The Last 48 Hours in Pictures

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're exhausted but so blessed right now. Here are some of the images of the past two days - a picture is worth a thousand words (and our arms are too tired to type that much).....

Laura, Nicole, and Meghan hang drywall in the loft - with style!

Jessica - "La Reigna de Mastique" (The Queen of Putty)

Laura tidies up in the close quarters of the loft (Gustavo on the right)

Viva los Pterodactyls!

The Sanctuary at the Church, decorated for the community dinner on Wednesday night (15 people dedicated their lives to Christ that night!)

The four walls are up and the platform is being installed at the church community center. They needed a crane to finish the job. That's really high!!!!

The trusses are in - 23? 24? who knows - there were a LOT! What a beautiful sight to see.

Posole for lunch, courtesy of the ladies at the church. Yum!!!!!

Pterodactyl Phriends in the street by the church

The dedication of the Community Center. Many local children showed up, the same children whose lives will be impacted when the project is complete.

Jessica (Sassy Pterodactyl) shows off the lovely blue ladder at the house.

The Master Bedroom (after the Pterodactyl Design Team worked their magic)

The loft, decorated for Gustavo's three daughers

Hola from the Pterodactyls!

The signed Bible that was given to the family as a housewarming gift. As a part of their dedication, we read Matthew 5:14-16. These people are truly a light in their community.

Maribelle, two of her daughters, and her granddaughter (her son's child)

Final stop - we visted the home of Hector and Maelena, who we built for last year. Here is Laura and Jessica, enjoying a big hug from their two grand-ninos.

It was an amazing trip, and we can't wait to see you and tell you more about it!

Love,

The Pterodactyl Phamily

(Anna, Jessica, Laura, Meghan, and Nicole)

Another full day...read all about it! =)

The Pterodactyls set out this morning to finish the last touches of the house, and were detoured by a parade celebrating the signing of the Mexican constitution. This presented a challenge at first, but quickly an opportunity arose to help out at the community center work site. Here we moved plywood, built trusses, nailed down the siding for the first wall, and painted. The morning was quite busy, and little did we know, we were just getting started.

The following are a few of the things we did today:

Pterodactyl Anna flew off to vist an orphanage with other members of the group. Thirty-five precious children greeted us at the gate, hearts thirsty for love. Our team brought food, games, educational tools, and hugs for everyone! Little did we know it was their presence that was the true gift, not anything that we could have brought.

Mastique, mastique, mastique (putty?, putty?, putty?) ...sorry guys, our Spanish is a little rusty. =) Pterodactyls Nicole, Laura, Meghan and Jessica are drywalling and putty fiends! We spent most of the day covering up nails and gaps between the drywall to get it prepped and ready for Gustavo and his family to paint. It was a messy job, but someone had to do it...enter the Pterodactyls (minus Anna, who was loving on the orphans. Go Anna!).

Some of us (Pterodactyl Jessica and Meghan) were summoned to assist with lunch at the church. Here you see Meghan serving up some agua and also some of the lovely smiling faces of the ninos eating lunch.

To finish our day, the Pterodactyls all came together for a Costco run. Between two events we purchased enough food to feed 350 people! On a side note, did you know that the Costco in Mexico ALSO has samples?...Tequila samples that is! ...Only in Mexico! =)

Hasta manana, we look forward to seeing what God has in store for us next!

El Primero Dia del Trabajar (The First Day of Work)

Written by The Five Pterodactyls

We're writing this at the end of a very exhausting, productive, and exhilarating day. Yesterday Daniel Harkavy introduced our verse for the week:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

-Proverbs 3:3-5-

Already this trip has required a lot of trust and faith. Yesterday, after a few final preparations in San Diego, we crossed the border into Mexico and checked in to our hotel in Tijuana. Then we loaded back into the vans and made the trip to Valle Verde, a community on the outskirts of town where our group has been building houses for the past few years. Our first stop was at the church.

We were excited to see that the cement pad had been poured and was ready for building to begin on the community center that our group plans to build. This is a huge undertaking and from the outset was a big leap of faith, so it was amazing to see it coming together and know that our work could begin.

From there we headed to the home site. This is where we, the Pterodactyls, would be spending most of our time. The home we're building this year is for Gustavo, the caretaker of the church, and his family - his wife Maribelle, and their three daughters. They also have a son who came to meet us with his wife and baby. The site was clear and ready for building, and the family was so thrilled about their new home they slept in a tent on the cement pad (rather than their current home at the church). After meeting the family, we headed back to the hotel and rested up, and awoke this morning ready to get to work.

Today was our first day of work, and boy did we work! Here are some of the highlights:

*We started our day unloading the trailer at the church. Everyone worked together to do the job quickly, and this included some of the neighborhood children who just wanted to lend a hand. Some of these children were familiar faces from past years.

*At the home site, we were greeted by Hector, Oscar, Hector Jr, and John, all volunteers from Baja Christian Ministries. They were AMAZING workers - skilled and enthusiastic. Hector in particular could be heard shouting "Mas rapido! Rapido! Thank you Jesus!" throughout the day. Gustavo and his family also helped tremendously throughout the day with whatever needed to be done.

*All of us Pterodactyls helped out with framing, and the job was done before we knew it! (seriously, it only took, like, 20 minutes)

*Anna and Laura painted up a frenzy - with the help of the women in the family - and then were able to move on to other tasks.

*Clavos, clavos, clavos! (Nails, nails, nails!) Between the five of us, we hammered more nails today than one would have thought possible. The air was alive with the sound of hammering all day long. (note to self: next year, add earplugs to the packing list)

*Meghan and Nicole braved the dizzying heights and hot Mexican sun to help out with the roofing crew.

*Everyone's individual efforts added up to a bigger result than we could have imagined. With trust in the Lord, we worked with all of our hearts, and before we knew it........

Here we are at the ALMOST finished house, with Gustavo and Maribelle.

Hasta manana!

Preparations

Written By: Jessica

"Be still, and know that I am God..."

-Psalm 46:10a-

This verse occurred to me recently in a moment of stress, and I have been repeating it to myself like a mantra ever since. In the midst of all the preparations and challenges over the last few weeks, it's easy to lose sight of the WHY behind this trip. Worry has a way of taking over when the tasks ahead seem insurmountable. It has been good for me to remember to be still, and to trust that God is in control.

Tomorrow is the big day when the Pterodactyls take flight to Mexico! I still have some packing ahead of me tonight, and a few final tasks to complete, but my to-do list is growing shorter. One of my tasks has been to assemble a simple photo album for each of the families we built homes for last year, filled with memories of that precious week. As I turn the pages, my excitement and anticipation grows. What will those same homes and families be like when we go back to visit them this year? What new relationships will be forged, and life-long memories be created? I can hardly wait to find out!

I'm incredibly excited this year to be serving with some really wonderful ladies! Each Pterodactyl Phamily member brings so many special gifts......boundless enthusiasm, careful attention to detail, and wonderful hearts for service. I look forward to seeing what the week will bring out of each one of us.

Right now my prayers are for safe travel for everyone in the group....protection for each of us as we enter a different and sometimes dangerous area....for all the little details to come together (through the miraculous workings of God!)....preparation in our hearts for the work ahead.....and preparation in the hearts of those we go to serve.

Will you join me in prayer today?

¡Vayamos a México!