So, what would you do?

There are supposed to be pictures with this, but they won't load, so you have to imagine. I hope I can maybe get them to load if I do it this evening when less people are on line, so check back later if you can.

You have just spent three or four nights with 50-60 other families crammed in a church building that has one, rather inadequate bathroom. You haven't been able to let your kids outside because the church property is right next to the highway and there isn't a fence. Besides, it's pretty muddy out there. You have one single mattress to share with your whole family, which might include three or four children. You have one change of clothes each, maybe. You probably saved the TV, maybe the stove. Yesterday, the pastor of the church told you that you have to move to a high school because there is a danger that the water will rise again and the church will be flooded. You aren't too happy about it, because you are afraid that it means that the church will stop taking care of you. Not true, but you wonder. So, late in the afternoon, you get on a bus with your kids and a bundle of belongings and find yourself one of four or five families sharing a classroom.

The next morning. You can`t go home yet, if you happen to still have a house to go back to. The sun is shining. There is abundant clean water in the outside faucets. So, what do you do?

You do laundry.

You get cleaned up, not forgetting to play with a friend at any opportunity.

Play checkers--Didn't bring the checkers? Lots of pop bottle caps around.

If you are a member of the church in el Progreso, you:
keep on serving the people from your neighborhood, even though you don't have a house to go home to either.
Get all the kids together to play games.
Have a baby. Have a baby? Well, not one of the ladies who had been at the church, but one lady came in from La Chumbas, a little village tucked in the banana plantation, and gave birth at the school.
On Saturday, John and I spend the day with the church in El Progreso, hoping to encourage and help the helpers. As usual, we came away feeling very blessed.