West Vancouver United Church In Mexico: What IS a miracle?!

WHAT. A. DAY. Oh man! Woke up this morning with a refreshing time of chapel to remind us why we are here, doing what we're doing. It's amazing just how much fun this team is having when, all things considered, we pretty much spent the whole day doing, well....THIS:

"And it goes on, and on, and on..."

Jokes aside, we made our way to our site this morning. As per usual, the only thing awaiting us is a slab of concrete. This year's site in located in an area named the Beautiful View Canyon, but nicknamed by 'locals' as "the Skunk", because it's where a lot of poor people live. Pretty heartbreaking when you consider the incredible people we spent the day with.

While we've had kids spend the day with us in previous years, we seem to have become a magnet for children this year, with somewhere between 15 and 20 neighbourhood kids hammering away, running around, playing, laughing. It's so beautiful being surrounded by the laughter of children as we work away. While Wes was busy teaching a kid to hammer, Anna and Zoe were sitting in the grass teaching a group of girls English - while learning some Spanish from them (and trying to keep their pants up despite all the giggling children tugging away at them!).

After a great lunch (during which Im fairly certain we fed the entire neighbourhood!), Andres, one of the kids we are building for, had a terrible crash. A quick look at his ankle did not bode well. The consensus seemed to be that it was broken. So the foreman asked us to gather around and pray that this would just be a scratch. "Ya right," I found myself thinking. But when you are sleeping in a van, going to the hospital is not really an option. So we prayed.

What happened next is fascinating to me. We carried the kid to a shady spot where he could just be until we figured out what to do. About 20 minutes later, he popped out of the shed with a big smile and just went back to playing. (!!!!!!!) What fascinates me is how quickly we are to explain away moments like these. Most people who had a look at the ankle agreed that the ankle was likely broken - enough that we'd have an emergency prayer meeting at least! And as soon as the kid was up and running, the story changed to "oh he probably couldn't move it because he was surrounded with people." Which is totally possible. Was the ankle in fact broken? We'll never know for sure. What I do know is that we asked God that this nasty looking ankle would turn out to be nothing more than a scratch. And for that, for the things we can't confirm, prove, or disprove, I see so much room to seek, to imagine, to wonder.

ANYWAY. It was an incredible day. The teens from the church are having an absolute blast. Everyone is in good spirits after the churros that were awaiting us upon our return from a hard day's work. Being here is so so refreshing. Thank you for your ongoing prayers. :)

Things to be praying about: that God would continue to show up in perplexing ways, safety, health, perseverance, LOVE. :)

Here are some pictures! (in no apparent order). :D