Diving into Week 2!

Hi Everyone! We started the second week of our team's work on the building today with a BANG!! Since our team leaves Kitale on this Thursday mid-day, that only leaves 3 1/2 days of solid work! We really hit the ground running today, determined to make a remarkable dent in the project before our time here is over.

What a buzz of activity filled the worksite as nearly 75 workers scurried about. Seventy-five?! This huge number included our team, plus hired Kenyan workers, plus Martin and Ruth's family, plus delivery crews ...plus orphans.

That's right, some of the orphans were working with us today! It was such a wonderful experience to see these kids working hard carrying bricks, and doing whatever else could be done, to help to build their new home. It added such a joy and excitement to the atmosphere of the worksite. If all goes well, they will be living here very soon!

Panic began to set in early in the afternoon: The bricks were gone. About 25 people with trowels and mortar in hand, layed bricks at a REMARKABLE rate (walls rising before your very eyes!), and our pile of bricks was disappearing awefully fast. When we were down to about the LAST brick, a truck came bouncing down the road to our worksite bearing a load of 2000 bricks ...then another ...then another, totalling 6000, more than enough to last us through the week!

A big milestone today: We broke ground on the foundation for the THIRD building, the kitchen! Tomorrow we plan to pour the concrete footer, allowing the walls to go up the day after. Exciting stuff!

God is good, and the progress that is being made is a testimony of His faithfulness, as well as the determination of so many people to see a home built for these wonderful kids. I know this endeavor touches God's heart, and it's an honor to be a part of this.

~Matt Drew