Our last evening

Sunsets are awesome in Mazatlan.

These views are from the boardwalk along the beach.
A statue and fountain along the boardwalk.

The Shrimp Bucket

Just bring on the food.

This fellow played and sang for us, but our tip angered him. Evidently the going price is thirty pesos per song, and we paid him something like thirty pesos for two songs. He insisted that we correct the problem, and we did.

This food was awesome. This shrimp boat was a feast for two.

We had a wonderful ending to our week of hard work. The dedication celebration was this afternoon, and this evening we took a long stroll along the boardwalk and ate at a wonderful seafood restaurant called "The Shrimp Bucket". It was pretty close to the best seafood any of us have ever had.

The Celebration

Left to right: Javier, Isaura, Brian, Edgar

We communicated through Edgar that we came build this new house in the name of Jesus.

The community looked on.
Isaura unlocks her front door for the first time.
The local pastor leads in a prayer for the new home.

Matt with Isaura and Javier
Brandi and Chase at the new kitchen table.
The new stove.
New beds and linens We gave out match box cars by the dozens to the neighborhood kids. They told us that they had never had a toy car before.

Isaura and Javier
This is the image that will stick with all of us.

The whole community showed up for the dedication celebration at 3:30 pm today.

We were really glad to also provide a new table and chairs, stove, two beds and bed linens.

The last day of work

Catherine gets into her painting.
Cement board siding creates great clouds of dust.
The neighbor girl taunted her turkey by shaking her toosh in front of it. This was followed by a peck and a clawing.
Dave likes a clean working environment.

Jim finishes the door frame.

Catherine and Jessica . . .
keep the neighborhood kids occupied.

We finished today. It took longer than we had planned, but we finished and the house looked good. What an awesome week.

Matt loses his mind in the heat

For some strange reason, Matt allowed Catherine to braid his hair. I think the heat is getting to him.

Tacos and Quesadillas

This evening after we got our showers we headed out for local tacos and quesadillas. The food was awesome. The taste was so much more alive than the "authentic" Mexican food we find at home.

And by the way, this was Catherine's 16th birthday. We did a little bit of celebrating for her.

Day Three . . . the finish is close

Today the heat really got to all of us. We needed a siesta but there was no time for one. We put in a twelve hour day and finished the siding, the electrical, and nearly finished hanging and taping the drywall. Tomorrow we have to finish the drywall, paint, install exterior trim.

Pastor Dave looks pretty worn out in the picture above. Everybody felt just like he looked. We put in a very hard day's work.

Living Conditions

We feel really privileged to be able to help these people have a more adequate shelter, but we can't help feeling bad that we can't help more. The new house does not have a bathroom or a wash room. Those are still in the back yard.

YWAM Base Internet Cafe

Free Evening

This evening (Wednesday), we took a wild taxi ride (all eleven of us in the back of a small pickup) to the tourist district for some shopping. We actually spent a long time at our first stop--McDonald's. I know that's crazy. I can't explain it; it just happened. I think everyone was missing America. We saw the sunset during our taxi ride.

Work Day Two