By Michael Miller 7/8/2020

So many of you responded during the months of May and June with donations to keep our construction going. Your e-mails were very touching and allowed us to keep our entire crew working for the four months that the country was opened. What we accomplished together was amazing. 

Our first mission was to paint a final coat for the exterior for all the buildings. We had an oil-based yellow for the upper portion and an oil-based chocolate for the lower. This would seal the building from moisture problems like mold. And if there was any Covid-19 on the walls that was taken care of as well. One of my passions is prayer. When our workers arrived, I would have check-in line where I took their temperature, sprayed their shoes with a Clorox/water base spray, and then give them hand sanitizer to conform to the government Bio-Security requirements. Once that was completed, we would gather in the shed where we store our tools and I would offer up a message to think on for the day. We would pray and spend time thanking God for the work. The testimony here is that the message I gave in the morning would spark a deep conversation at our coffee break or lunch break that would lead to an hour of Bible discussion and expanding on the morning message. These discussions included our four workers as well our welder and his helper. What a great way to reach out to those who may or may not know Jesus and, also those who may be suffering from fear, doubt, temptations, anxiety, and lack of resources. Plus, it was a way for each worker to receive comfort from hearing others and their problems or doubts.

Once we finished with the painting Juan and his crew of three started to plaster two classrooms and the exterior – seen in below photos. Carlos and I started framing in the final beam structure that ties in the walls and prepares us for the next phase of building the gable ends and roofing. 

This framing was done for two very large classrooms and the front hallway. 

The framing was completed in two days, but the hard work was still at hand.

Anyone who is reading this newsletter and has been on team and poured concrete will know exactly what I am talking about. Mixing the concrete is easy but it is carrying the half-filled buckets from the front of the school to the second floor is not an easy task. I called a bunch of our older youth and asked if they could work for a day. They were very happy because their fathers haven’t worked for months and were in need of funds to purchase food and pay bills. This is a win-win situation and Praise God!! 

Pouring the concrete wasn’t too bad. We mixed 40 bags of cement and poured it in three hours and the boys walked away with a days’ worth of work. It is always my rule, even if we finish early, that they are stilled paid for a full day. This is a motivation to finish early. Some laugh and say they will go home to die in bed from exhaustion. Laying the cinder block walls came in afterwards and this moved us even closer to roofing. 

This photo shows two more classrooms in the process of their walls getting their smooth plaster finish – expert craftsmanship by Juan. 

This photo shows completed plaster work with five windows and two doors installed. The doors and windows were hand made on the jobsite by our welder Miguel and his helper. All that’s needed is the paint.

Every day while we prayed together, we would thank the Lord for providing but we also thanked God for the testimony he is bestowing on all of us. We may have received cancellations from all our teams but let me tell you our leaders waited until the very last moment, or when they received a letter from Delta saying that they canceled their flights, before making the ultimate decision to cancel. Our team leaders were determined to come to Honduras but the circumstances from Covid-19 changed everything. However, our God has the final say. Covid-19 will not stop the Lord from providing the needs for the completion of classrooms, the needs for our workers (believers in Christ), the motivation placed on our donors to give because they heard the voice of God telling them to do so. Our testimony is this; We serve an Amazing God who is speaking and who is walking with all of us. Each of you I am sure can give a witness of the greatness of God. Wait for our next newsletter. We did not stop just here, oh no. We were able to complete much more and receive a blessing that moved a large mountain.