The last month flew by here on the job site with three teams in four weeks! Kicking off the month was a group from Crossroads Evangelical Church in Wauseon, OH. This group laid a TON of block…ok, so maybe not quite a ton, but close. They were able to lay over 100 block per day. They finished the top few rows of the 9 sections of block that had been laid by previous groups. With their contribution to the block laying, the wall currently has almost 1,200 blocks laid.

TEAMWORK!!!…more or less

 

The Crossroads team also had a member who was a semi-truck driver skilled in AutoCAD…go figure. I took advantage of this and had him design the 30 x 30 warehouse that the volunteer groups and the Dominican construction workers would use throughout the duration of the clinic construction. After the designs were complete the group was able to dig and pour some of the posts.

The start of the warehouse

 

Following Crossroads was a team from Second Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, Virginia. They picked up where Crossroads left off by completing most of the warehouse. They completed the frame and screwed on the metal roofing. They made doors and left them for the next group to hang. This space will be a better alternative than the current shipping container as it offers more space and has natural lighting.

The finished frame Finishing the metal siding

 

The Roanoke team also was able to hang a sign that will educate passersby to what is being built. It has an explanation of the clinic as well as a mock-up. I have to admit, it looks pretty spiffy! Yup, I said spiffy.

Spiffy, amiright???

 

Roanoke also had the distinct honor and pleasure of being the first team to sign the unofficially named “REVOLUTION CONSTRUCTION ROSTER” (I’m certainly open to other suggestions). It’s essentially a sheet of plywood that each volunteer/team that comes to work construction will be able to sign at the end of the week. Yes, there were other teams before Roanoke but the idea came to light during their week so they were the first ones to sign. If you came and worked prior to Roanoke you’ll just have to come back again and have your chance to sign it! I think it’s a great idea and hope one day it will go on display somewhere in the new clinic to show how lots of little efforts go into one collective BIG effort to accomplish something REVOLUTIONARY!

Lookin good!

 

Finishing off the third week of teams was a group from Northwest Ohio led by Krista and Heath Yoder. Many of this group had been to San Juan on previous trips, and it was great to catch up and share memories from trips past. We were able to get some work done as well. This group was a “jack of all trades” group. They welded, installed electrical outlets and lights, hung doors, painted, installed trim, made a ceiling, made forms, mixed and poured concrete, and moved our tools from the shipping container to the new warehouse….WHICH THEY FINISHED! All in all one of the most productive weeks so far.

So what’s next? There’s currently a team of 2 individuals who will work on pouring the top beam of the wall. After that, there’s quite the break before the next construction team comes…almost two months. Be sure to click HERE to see the rest of the photos from the last month. Also, keep yourselves up to date with the REVOLUTION clinic construction by checking out Ken Potter’s blog HERE. If you want to come down and be one of the little efforts, contact the me at jbucher@solidrockinternational.org. We’d love to have you serve and be a part of God using the little efforts to do something BIG.