Talked with Ed;  his wounds from the motorcycle accident are finally healed enough that he can get out and do things.....thank you for those that have prayed for him! Temps have been very hot in El Paso, and today the air conditioner fan motor has quit working on their home (travel trailer). Ed is working on repairs.
I see for whatever reason that the blog keeps deleting videos.....I don't understand what is happening, but will try to repost from a computer instead of the iPad.
Work continues in Guachochi, so if anyone is interested in helping financially or physically,  please contact me.....planning is in progress for fall of 2013 or 1st week of Jan 2014 for a work team!

( From The Christian Heritage Academy Facebook page)
Following a school year where "change" was the new normal, what else could you expect from a mission trip but the same. This year's trip was full of changes such as: smaller group of CHA kids, picking up 2 non-CHA kids from New Mexico, no canyon, spending the whole time in Guachochi at the school property, and finding more time to build relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ from the local church there in Guachochi.

Our work consisted primarily of finishing jobs that others had started. We had the privilege last year of seeing the first set of classrooms being built on the new school property. Between last years trip and this years, 2 other groups from the US came out to help further the work by finishing out the classrooms we began and by building 3 new classrooms, a storage area, and the foundations for the bathrooms. Our task was to take those classrooms to a near completed stage. In our week in Guachochi we cut out the windows and doors, mounted the metal windows and doors, put up dry-wall and insulation in all 3 rooms, taped and mudded the drywall, installed tar-paper in prep for metal siding on the outside of the building, textured the interior walls and painted 2 of the 3 classrooms. We also helped start the roofing structure on the bathrooms and completed the exterior cinder-block work. For such a small group of students, the work that was done was excellent and far exceeded what was expected.

Our students had a wonderful time this year really getting to know the local people. Everyday we had at least one or two workers that students worked along side and we enjoyed fellowshipping together through Sunday School, meals at the church and school, soccer games, and sharing testimonies. Both our students and the local believers there were able to have a tangible understanding of what it means to all belong to the same body of Christ.

From what I have gathered from new comers as well as those who have been on this trip multiple times, this may well be considered to be one the of the best we have ever had! God is good.

 These two videos are some of the school students singing in Spanish and English.....what an amazing group, and you can see the joy and fun they have!

 Mrs. Leslie and her girls.....Oh yeah, with Stephanie, Candice, Debby, and Marlen as the other adults/kids!

We were privileged to stop work early one afternoon early and the group went to Sinforosa, a popular overlook at the edge of the 'Canyon'. Chloe and Blanca are perching on the railing of some 8000' + of elevation difference out in front of them.....what a beautiful sight....the scenery and the young ladies! :)

It was very dry in Guachochi, as they have been in a drought condition. The rainy season starts in July thru September, but abnormally dry weather has also prevailed the rest of the year. Everywhere we walked outside caused little puffs of dust, and of course was constantly 'tracked' in on the floor. Constant sweeping and cleaning are a must to keep ahead of it!
Ed has 'imported' these two pieces of equipment (payed the tax 'duty fee' ) to bring them into Mexico. Here he was moving this dirt to fill in between the two classroom buildings. The area in this picture will become a playground...dirt rocks and all. Different than our playgrounds 'Stateside'.

Enough slope in the property necessitated building a deep foundation on this end of the newest building. Basements are not the norm here because of all the rock that has to be removed (usually by hand with a pick, shovel and wheelbarrow), so it was nice to see they could utilize this space for and extra room. It should be cozy...cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

A fence is required by the government to 'identify' all properties and was needed for security of the school. Most property lines are established with rocks walls. You can see some of those in previous pictures that have been posted in recent trips on this blog.
It was going to cost some $50,000.00 to build this, but the local government is putting in the majority of the fence, only requiring the school to install the lane portion coming into the property. It is quite the process in building this fence, all by hand labor, mixing, carrying the cement in 5 gallon buckets, pouring the foundation, then putting up forms for the small wall, and then again; mixing, wheel-borrowing and pouring by hand. This is a huge blessing for the school....I think the 'powers to be' realize the value of the school and the teachings that come forth from the walls. 

Looking in from the West property line at the property.
The two classroom building on the left, what was going to be a home in the middle (now going to be administration and living quarters), and a house on the right. I believe the Pastor of the Church/Head Master of the School, Antonio and his family will eventually live in the house.

