Message from Felipe

Dear Friends:

Still can we feel you here now! God gave us a great opportunity to share again in love, friendship and koinonia.

We praise God for everything we pass together. 

Thank you again for everything in Talca´s Church name, we are all really grateful.

Blessing, Felipe.

Adiós from Talca

The week at Talca has come to an end. There will soon be a farewell lunch and then travel to the airport.

It has truly been a rewarding week for the team and the local church. The best part of the trip was to renew the friendships, soak in the fellowship, and be smothered with love. Then there will be the added five pounds from all of the food that we were fed. There hospitality is unmatched.

We worked all five days. The weather for the first three was surprisingly mild for Talca. Thursday and Friday the temperature and humidity head back to normal, HOT and HUMID! Today it is raining! I did not think that it rained here at all in late summer. One of the church people said that Talca is crying because we are leaving.
God had the size of our team just right. There were two workers from the church, Felipe, and the four of us. Once we had our system nailed down, we became very efficient. We will leave here knowing that we definitely made a significant contribution to the construction. Next week there will only be the two workers, Pablo and Richard. It may not be possible to continue the stucco work with only two people. In retrospect, staying a second week would have been very beneficial. We do not know what we would have done to keep a CCC team of 8-10 occupied and productive.

There have been many inquiries about the rest of the folks from last year’s team. I have been blessed by being able to meet in the houses of several of last year’s host families. They all have our team pictures on display. I also sent them individual photos that I took during the trip. All had those proudly on display as well.
Of course there are many more things to share when we are back in the U.S.

Adios from Talca,
Gerry

Talca Trip 2013 Update

Good morning from Talca, Chile!

It is a cool, early Wednesday morning. The weather has been a blessing for the outdoor work that we are doing. The daytime temperatures have been in the mid 80’s with a slight breeze. There have been scattered clouds each day. This combined with the dry air has made the days more accommodating for work, and the nights very pleasant for sleeping. As soon as the sun goes down, we are reaching for jackets.

Last year we had temperatures in the mid to high 90’s without a cloud in the sky. It never cooled off until about 3:00 in the morning. This year everyone has commented that we are reaching for the blankets as soon as we get into bed.

The work is progressing. Monday was the beginning of a new phase of the work, applying the stucco finish to the outside walls. Monday took most of the day to get our process and routine in place. Yesterday, Tuesday, away we went. A couple of people are mixing cement. This involves shoveling sand into a portable cement mixer, adding bags of concrete, and water. When the mix is ready, another person uses a wheelbarrow to take it to an area of the wall to be covered. There another person, clothed in rain gear, uses a type of sprayer connected to an air compressor, to spray the mix onto the walls. The person at the wheel barrow shovels small amounts at a time into sprayer for the one doing the spraying. The concrete mix is heavy. The person holding the sprayer can only do it for short periods of time before their muscles are sore. The rain gear is necessary as the concrete spray and ricochet is very messy.

The four people of our team have definitely added efficiency to the process that was not possible with only two or three people. Yesterday afternoon we had another volunteer come to the church. We were able to start a second duo hauling and spraying walls. This will be our routine for the week. Tomas, their project manager is taking full advantage of the size of the work team. We will do this all five days that we are here.

The size of their volunteer workforce has decreased by a few people. Some needed to find work with an income. Some where there for the specialty that they provided, e.g. steel working and welding. Also, it is prime vacation time in Chile, a couple of folks are taking short summer vacations.

As always, we are being well fed. Our host families are very gracious as normal. Tonight, Wednesday, the men’s bible study group will host a barbeque for us at the church. More food!

We brought several study bibles with us and copies of “The Story”, all in Spanish. We have had the opportunity to give some of these to the individuals on our list. Personally, I continue to be moved by the emotional impact these have had on the individuals. Smiles, laughter, and sometimes tears, have come to the faces of the recipients. An example: One of their church members owns a bus company. He provided all of the group transportation last year. This year he has provided his personal SUV since our team size is smaller. We did not have a gift to recognize his efforts last year. So, we brought a Spanish study bible for him. We gave it to him after Sunday’s service. While everyone socializing after service, he sat on the side intently going over all the features of a red letter study bible. You could see the intensity and smiles on his face. Last year we found that while everyone has a bible, very few have study bibles.

It is soon time to start work for the day.

Adios from Chile!

Looking Good!

Challenging First Day

Everyone has safely arrived in Talca. It has been a tiring and challenging day on this end.

Two members of the congregation were supposed to meet us at the airport. We would then take a bus to Talca. Instead, four of them drove two cars to the airport. The flight arrived at 10:00. It was almost 13:00 until we left the airport. There were several other international flights that arrived at approximately the same time. The baggage claim area was backlogged. It took almost one hour to get the luggage. Then the trouble started. A member of the team kept an apple, and a dried fruit and nut mix, in his carry-on. He did not declare it. He forgot it was there. Customs found it. It would take the next 1 hour and 30 minutes for him to resolve the issue with Customs.

The next change of plans: From Santiago we were to go directly to Talca and the homes of host families. We were to go to the mission at Pillay on Sunday after the church service. Instead, we went directly to the church for a small snack. Then we went to Pillay. We will also go to Pillay on Sunday. At Pillay, two of the cars broke down. One had a flat tire without a spare. We still do not know what happened to the other. After the flat was repaired, and someone arrived with a pickup truck, we returned to the church. We did not get back to the church until 23:15. We are exhausted.

Gerry Socha

Talca Trip 2013

Just got word the Talca Team made it to Chile safe and sound. They are tired from a busy day after traveling overnight. Continue to pray for their safety and ministry. Pray for changed lives--team members and those in Talca.

Talca Trip 2013

In less than one week a group from Centerville Community Church will return to Talca, Chile to work alongside our partners in rebuilding their church.  The group leaves Friday, February 8th and returns on the 17th.  Please keep them in your prayers.  Follow the trip here on this blog.