A day full of events at MVM

A lot has happened today. (I´ll write a few, and maybe someone else can fill in the gaps.)

1. The women and girls of our group were greeted at breakfast with roses and cards from "Los Caballeros de las Rosas" led by Tacho on the guitar. (The roses were potted so that they can be planted here at MVM when we leave.)
   
2. We had the last day of VBS at Iglesia Monte Sinai. We sang all the VBS songs that we have been learning the last 4 days. (I think I have almost learned the chorus to one or two!) Several of the kids got awards for learning and reciting Bible verses. Each kid decorated frames for the picture that Todd took the first two days. The frame was a cover for a notepad; the kids also decorated pencils to go with them. Many of the congregation came today, and they fed us lunch yet again. It was hard for some of our kids to say goodbye to the new friends they had made.
   
3. Many projects at MVM were finished: four sets of curtains, five pieces of furniture, and lots of small tasks like hooks in the shower room. Many of these were exercises in making do with what is available--for example, we built all the furniture with some left-over wood and only 2 power tools: a circular saw and an orbital sander.
   
4. There was a big ceremony here to commemorate the graduation of the students at a sewing class on the MVM campus. The mayor of the town, his entourage and the press were here. They also used the occasion to thank us for coming--Todd and Jayne sat at the head table to represent our group. The speeches were short, and the food was good!
   
5. We had a surprise housewarming party for Matt and Jessica. We had been secretly creating a one-room apartment for them in the new wing of dorm rooms here. (For those of you who don´t know, they´ll be living here for a year.) Folk did lots of shopping to buy new furniture, a hammock-chair, a microwave, rugs, and other household items. We built a sideboard, two end tables and 2 shelves. We got a refrigerator, a bed, and some other household items from MVM. One set of the new curtains were installed. I think it came together pretty well. Amazingly, with all the activity, Matt and Jessica seemed to be genuinely surprised.
   

So, this is our last night at MVM--we´ll stay in a hotel tomorrow night and then catch a plane back to AZ on Friday. Thanks for all the prayer and encouragement!