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Sorry for the lack of updates but the work here has kept us all very busy. I was unable to post anything last night because vbs ran a little late. Everything here is amazing. Here is what the church looks like now and some pictures of the group doing work.

this blog is bananas

soooo....i had this great video to put up here today but it wouldn't upload :(

we're working really hard still and tomorrow hpefully there will be a quality update.

sorry guys

-KJB

Monday Monday

Update: We're all doing great! we spent the morning painting the church. We got it done in record time we even had time to go to the beach! Everything is still beautiful.

There are the rowdy boys outside the church building on Sunday.

Doin' work!

painting in record time...we can efficiently take apart that scaffold and put it back together with the accuracy and speed of a NASCAR pit crew.

Our tour of Bonaire took us all over the entire southern end of the island.

from Andrew Williams

The air is good in Bonaire. The weather is nice and our trip is going very well. Martin and Deanna Klamm, along with their three girls have been very welcoming and hospitable to us. It is very encouraging to hear and see the work they are doing and to contribute in a small way. Unfortunately, the majority of Martin’s time is consumed with working on the building, so hopefully our work will speed up the building process and allow him to spend more time in the field evangelizing.

Sunday began with a great bilingual worship service in Papiamento and English. It was awesome to see our students interacting with the children of the congregation and having fun after worship ended. We went to lunch at the Klamm’s house after service then decided that we wanted to go ahead and get started on the work.

Before we could begin our main task of painting the building, the entire exterior surface had to be sanded. The sanding was very tough and tedious work but all the guys worked very hard to complete the task before nightfall.

Today, we got up and ate breakfast about 7:30 and began painting a little before 8:00. Again, it was time consuming work but seemed like a vacation after the sanding we had done the day before. Seeing each person work hard and do his part made the work go by pretty fast. The students have mastered the scaffolding work and are now pros at assembling the scaffolds and getting up there to paint the high places. By lunchtime, we were 90% complete with the painting and were able to finish the work after we ate.

After we finished the painting, Martin took us on a tour of the southern part of the island to see some of the sights – including the World Champion wind surfer practicing in a local bay. We had the chance to snorkel as well, which was very interesting, especially for those of us who had never done that before.

One thing we have discussed on the trip is that the purpose of a mission work is to seek and save the lost. Although we are not involved in direct evangelism on this trip, our work will allow other to spread God’s Word quicker and more effectively. I am reminded that whatever your talents are, you have a place to serve in God’s church.

Island life

Kum bai, from beautiful lucious Bonaire! the trip so far has been incredible! One seven hour layover in Aruba, an extremely sketchy ride on a propeller plane, and a very bumpy van ride later we arrive at the church here on the island. The boys are alright and living it up. This morning we had arapitas, or pumpkin pancakes, which were delicious and made by our missionary hosts Martin and Deanna. After worship this morning we spent the day sanding the walls of the church so we can paint it tomorrow. Everything on the island is chill. The people are nice, the water is beautiful, and the climate is super...tropical. No stress, here are some pictures:

the church we're working on

Us and the kids after services

The guys sanding the church.

more to come later, but for now we are all very tired. Bon bini!

AND SO IT BEGINS

Hello everyone! This is the first post on the blog! Hooray! I'll try to keep you all throughly updated throughout the entire trip. I'll also try to post a balanced amount of pictures, videos, and information about the trip. I won't be the only one typing on here though. I'll try to give all of the guys an opportunity to type a message if they want. So check back often or follow us as we go on this magical journey. Should be a lot of fun. Stay golden folks.
-KJB