cleaning house

Oh my goodness....yesterday after a wonderful ladies Bible study, we got busy on the Ranch House, as it needed a good cleaning out. 

That's putting it mildly.

This cottage hadn't been lived in for a number of years, so we got to work.

We cleaned inside....

and out.

We left with large bags of trash and the fresh smell of Pine Sol behind us!

Now it's Friday and we are winding down.  Putting a kitchen back together after painting, packing tools, cleaning up.  We have loved every moment - thank you for making it possible for us to be here.  Tomorrow we pull out at 8 am sharp to head to a few stops along the way and end up in Phoenix by bedtime.  We fly out of Phoenix at 7 am Sunday, on our way home. 

I have more picture and stories, so will continue to post into next week. 

This is probably the last post until we return to PA.  

See you at home!

our facebook page

For more pictures, please visit our team's FB page, "Davisville Arizona Team".  They upload faster there, so we're able to put more up than here on the blog.  Thanks!

Thursday- getting so much done!

I've not been able to post anything to the blog today because we were so busy!  I'll take this opportunity to catch you up on our latest and greatest....

Yesterday after lunch we did some team building by hopping in the van and exploring the desert, going over a huge mountain on extremely unpaved and bumpy roads, thereby experiencing breathtaking views and equally breathtaking driving by Fran :)  We arrived home in time to set up for the traditional Indian taco meal before the Singspiration service.

 

Oh those Hopi eyes...

 

After our delicious meal of fry bread, chili and tacos (complete with guacamole), we went up to the sanctuary for our service.  We sang many hymns, Jan and I (Beth) sang a duet, and Will and Melody (pictured below) led a Spanish song in the round. 

We had so much fun!

We've been having ice cream nightly it seems after our events, so even though it was late and we were tired, we broke out the containers and chocolate syrup (for those of you who know me, you KNOW we have chocolate syrup) and had good conversation amongst the team and the church members.   These are times that we savor, as we learn much through this "casual conversation" where stories are shared and we get a window into souls.  We leave these evenings incredibly blessed with our hearts burdened yet at the same time, full of joy for how God is providing and moving among the Hopi here.

This morning, Thursday, we had a ladies Bible study that ran over its charted hour and a half time slot, and instead we talked for three hours. Jan gave a devotional on the fruit of the Spirit and focused on joy.  Again, there was great conversation and much glory given to God for all He has done.  We learned amazing things about these women we are growing to love and we all prayed for one another.  After lunch, the women continued on with a craft, and we talked and laughed and shared our hearts until 2 pm when we finally had to wrap it up and tend to some work.

Melodie taught us how to make beaded bookmarks -

Leslie Piantedosi (from CHIEF) making her bookmark

The men were hard at work while we were crafting, and a few had taken Leslie and Nick's son, Matthew, rock climbing earlier this morning. He was positively beaming as he left with them!

We still had a house to clean out when we were through with our women's session, so by 2:30 we went to work on that.  Well, I say "we", but actually Melody and Jan can take the credit for that one.  They were the Pine Sol queens and totally ruled the kingdom! Pictures on that event to follow.  Stay tuned!



Wednesday already

Yesterday we continued on bathroom remodeling projects and varnishing floors.  The guys are fixing up the two bathrooms in the church basement with new toilets and showers.   These bathrooms get used frequently for groups (like us) and apparently,  occasionally there are passersby who just simply stop in, and Emmaline and Gibson offer them the facility to take a shower. 

Last night, we had an impromptu movie night.  Jan Manz brought along the movie "Heaven's Rain", and since Sunday's movie night worked so well, we thought we would try it again.  After making the decision about mid-afternoon, Emmaline got on the phone and called people to invite them, and in the evening, we all gathered in the sanctuary to watch it and had some visitors join us.  We were so encouraged!  The movie is very thought provoking and we had some good discussions afterwards, and fortunately had enough ice cream left over from Sunday night to have dessert.

Today we continue on with projects, and the gals have decided to paint the kitchen in the cottage.  We started on that after we chased the lizard out of the living room while we were varnishing the floors...... This is life in the desert!

Tonight will be a special "Singspiration" event at the church with a traditional Indian taco meal beforehand with church members and then lots of music upstairs.  Pictures of that to follow tomorrow.  These kinds of event evenings are always so special when we get to meet and be with other believers, and spend time with those in the community.  It's amazing to us how a part of things we feel; very welcome and at home.

We are so blessed to be here.  God is at work here at this church and that encourages us greatly.  It is so good to be able to join in what He is already doing and be a part of it and be used to move things forward.

A few pictures....

      
This is Jan and Harlan weeding the front yard...Harlan and his wife will move into this house when he comes in January to be the full time pastor, and Emmaline and Gibson will move from this house into the smaller house we worked on last year.

Marty- roofing in the hot Arizona sun!

Sunrise- moon's still high in the sky. 

the work

the view from here

Last night we went up on the mesa to visit some Hopi who live there.  It's a beautiful drive with breaktaking scenery.

We spent an amazing 45 minutes with Ida who showed us step by step how she makes her pottery.

 

It continues to astound us that families live up here, and are happy and content.  They have little, but are always willing to share a smile and what little they have.  Ida was incredibly generous and gave me a sampling of everything she uses to make her pottery so that I could take it home to show the students in the school where I work.  

 

I, in turn, gladly bought some of her pottery. 

 

But the cool part was, she gave expecting nothing in return. 

 

I can learn a lot from Ida.

loving the noise

Last night's movie and ice cream social were a huge hit!  It was exciting to see cars pulling up and families and children coming into the church for the event.  We were blessed to have the right equipment here at the church to project the movie with sound onto a large screen for easy viewing. 

Will Santiago welcomed us all and did an opening prayer to start off the evening.

 

He let the crowd know that the movie was emotional, and we started passing tissues.  Although that seemed humorous at the time, it wasn't long before the heart of this movie hit home, and audible sobs were heard from many Hopi in the auditorium.  We realized this was all right....it was difficult to hear, but necessary for God to do His work.  We were all deeply touched and moved by seeing this movie together ("The Fifth Quarter" - get it, watch it) and God used it for His glory last night.  Pastor Harlan closed out our time together and there were some people - with unbelievable grief stories- who came forward for prayer. 

 

 

It still gives me goosebumps.  It's a night this team will never forget.

 

Our plan worked well for the evening, because after that we headed downstairs for ice cream and popcorn which lightened everyone's heart and we had a wonderful time of sharing and eating together and talked late into the evening. 

 

We were in awe. It was more people than the 8 of us Davisviller's had ever seen in this church basement.

 



At one point, I stepped into the kitchen by myself and just stopped and listened.  I heard noise.  Talking.  Conversation.  Laughter.  Children's voices.  It was the most delightful cacophony.  I soaked it in.  It gave me joy. It warmed my heart.

It was a school night, so eventually the party had to break up and everyone went their separate ways.  But souls had been stirred; God had moved.

And we got to be a part of it.  What a gift.