San Antonio/Seacoast July 2009

View of the worksite, where mission team from Seacoast church helped the San Antonio Community build a water tank, which will provide the community with clean water

Team members working on early stage of tank construction, laying and leveling bricks

At least six members of the community volunteered each day, and as always an audience of community members can be seen congregating around the worksite

Dan (left), team leader and Seacoast missions pastor, speaking with Jose D’ Roberto, very dedicated young leader in the church and community

Local vounteer working alongside North American Sister from Seacoast missions team

Teaming up to carry rebar, which was laid between every layer of brick and will make for a very sturdy tank

mixing cemenet – a job that is fundamental to every rural construction site

The greatest rewards of a long-term commitment are the relationships that develop. Shane and Josh met on a worksite last year and were excited to renew their friendship again this year

Seacoast youth chipping away, one brick at a time

The human conveyor belt, with Sandra (back left) a local church leader and community volunteer working in line with North American sisters, Terry and Deb (far left)

Througout the week, both Sandra (left), local volunteer, and Terry (right), Seacoast missions volunteer, emerged as significant leaders, whose initiatives guided the missions team to better serve the San Antonio Community

Shane, fashioned with his nifty safety goggles, chipping away at the bricks

Seacoast youth; the team had a total of 17 members, and five of whom where highschool students and two in college

All the bricks that have yet to be set in water, chipped down, laid and leveled

Laying the cement and fitting the bricks is a good two-person job

Shane picks up a few tips from the job foreman

Seacoast has sent a missions team to San Antonio for the past four years. Last year they helped build a retaining wall, seen here, behind the local school. This wall protects the school from mudslides and floods which are a serious threat during the rainy season. Chris is admiring the finished product of last years hard work

This year the Seacoast team brought 600 hats to distribute to school children.

The collection and distribution of the hats was led by Terry, member of the Seacoast team and a kindergarden teacher in California. She and the local school teacher (right) were happy to see eachother again and to be working together to benefit the children of San Antonio

The children admiring their new hats

In addition to giving the children a new fashion accessory, these hats will provide necessary protection from the sun’s harmful rays

Terry led the children in song

Sandra (right), church leader and community volunteer, accompanied the mission team is all their activities. Seen here with Terry singing “Cristo Es El Rey”

“Cristo es mi rey…”

Andres (bottom right, and only adult in photo) is an Enlace Church Coach in the area and had a major role in linking the missions team members with local leaders

After distributing the hats, the Seacoast team made classroom visits

Sandra, church leader and community volunteer, working with Andres, Enlace Church Coach to distribute new supplies to teachers

Children from the community volunteered with construction of the tank when they were not in school

Seacoast worked with Church leaders to identify families with the greatest need, and each day they set out to deliver canastas basicas (basic foods) to these families

After delivering the Trader Joes’ “canasta basica”, terry bonds with family members

There were long treks between houses, which gave an opportunity to experience Salvador’s rural beauty

Young church and community leaders who served as guides on the family visits. It was truly amazing to witness the kind of commitment and initiative that came from church leadership, especially since their local church is currently without a Pastor, they are literally taking it upon themselves to serve their community.

Not quite ripe, but free for the picking

house pet

Emptied bean pods scattered across the floor of the family’s home

After delivering the Trader Joe’s “canasta basica” to a family, Arturo, Enlace employee in the fundraising and logistics department, led the group in prayer, asking for a blessing on the family and for their protection. Terry is seen here praying with a woman in her home.

Shane praying with a man whose home we visited, he and his sister were living together and both were very ill

Family receiving Trader Joes’ “canasta basica”

15 yr. old girl holding her little sister, the door behind them has been decorated with magazine cut-outs of North American teen idols

Tortillas are made by peeling the corn from the cob, grinding it up, shaping them and then heating them over fire

Homes are scattered across the rural landscape, there are some dirt paths to follow but it would be very difficult to draw up any kind of a map

A typical house in rural El Salvador uses wood and bamboo to form the structure and mud to hold it together

An impoverished family and recipient of the Trader Joe’s “canasta basica”; This woman’s husband is also a leader in the church, and was one of the hardest working volunteers that came out to help construct the tank

Beans pruned and drying out in the sun

The tank is being built as part of a larger project to replace the community’s presently failing water system. Since the current system is unreliable people are having to draw contaminated water from the creek

Local children help chip away at the bricks. There are not enough classrooms or teachers in the area, therefore children either attend school in the mornings or the afternoons. The same classroom and teacher that serves 3rd graders in the morning will serve the 6th graders in the afternoon

A splendor in the bricks

Colin is standing on brick steps and Mike on scafolding, the tank is that high now

Diane, modeling her Salvadoran co-workers, uses her barehands to patch the tank with cement

Andres, Enlace Church Coach in the area, has forged relationships with various members of the community

Anya and two church leaders who volunteered to assist the Seacoast team all week

Rosa came out for the dedication service and recognized Anya from a previous tank they had worked on together months before

Jose has essentially been serving as an ad-hoc pastor. He led the dedication service on the team’s last day of work, to which nearly fifty people from the community came to honor the work being done

Andres asks for a blessing on the community of San Antonio, the water project, and the missions team; all who were present placed their hands on the tank and bowed their heads in prayer

Look for us on the cover of Vogue, Rural El Salvador edition