Well, if taking shelter from the rain at the bar down the street and using their restroom facilities all week seemed a bit odd, then today´s turn of events takes the cake! But, more on that in a sec.

It rained again in the morning, but we didn´t stop construction; we just sludged through the mud. And boy, was there a lot of mud! We urgently needed to finish the roof, so the team completed the 7 trusses that would hold the roof tiles. They are huge pieces of lumber arranged in a wide A shape, held together with steel panels and large bolts. I got to use a grinder to saw off the excess bolt length that stuck out from the braces. It was a Tim the Tool Man experience, indeed. Sparks were flying everywhere; it was awesome! 😉

Carrying the trusses was a 6-7 person ordeal, as they are very heavy. I have a bruise on my right bicep and both forearms to prove it. Once we brought the trusses into the church, we had to carefully lift them overhead to the guys on scafolding, who would then heave them into place in the roof brackets that were affixed into the cement blocks.

Our plan for tonight was to watch the Jesus film in the soccer field (read: dirt lot with a small goal on one side), but because it had rained so much, the ground was still muddy. A few of us had gone over to the bar to use their tile floor to put gromets on the canvas screen that we would display for the film, and while we were there, the owner offered for us to use the dancefloor for the film.

I couldn´t have thought of a more perfect solution! We had a full house, which was wonderful, and lots of the kids and their families from VBS came. The film was narrated (dubbed over in Portuguese with English subtitles) from the perspective of a group of children in Jesus´ time, as they witnessed events unfold.

The Jesus film in a bar. How awesome is that?!