Before the team arrived, Hannah and I met with a local architect and asked him to draw up the plans for a bodega. The pastor of the Manta church, Julio, put us in contact with the architect. Julio also helped us by contacting an Ecuadorian contractor to help with the project.
Up until November 1, we didn't know that the team would actually be coming. MFM was trying to put this team together quickly and couldn't confirm it until then. The team consisted of 4 members, and one of them was my sister Laura. We had no idea it was even a possibility that she would be part of this team. She sent me a message on November 1 saying "Are you up for a visitor in two weeks?" I knew what she meant.
With the assumption that they would be coming, we asked the architect in mid-October to design the plans for us. He was delayed in getting the plans to us; we didn't see them until the first full week of November.
On Monday, November 5, we looked over the plans with the local contractor (here a contractor is called a "maestro") and we thought we were ready for his crew to get started. However, the architect said we needed to have a study of the soil/ground before we could start. Why didn't he insist on this when we first met with him about the plans? I don't know. Fortunately, he put in a call to someone and they were able to come out and do the study. We had the results on Wednesday afternoon and were ready to start on Thursday morning.
Darryl Chambers, the Ecuador Field Leader, was with us in Manta that week prior to the team arriving to help us get prepared. It was very helpful having him with us to make decisions.
We were a little stressed that week since we had planned to start on Monday and didn't end up starting until Thursday. Up until Wednesday afternoon, we didn't know if we would even be able to start before the MFM team arrived. Once we started on Thursday, we didn't know how much would be accomplished before the MFM team arrived, meaning we didn't even know exactly what the team would be working on.
Thankfully, a lot was accomplished on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning.
Early Sunday morning (November 13)The team flew in to the Guayaquil airport, about 3 hours from Manta. On Saturday afternoon, we drove our car and Darryl drove his car to Guayaquil. We spent the night in a hotel near the airport and picked them up on Sunday morning.
After picking them up, we went to breakfast and then to the famous "Iguana Park".
 |
| In Guayaquil: my sister Laura and I standing in front of the OMS property where we lived for several years. |
We spent the week working alongside the Ecuadorian workers. Each morning before we started to work, we had a short time of sharing a testimony or devotion. We invited the Ecuadorians to join us and one of us translated for them. The project didn't go as smoothly as we would have liked. There was a good amount of down time for our team on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday while we waited for them to get the structure upright. During that time, some of the team helped patch some of the damaged areas inside the church. Also, we drove them around Manta a bit to show them some of the most affected areas from the earthquake.
Overall, it was a successful week. The project wasn't completed while the MFM team was there, but the Ecuadorian workers finished it the week after. While the team was there, the columns, floor, and roof were poured, and a lot of the block for the walls was laid. After the team left, the rest of the block was laid and the doors were made and installed.
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
For many more pictures, please click here.