Home now, and partially caught up on things......including sleep. I fully intended to get pictures uploaded right away, but found our phone line had been cut just recently..... so once again, no internet. The phone company did get it repaired yesterday, so maybe we'll eventually get these posted.
Ed is progressing very well on his recovery from the motorcycle accident, with his nursemate, Debby, being his bandage changer and chauffeur.
Stephanie and Chloe have managed to be accepted back into the fold at the Haas residence, and hopefully they can do some posting now that they are home too.
I'm writing this in the morning, with a full day of work and projects. I will do some picture updating tonight.  

Hello everyone, this is Chloe! 

This trip has gone by so fast! Too fast actually. I was not ready to leave Guachochi when we did. I just wanted to stay all summer. Anyway, this trip was amazing! I had a blast, but best of all, God worked alot in my heart. I'm so thankful for everything He has done for me. I'm very blessed to be able to go on this trip year after year and I can't imagine stopping! I had a ton of fun and I can't believe it's already over, but can't wait for next time! 

Sorry everyone, that are watching this blog. We have no Internet access here at the Capps, and my cellular connection has 1-2 bars.....not enough to download pictures in any timely manner, so am forced to wait until later for those pic postings.
The night before we left Guachochi, Ed was riding his motorcycle when someone pulled out right into his path. Ed had no choice but to lay the bike on its side and hit the vehicle. Needless to say his whole left side is tore up, especially the knee and elbow. Not sure how many stitches it took! Since arriving back in Chaparral it's been daily visits to the Doctor trying to fight the infection. Today Dr. Sherman said as soon as the swelling goes down, they may have to go back into the wound to remove 'debris'. The hospital Dr in Guachochi used cotton balls to clean the wound before the stitches and did not try to irrigate the dirt and rocks out. Thankfully Ed was wearing his helmet and did not go over the handle bars when they collided!
I have been doing repairs to the 15 passenger van, while not being chauffeur on the Dr. visits. Stephanie and Chloe are running errands and helping Debby, so we are all keeping busy. We fly out of El Paso tomorrow evening, and hope to have things all in order here, so Ed and Debby don't have to worry about it.
More later.......stay tuned!

It's been a constant go....go....go, so have not had time to post. Will attempt to get caught up in the next couple days. We did leave Guachochi late this morning (Wed), after a visit to the hospital there.....a story in itself; we are now in Chapparal, NM (11:30 pm) and falling into bed.
Steve

A quick note this morning.....Stephanie, Josh Rose and myself went to the 'Ranch' yesterday morning, so I could move some dirt for the new Sunday school room. I filled the inside of the foundation, pushed dirt around the perimeter, and made a channel to divert water during the rainy season. Joel and Beatrice had came out with us, and held church in the evening. Got to bed at 10:30, and back up at 5:30 to climb the mountain, and came back to town.....then working at the school the rest of the day.

After our supper last night we went to Sinforosa.  It is a breathtaking view into God's amazing creation.  Wow!  The top photo is one that Dad took while we were there.  The air was very smoky, so our long range view was limited.  However, the vast area that the Copper Canyon emcompasses was clear.  We simply cannot comprehend the magnitude of the canyon.  The Tarahuamara people live throughout the canyon area and are the center of the Capps ministry. Dad says that at night one can see the home fires of the people who dwell in the cliffs.  We could see the trail, incredibly steep in many areas, wind up and out of the depth. The Tarahuamara walk miles and miles and miles and miles - all day in some areas- to reach the top, then they have to walk on to catch a ride to town.  How many of us complain about having to carry the garbage clear out to the dumpster, 50 yards away?  We spoiled people with our first world problemas! 

It was rewarding after a day of hard work to take a fun-break!
(The lower photo is a close up (taken from the above link) of the same place Dad's photo came from.) 

Here are some random pics from the worksite.  I am limited with time, so I won't go into detail with each photo.  ~Steph

 Mixing concrete for the school bathroom/shower-house for mission groups.

 Moving cement into the bathroom/shower-house.

 Building up the dirt around the foundation.

 Putting up gutters.

 More dirtwork.

 Several layers of work going on in this photo: dry wall mudding, insulation installing, window work, dirt work, concrete work.

 Materials for inside of buildings.  Drywall, insulation, etc.

A good photo of the drywall work that the girls are doing.  The guys/gals installed the bars over the windows, too.