Sumiton MAPS Team Builds at Las Mananitas
By Rod and Sherry Boyd

Seven enthusiastic volunteers from First Assembly of God in Sumiton, Alabama, lead by Pastor Gary Craft, constructed two new classrooms for the Las Mananitas High School. Their trip got off to a rough start when their flight from Atlanta was delayed due to fog on Friday. They missed their connecting flight in Houston and ended up spending that night in Miami. They arrived Saturday afternoon ready to start building. Unfortunately, their luggage didn't arrive with them! This didn't discourage them though.

After visiting four churches and touring Panama, they started work early Monday morning. Their goal was to finish the block walls in two classrooms. Half of the group worked on the walls while the other half moved dirt to fill the floor in the second classroom--very hard work considering the high temperature and humidity.

They worked shoulder to shoulder with Panamanian workers. They took turns teaching one another different worship choruses. The team was very excited to get their luggage which finally arrived on Tuesday.

Christian love helped to break any language or cultural barriers. There were many special times of fellowship shared, especially at lunch and break times. The team was treated to authentic Panamanian food for lunch each day. When they finished their work on Thursday, they were only a few dozen bricks shy of finishing both classrooms!

After lunch on Thursday the team spent time praying over every classroom, praying for the students and teachers. Some of the Panamanian workers joined for this prayer time. Thursday night was a farewell service for the team at the Las Mananitas Assembly of God. Pastor Samuel Rangel, who is also the General Director of the Las Mananitas Christian School, gave each team member a gift and each one was able to share about his experience. Pastor Gary Craft preached a powerful message from 1 Peter 2 on the importance of laying a good foundation. An extended time of prayer at the altar followed. Then came the sad time of having to say good-bye. God had touched many Panamanians... and the team from Sumiton.

THANK YOU Pastor Gary, Sister Huett, Shelly, Clyde, Buddy, Dennis and Chris for your hard work. Thank you Sumiton First Assembly for the hard work and sacrifice to provide the building materials for your team. Thanks to your hard work, we are that much closer to having the three new classrooms we must have before school starts so that we can add the 10th grade and a second 7th grade class.

We are scheduled to have another MAPS team arrive in mid-February who will build the third classroom. However, we will still be short of the funds needed to finish these classrooms. Please pray with us that God will provide. If you'd like to help, you can send your offering to:

Division of Foreign Missions
Project 7794: Las Mananitas High School
1445 Boonville Ave.
Springfield, MO 65802

Also, please pray with us that additional MAPS groups will respond to our plea for this project. We will need to build an additional three classrooms before March 1999.