire team for their gracious service to the Abraham Project.
During the week of January 10-14, we welcomed our first two teams of the year! Grace Community Chapel from New Brunswick, NJ and Grace Community Church from Clarksville, TN. Both teams worked side-by-side doing various construction jobs at the Project. We were so blessed to have thirty-four volunteers working all week. Seven from the New Jersey team and twenty-seven from the Tennessee team. The Tennessee team built two fences, cut down a rather large tree, did a "little" landscaping at the guard's house (see below), sanded and painted beds from the Children's Home, painted an office in the Multi-Purpose Building, painted Candace's laundry room, dug the hole for a septic tank, mowed and weed-whacked the grass, and pulled lots and lots of nails.
These great folks also brought bicycles to two of our missionaries, Jason and Kerby Harpst. These bikes were such a blessing to them as this is their only form of transportation, in addition to walking!
