Concrete ...

What kind of house do you live in?  

Does it look like this?

How about this?

There are some very lovely homes in Honduras ...

... but most of them look like this.

And what if this was all of your belongings?

and this is what you slept upon?

The majority of the Honduran population live in homes that are the size of a typical U.S. bedroom.  This home for which our team poured a concrete floor was about 14x14.  The floor was, as you can see, was dirt and rock.   

The walls and ceiling were covered with plastic to help protect from rain. There's no central air, heat, plumping or electricity.

Some homes may have a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling.

 A concrete floor may not seem like enough ... many of us yearn to be able to do so much more than that ... but it is a definite improvement from the current condition. 

Brian was in concrete on Tuesday helping with one of the homes.  Ben was involved on Monday and Thursday; Ben really enjoys working in the concrete ministry.  He sees it is a tangible way to serve the LORD and the people.  It is a ministry that provides visible proof that a difference was made ... and that provides for a good feeling.

As you can see from the photos below, I also worked in Concrete.  I didn't have my turn until Friday (thank the LORD and my dear, sweet husband ... in the event that it totally wiped me out, the end of the week would be better for that.)

So, to pour a concrete floor, this is what we do ... first, we start with large piles of sand and rocks ...

Depending on the size of the floor to be done, buckets or wheelbarrows are filled with the sand and rocks until the appropriate amount is obtained.

For us girls, we either filled the bucket only half way (so that the bucket could actually be lifted) ...

... or two of us would carry the bucket together ...

We did the best we could do; it was hot and those buckets were heavy.

Two homes were done during the first two days of 'Brigade' (the first church) and the floor of a multi-purpose building was completed during the second two days of 'Brigade' (the second church).  The building in the photo below is separate from the church building but on the same property.  We were told it would be used for Sunday School, Children's Activities and other Events.

The sand and rocks are put in a large pile resembling a mountain.  Bags of cement mix are added and then the mixture is turned over and combined using the shovels.  

For larger floors, such as the area in the building mentioned above and below, two piles are made, like twin mountains.

The mounds are then separated and hollowed out to form what was called the "bathtub".  In the photo below, after the water was added, you can see why the formation is called that.

The wall has to be kept intact while we continue to build around it, allowing the water to be absorbed into the inner walls. 

Everyone takes turns with the shovels ... 

The mixture is then completely mixed together, by shovel, so that it becomes the proper consistency of wet cement.

And you thought the buckets and wheelbarrows of sand and rocks would have been heavy!  WHEW!  Trying to shovel wet cement is like mixing chocolate-chip cookie dough with a teaspoon.

Once the cement is in place, it is leveled first with a long metal bar or a 2x4 with a person on each end moving it back and forth over the cement. 

... then it is smoothed with a hand trowel, like frosting a cake, they say ... 

So nice to see Ben working so hard...

After the cement is smoothed by hand, Jonathan (pictured below) finishes the surface with the larger trowel.

Jonathan is employed by World Gospel Outreach.  He is Honduran and he loves his country and his people; he desires for them to live a better life and like Paul wrote of God to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:4, "wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." 

He is a great Christian man with a BIG HEART for people and the LORD. 

He didn't even freak out when this little girl came barreling through the building and went right through the just completed, smooth-as-glass cement.  Her flip-flops ejected as she injected foot-shaped craters into the fresh dense substance.

I nearly caught her in mid-air as if she had been a shooting star going right by me.  I quietly carried her to a bucket of water to clean off her feet, her embarrassed mother aiding in the process as Jonathan repaired the divots.

I helped the little one back into her flip-flops and all was well again.

 This church family now has a multi-purpose area ...

... and two families now have a solid floor beneath their feet.

Those who worked in 'concrete' felt accomplished and rewarded ... humbled to be part of serving in such a way.

You don't have to be skilled or strong to participate in 'concrete' ...

You just have to be willing ... and that's really all you need to do great things!