Boats, Bahio, Books and Building

So it feels like we pack a lot into a day here, and still we barely make it past 10pm without falling asleep! Our week has been pretty packed, with lectures starting in earnest. This week we were learning about the father heart of God. It has been striking how much of our faith is head knowledge rather than a deep rooted belief. I could give you a good answer, probably theologically sound, and not really believe it. This week has challenged a lot of those thoughts in me (Tim). The guy running the training sessions paid for us all to go on a boat ride around Ensenada seafront/port. It was beautiful - there is a good sea lion population in the port, and a pile of pelicans. Also 'the black pearl', as in the ship from Pirates of the Carribean is in Ensenada dock!

So it was my (Ruth) turn to go to Bahio (the red light area) this week - it was amazing. It felt so right to be there. At first it was a bit daunting as there were alot of older drunk guys who I didnt feel comfortable to approch, but I manged to find some beautiful ladies to talk with and Ama was great at translating as always!! One of the ladies had a 8mth baby with here who was really adorable and she could speak some english so we chatted for ages. I am hoping to see her next Friday to chat more and take some stuff for her baby - It really felt like the perfect place for me to be at that moment!!

While Ruth was out I (Tim again) put Zeke to bed and set about reading the next book that we have set for our course. It's called 'Blue Like Jazz'. I'm seven chapters in and it is potentially the best book I've ever read. You should all read it!

Today was more excitement as all of us went to help the homes of hope team on a house build. They build houses for families in need; today we were building for the Lopez family - a couple and 4 kids. The house is a wooden pre-fab structure and they put it up, decorate and kit it out in 2 days. It was a little crazy being on a building site with a 2 year old, though Zeke did pretty well at painting the walls, less well with a hammer, and by the end of the day was zinged up on sugar from a lolly that someone had given him. Tim was painting and hammering on drywall and skirting boards and Ruth was helping host the team (a company who had travelled from Indianapolis for the build.) It was an honour and pleasure to help with the build, and there were many tears from all parties when the keys were handed over. The family had been living in a house cobbled together from pieces of wood and corrugated iron, most of the roof was made of fabric etc. As the house was officially handed over, filled with presents for the kids, new beds, a cooker and some furniture, it did feel like handing over more than just a house but some hope for the future as well. It was a beautiful time. Homes of Hope has built well over 2000 homes to date and in this weekend alone another 7 have gone up. I'm sure you'll here more about it from us!

Anyway, adios, we love you all

Tim, Ruth and Zeke