Portland Team Photo Journal

Portland Team Launches Jireh School Construction story

For more information on the Jehovah Jireh Good Shepherd School Project, please visit the Jireh Project page. The photo diary is in descending order, with the most recent photos first. Start at the bottom to get the complete picture.

Day 12: Friday... Jim and Sherry meet Manual, the new young man they are sponsoring. The last interior walls go up. Farewell service--quilts are given to the ladies of the school and church. Pastor Bob ministers the word and meets new friends. The team ministers at the altar.

Day 11: Thursday... A very productive day saw many of the interior walls rise. At the same time, the c-channel and 2nd story columns are put in place. The floor will be poured on Saturday. Brad and Zuri--a LACC student he is starting to sponsor. Cooks Joyce and Pat look down on the activity.

Day 10: Wednesday... Back at the Jehovah Jireh school. The column and beam work is finished for the 2nd-story floor. The c-channel will go up on Thursday. The team works on the interior walls until washed out early afternoon. Is that one of those old Latino gang members? Is Pastor Bob really laying block?

Day 9: Tuesday... We say goodbye to Helen, Dale and Diane at the early AM airport dropoff. Last day at Monte de Sion with the hopes of finishing 3 classrooms and blocking the stairwell and a portion of the courtyard banister wall. Great fun with the 5th-6th grade students who came especially to thank the team during a ceremony at lunch time. The old green STL van... she aint what she used to be!

Days 7 and 8: Sunday and Monday... After church, the team visits the Panama Canal; lunch out at Albrook Mall and a little shopping at the YMCA. Then it's off to the Decameron Resort up the Pacific coast. They return to the city on Monday, after lunch at the resort, making a quick stop at Crepes and Waffles.

DAY 6: Saturday... The team will spend three days total at Mt. Zion with the goal of completing 3 classrooms and blocking around the stairwell and inner court for security. The make great progress on the second day. Stephanie arrives Friday night... father-daughter reunions are special!

DAY 5: Friday, CHANGE OF VENUE... The team moved to the Mount Zion Good Shepherd School. We needed to leave the Jireh school so that the Panamanian crew there could finish the column and beam work and prepare the second story floor. The team demonstrated their flexibility in making this quick change. Of course, it wasn't too difficult since they wanted to continue the work they had started four years earlier. (See the story from March 2003, Portland CC Builds New Mt. Zion School.)

DAY 4: Thursday... The last two days of rain have made for muddy red clay conditions. The final retaining walls are going up. The children love watching and dream of the new school! The Portland team met Angel 7 years ago while working at the school. The Ruecks give him a lesson in block laying.

DAY 3: Wednesday... The work of backfilling begins. The walls continue to rise. The rains have interrupted work a little. The retaining walls are just about finished! One more day.

DAY 2: Tuesday... The walls go to the top. Just a couple more days of hefting the 8" blocks. The additional columns will be installed on Wednesday.

DAY 1: Monday... The hard work begins--8" block retaining walls, rebar and concrete in every cell! Lots of Panamanian brothers from the church are working with the team.

DAY 0: Sunday... Church service and a look at the building site--the "big dig"