There are so many more pictures I could post, but these at least give an overview of what took place on this trip. Words and pictures cannot capture or express the overwhelming vastness of this area that Ed and Debby have dedicated their lives. I can say without a doubt they have made a difference.....you can see it in Guachochi, and you can really see the difference in the the Indians at the Canyon.
I would hope you all go back to the beginning of this blog and take a look at all the pictures, and comments to get the 'big picture' of the purpose of these trips.
How about considering a trip yourself? Everyone has a gifting that can and would be utilized with these work teams.
I will keep posting updates as I receive information from the Capps, or have comments of my own.....check back often, you never know when I might have more to add. 

 In the center of the picture, you can see the new adobe building...left to right center is the runway for Ed to use when the plane is ready to go.

              Happy group....ready to go home, but sad to be leaving!

Good Morning!.....we packed up and sent all our gear up the cable system, and then made the climb back to the top of the mountain.

 Very colorful!

Church time, before the group served the community Indians supper!

Found a picture of the plywood building that blew down....The new adobe building was built in the same spot, only turned the other way.

Finished......at least what we could accomplish in two days. Pretty impressive to have a group of teenagers and a few adults bring this to reality in that short of time!

 

The floor portion of the building was 18" to 24" deep, and had to be filled in with dirt. Cement is expensive....the sand and cement both must be hauled down the cable system at the ranch, so the 'Adobe' will more than likely always have a dirt floor. Digging and wheel burrowing that much dirt would have taken forever, so the 'dozer' was fired up and put to work. This dozer is a story in itself.....the acquisition and the dismantling of the entire machine, transporting it down the cable system piece by piece and then reassembling at the bottom! We are very thankful it is there to use!

You can see how everyone was working away....just like an ant colony! :)

Well deserved 'break' from the task of carrying blocks, sifting the dirt, mixing the mud, cleaning the blocks for laying, and drinking lots of water. The 8000' altitude, sun and dry weather didn't slow this group down much. They were instructed and sometime forced to take a breather....what a 'great crew!'

 Laying up the wall......

 Positioning and laying the last block that we helped with. Both gable ends will be layed with adobe block; which will require some 'high' work. We ran out of time to complete that part, but all the material is there for the finish. Lumber and tin had been hauled down by the cable system, and is there ready for the roof too.

This adobe building is being built for the 'caretaker' Indian family at the Ranch. Several months ago the small plywood building they used as a kitchen was destroyed in a huge wind burst. It was a tiny building (approx 8'X12') with a door and a window. The new building will have two rooms. I did not measure the size, but would guess it was 14'X24'.

These adobe blocks were made ahead of time. The material is dug from the ground, mixed with, water, pine needles, and grass. It is then packed into a mold, deposited on the ground and left for drying. Antonio (Indian that made the blocks) said; "it takes a lot of preparation, then I can make around 100 blocks a day." With some extra blocks made (per Ed's request) around 700, 40/50# adobe blocks were moved to the building site by the group.

We are back to Guachochi from the 'ranch'.....all very tired but elated in the accomplishments of two days time. A group of teenagers moved these adobe blocks (about 40-45 lbs each) mixed the mud mortar, laid and finished the building project that we didn't imagine could be done in that amount of time.
The Internet is very slow here in the evenings, taking about 10 minutes to download this one picture......so more pictures may have to wait until I get a faster connection. That may be the airport on the way home.

Trusses are up, sheeting is on and now the roof tin is on too. Ed and Debby and Gayle left before noon with 7 others for the mountain. The rest of us (25) will leave tomorrow morning.
We finished the roof (except for the edges...Antonio and crew will take care of that) got some of the sheet rock up, and the taping done in another room. Cleaned up the site, and hauled tools and equipment back to Eds. Made it to Church late, and then the youth all went to play soccer with the locals. Meet around 8:30 for some street tacos (really good) and then to a different shop for ice cream......now 10 pm and must get to bed, as we will get an early start for the 'ranch' on the mountain. We don't come back in from there until Sunday. If time permits a may post another picture then, otherwise this will may be the last posting until we get back to the USA.

 Setting trusses

Gayle trying to keep the generator going....Thanks Gayle! Since this is the only power at the site, he had a 'very important job'!

 This is our 'project'...setting trusses and the roofing.

Group picture as we stopped along the way for lunch....at Parral, right before we started the climb into the mountains.

 Where we stayed the first night

 Picked up the roof trusses here also. Pretty good load on the trailer, being pulled by the 'loaded' 15 passenger van.

Ready to hit the road....on to Guachochi.

The work going on here in Guachochi is having great results. The school is growing people are getting saved and others are getting blessed from serving the Lord.
Gayle N.

Have spent the last two days working on the school class room building. The trusses are all set, the plywood sheeting is nailed on and the tin roofing will be completed today. This 'much older' guy has crawled up and down a ladder so many times I definitely know that 'physical youth' in this body is not what it used to be. Chloe has been so busy along with the other CHA students (Christian Heritage Academy, Oklahoma) that I have not seen much of her. Gayle has been kept busy with Ed, running parts and fixing things, along with keeping the generators in repair. 
This morning a third of the group, will pack up and head to the 'Ranch' (Ed, Debby, Gayle and ?, while the rest of us finish the roofing project. I will lead the rest of the group out tomorrow morning.
 

