.Show and Tell.

More from July 15, 2011:

Now we were on our way to Ronald's house. He had been begging DeLise, literally - daily, for us to go and see his house. I saw him ask her on Thursday if we could go - she said she wasn't sure that we would have time. It literally looked like someone had just told him his mother had died. He looked crushed. So DeLise quickly changed her answer and told him that a whole bus full of people would be there at 8:00 the next morning! Well, he was so excited that he met us at the church the next morning and followed us all around town until it was time to go to his house. We were finally on our way and he was beaming.

I really did not know what to expect. He told me that he was building his own house. Well, building your own house in La Represa could mean anything. So we walked back down toward the river and up a side street to his house. I was completely surprised at the TINY house I saw.

Ronald's house.

Ronald lives alone and he has a little, one room home. The outside is all scraps of wood and the roof is made of left over pieces of metal. His 'kitchen' is under a lean-to outside. There is a make shift table with three large rocks on it. Balanced between the rocks is an old frying pan with no handle. He builds a fire underneath the frying pan and that's where he does all of his cooking. It was unbelievable. Ronald was so happy with what he has and wanted to share it with us so much. This was incredible to see, especially since his entire house was about the size of my guest room.

Ronald's 'kitchen'.

The 'stove'.

I mean, he was in the process of building a new house. He has the layout all set on the ground in front of his current house. He has "walls" that are about 3 blocks high so far. It is going to have 5 rooms and will probably feel like a mansion to him! I'm very happy that he will be able to move in to a bigger space someday. He told us the story that someone from a past trip donated the money for him to buy the blocks he had to get started.

Ronald's future house.

Ronald telling us about the gift he was given to be able to afford this new home.

This to - kind of amazed me. He had a stack of blocks there, waiting to be put on the walls. But, instead of working on his own home - he was working on the school all week with us. He praised God for the person who gave him the money to get his project started. I think it would be fun to go back sometime and see his progress.

A group of us in front of Ronald's house.

Once we left Ronald's house, it was time to walk back toward the church and meet up with the Kid's Club group. On the way we had to cross a bridge, where we very often saw the locals swimming and wading. Some people decided to wade through the water, while others took pictures, etc. One of the guys from Tennessee, accidentally dropped the lens cap to his camera in the water. We all knew it was gone. But as soon as Pastor Thomas caught wind of what had happened - he jumped in the river! He started running down stream to see if he could get ahead of it and find it. We all couldn't believe our eyes. What a servant! He jumped in to the river with his dress clothes on and his cell phone in his hand to find a lens cap. After a few minutes we were all waving him back to the bridge. When he climbed back up, DeLise explained that it was no big deal and he said "It was my desire to find it." Words really can not explain how humble this man is.

Wading in the river.

Pastor Thomas wayyy down stream looking for the lens cap.