Entries by john underwood

We were up early Sunday morning for the trip back to the church for a baptism. The congregation, visitors and our team all boarded a charter bus for a trip to a camp ground and river for the baptism service. Before the baptism there was praise and worship, testimonies and a short message. The congregation sang “Open the eyes of my heart” to us in Spanish and then we sang it for them in English. The Lord was answering that prayer. As each person prepared for baptism the congregation sang a verse of “I have decided to follow Jesus” from their hearts. It was an encouragement to the people being baptized, a testimony to the bystanders and an affirmation of our own baptisms. After the baptism the weather forced us to return to the church for the rest of the service. Normally this would have been an all day fellowship at that location. We celebrated communion together and more worship time back at the church. As I shared in communion my thoughts naturally turned to our church family who were doing the same that morning over 6,000 miles away. We shared a last time of fellowship together as our children played in the rain together and then it was time to say goodbye. There was such joy in being with our new friends and such heartbreak at leaving. My prayer going into this trip was that the Lord would do a work in me and “open the eyes of my heart”, I have my answer.

We spent Saturday shopping and seeing old Montevideo. The city’s architecture is as lovely and diverse as its people. The youth on the trip attended a meeting in the evening at the church that evening while the rest of us enjoyed some rest and packed.

Friday was the final day and the day set aside for doing the floor. Since the materials were a little late arriving we used the time to repaint desks for the new room. When the materials arrived the floor went in quickly with everyone working as a team despite the difference in language. It was a sad thing when we said good bye that day but we are looking forward to the baptism on Sunday.

Thursday was another day of work around the building but the highlight was spending the evening with families of the church. It was happy time away from work and a time to concentrate on our friends. One group was at the house of Omar Acuña for a meal prepared on his Parilla. The whole experience is unrushed and a time to really connect.

Wednesday we made more concrete by hand, poured more beams and the built more block walls. We learned how to finish walls with cement and the “Niño’s” building is starting to take shape. As satisfying as it is to see the building develop it is more rewarding to be a part of a growing relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Tuesday’s work included building forms and pouring a cement beam for the exterior wall. The cement beam seals the metal roof to the walls which deters intruders. The scaffolding was made from scrap and the cement handed up in buckets. We demolished walls that were no longer needed and continued closing the openings in the existing structure with bricks, blocks and broken bits and pieces of both. Each day ladies from the church prepare lunch for us in the small kitchen now attached to the new building we are working on. The women of the team left for the orphanage and we are looking forward to a report when they return on Thursday. The highlight of the day was the USA vs. Uruguay soccer match with team USA taking the best two out of three games.

Our first day at the church worksite we learned we would not be working on the wall but we would instead be completing a Sunday school room for the “Niño’s”. The owner of the adjoining property is planning to build a wall so there is no need for the church to do so. We spent the rest of the day excavating the floor of the room with shovels and buckets. In the afternoon we began work on closing up the walls that local church had begun. Each work day ends with a “Merienda” that is a time of fellowship and light snacks of pastry and small sandwiches. As a rule dinner time is around 9 so the after work snack is both practical and pleasant. Dee Knapp joined the team and was waiting for us we arrived back at the Seminary.

Our outbound journey began with meeting at the church for prayer for the road trip to the Detroit Metro airport. We had a short flight to Atlanta, a few hours layover, and then boarded the airplane for the all night flight to Santiago Chile. After a long night of dozing and short naps the sun rise over the Andes Mountains was both a beautiful and welcome sight. The airport in Santiago is like any major airport in the US complete with Starbucks and uncomfortable seating. The 6 hour layover in Santiago was a mixture of nap time, placid conversation an interaction with fellow travelers. Just as we were ready to board for Uruguay we learned of a ticketing problem that meant one of the team would likely stay behind for a flight the following day unless there was at least one “no show” for that flight. We gathered for prayer at the gate and then all but the one member of the team boarded the plane. Larry and I were standing at the top of the jet way waiting and praying as the gate agents counted the boarding passes did their final checks. After what seemed like forever they finally allowed the last person of the team to board the plane. Praise the Lord!!!!! When we arrived in Montevideo we were met by the church family and then boarded a private bus for a reception at the church. The reception was a beautiful time spent making new friendships and renewing old ones. In a few cases there were first hugs in relationships formed by correspondence. After the time of fellowship we were off to the Seminary to get settled in and some much needed rest.