Day two in Guachochi..... Got a good nights rest, and woke to a beautiful sunny sky. Off to the Church at 9:00. One of the men from OK spoke for Sunday school, and then Josh Bullard preached during the morning service. The young people in the group taught VBS and children's church. We all went back to the camp site (new school grounds) and ate lunch. Came back to the house and Gayle started to work on the generator. I went back to the school ground with Ed at 4:15 to watch over everything while the group all went to do some touring at the falls and then to the town plaza for evening church service and street ministering. They came back about 8:30......now we have ate some supper and it's time for some shut eye. It will be a long day tomorrow. I had forgot to mention that Gayle has a terrible cold, but Dr. Penwell has him drugged up. Gayle said he felt much better today than what he did yesterday afternoon. Chloe has 'jumped' right in with the OK Group and doesn't seem to bothered with the 'lonesomes' this year......sorry Mom & Dad Haas! :) I was going to try to post some pictures tonight, but no time....10:15 already! Stay tuned.....

The Border crossing went well; everyone had their papers in order, and the vehicle titles were all OK. Drove to Cuahtomec yesterday, where we picked up roof tin, and trusses for the building we will be working on. Spent the night there, and then drove on to Guachochi today. Had enough time to get the wall plates put on and ready for the roof on Monday. After Church tomorrow, I'll try to post some pictures.

Day 1

Well, Lord willing in a few hours we will be crossing the border into Mexico and heading out to Guachochi. It's amazing that no matter how many times we go on this trip, it's always a fresh and exciting experience. The group dynamic may change but where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is unity... And you can feel the bond that we have in Christ as we set off to minister. We started off this morning at Ed and Debbie's with a great reunion of previous workers and fellow travelers. Adding to our number this year are some new students from Christian Heritage Academy in Oklahoma, Josh and Candace Rose (the couple who have been teaching English at the school in Guachochi), Josh's mother Kathy, some friends of theirs Larry and his daughter Lilly, as well as my brother-in law Gayle...who will now affectionately be called Juanito. Please continue to pray for us as we cross the border this morning, pick up supplies in Mexico and head out to Guachochi. Pray for a safe crossing, expediency in getting the supplies, wisdom and alertness for our drivers, and a general spirit of cooperation and fellowship among the travelers.

Have spent the day packing supplies and running for other things and packing. Finally ready for some down time at 11:45 pm, before 5:00 am wake up....we would like to be on the road soon after 6:00. The Oklahoma group had vehicle problems,and should be here soon after midnight. Been a long day for them......looks like we are all going to be tired to start off with.

Paper work has been processed at the Santa Teresa border crossing....heading back to El Paso now to exchange American dollars to Peso's, then back to the house to pack vehicles. Hopefully we can get an early start for the crossing into Mexico tomorrow morning.

Our first flight was delayed out of Denver because of weather in Dallas, and then we were notified that our connecting flight had been cancelled to El Paso. Nothing to do but take the next flight later in the afternoon. What was supposed to be a late afternoon flight, was set back because of all the weather delays.....4 pm departure moved to 8:20 then to 9:50. We had no choice but sit all afternoon and wait. Well, the 9:50 flight was delayed coming in because of new storm approaching Dallas. We finally boarded at 10:30, and then one of the food service trucks parked against the plane had engine problems (they had to get a tow truck to pull it away).... All this is going on while a 'new' storm cell is approaching from the north. We had half a dozen or so, planes in front of us then finally got lined up on the runway. The pilot hit the throttles, and was just starting to accelerate when he pulled the throttles back and turned off the runway. Pilot announced we would get back in line to attempt another takeoff, if the storm would let us. 45 minutes later we were finally in the air.....got to El Paso and fell into bed at 1:30 in the morning. We are on the way to the border now to try get papers for the suburban, as we have to get it in my name to enter Mexico.......more later.

Problems with weather somewhere along the route has delayed our flight out of Denver, and then the connecting flight from Dallas to El Paso has been cancelled. Earliest flight we can get is 8:30 pm. We loose all afternoon helping the Capps for the trip preparation, but we 'trust' in the Lord and His purposes in this delay.

At DIA ready to board the plane for  El El Paso. We Will help the Capps out this afternoon and tomorrow and then cross the border on Thursday. I'll post more on the layover in Dallas.

Tickets are bought for May 30th; Chloe Haas, Gayle Nannemann, and myself. We are getting excited about the trip.
I'm not sure the exact number, but 20+ will be coming from Oklahoma, along with us and the Capps.
We will building a new kitchen/day house for the Indians at the ranch, as the 8X12 plywood building they have used for years blew down in an unusual wind storm last fall. Imagine doing all your kitchen 'stuff' outside, over a fire, in the cold of winter and the heat of summer. This 'new' building will be constructed from 'adobe' blocks that have been made 'on site'. The adobe lays up similar to cement blocks, and then we will roof it with tin.
Part of the mission, will also take place at the edge of  town (Guachochi), as we will be putting up two wings, off of an existing building for the new Christian school. I will try to get some pictures of those projects as they are right now.
More to come......

Much has transpired since my last postings....as said; "lots of water has gone under the bridge!" Nothing seemed to come together for our trip at the first of the year. Ed and Debby had a lot of commitments during that time period, and adding only three of us going just didn't make much since.....so we called the trip off. It was just as well, I guess, because I ended up having vetabrae fusion in my lower back the first week of February. I am 3 months post surgery now and ready to go again! Now it is time to make final plans, to travel with the Christian Heritage Academy from OK, for our summer trip. So far three of us going with the group....possibly five. Plan on flying commercial airlines to El Paso, on the 30th to help Ed out, and then cross the 'Border' with the group on June 1. .....more soon. :)