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Sorry it has been a while since my last post, our two groups this year overlapped their time in Croc (they were both here for about 12 hours) and I decided to put off both shaving and posting while the groups were here.

First Group:

First Reform Church (Sioux Center, Iowa)

This group has been coming for nine or so years and helped build some of our primary structures. They have been here I believe all four summers and both Marches I have been in Croc and so I have gotten to know several of them well. Also Allie and Aaron (construction supervisors from last summer) came with this group. We are good friends and it was a blast to hang out with them again!

Our primary task this week was to install two wall divisions in the large room we made last March at the Drug Rehab Center so that they could better use the space for classrooms. We also had a several side projects at the Rehab Center and our own base including door repairs, painting, plumbing problems, and desk making.

Our wall divisions were made of dry wall with a metal core (typical Mexican style core as opposed to using wood). I know almost nothing about hanging drywall, but Randy (one of the group members) did and so I placed him in charge of the project and I focused most of my energy on teaching Victor and Chepee (both 15, who we hired again to work part time with us) how to construct the desks (which we were building for a computer class the Rehab Center is planning on having). I really enjoyed getting to work on a small project with them. Quike, one of my friends from town, also came out several days this week to help out.

 In our original schedule, Thursday night I was supposed to lead a discussion with the group, but our schedule changed around Tuesday and so I didn’t plan anything. Late Thursday night Christy said, “Oh and Jake, tomorrow morning can you lead the discussion you were going to lead tonight?” I said yes, and yet had to go home to address all my newsletters to send early the next morning with a few people from the group who were flying back early. After delivering the newsletters to the group around 6:30am I went home to plan for my 9:00am discussion. I grabbed the book Wounded Healer (by Henri Nouwen), which had been on my mind that week. I hadn’t read it in a few years, but hoped to summarize some of it for the discussion. As I skimmed the book though I realized its truth was best left in book form. This realization came around 8:30 though. I had no idea what to lead the discussion on and realized I had yet to pray at all about it. So I finally prayed. I felt God reminding me of my conversation with Adolfo and the message I shared with the guys at the soup kitchen (see the post: ‘insight from Adolfo’); I recalled the heart of the Gospel—Christ suffered to heal us—and our need to carry his death around with us so His life can be lived through us. So I took the group down to my yard (a little more secluded place than the church’s courtyard) and had different group members read aloud Isaiah 53, 1^st Peter 2:20b-25, Mathew 26:20-30 (each three times). Then we took communion. It was a powerful time and reminded me once again the need to be Spirit-led in leading spiritual discussions (and really all of life).

Second Group:

Faith Reformed Church (also Sioux Center, Iowa)

This group I first met last March when we were started our first project at the Rehab Center. This year they had a mix of first timers and veterans to Croc and the majority of the group was in college or high school. We got along well.

Our task was to build a small office for Hermana Juanita (the leader of the rehab center) right next to the building we made last spring. The group had some experience with tile and we tiled both the office and one of the bathrooms of Torre Fuerte (the church YouthFront is partnered with). The group also installed a couple of toilets, a sink, and did some landscaping at our base. We also finished the last of the computer desks we started with the first group.

During the week we got the chance to spend an evening with the guys at the Rehab Center. We ate dinner, listened to their testimonies, and played volleyball with them. After hearing their testimonies one of our group asked how they knew it was Christ who had helped them. This question really peaked my interest as I have been in deep theological discussions lately with a close friend of mine about how we can know about God and Christ. One of the guys from the rehab center talked about he had tried worshiping Satan, death, and had gone to several expensive physiatrists. None of them had been able to help him, but Christ had come with the power to save him from his drug addiction. As Paul seems to say in 1^st Corinthians 2:4-5, faith should not stand on wise or persuasive words, but on experiencing God’s power.

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