Reporting tonight is Bonny Roth.

Our morning began with dense fog that lent an air of mystery to our work on the second level. Since the stairs from the ground level had cured a bit, all of us went up to what we are calling the roof, even though the space will become the floor of the second level. That's where some of us spent most of the day.

The primary task was making final preparations before pouring concrete that will form the floor of the second level. That meant laying and tying seemingly miles of rebar steel in a checkerboard pattern. Ask us--many of us--how our knees and backs felt by late afternoon!

A highlight--or God moment--of our roof time was singing hymns while Oko (o-koo) played his harmonica. We were delighted to hear new tunes for some our old favorites, such as "For the Beauty of the Earth," and to experience Oko playing a hymn tune after hearing us sing it one. Singing "We Shall Overcome" with Oko's accompaniment brought tears to my eyes.

As you might guess, Dylan Powell and Emily Roth managed to gather with several of our Ghanaian friends to play an intensely competitive game of football--what we call soccer--on a sloping, small grassy space. Rumor has it that Dylan managed to score. Perhaps the most amazing feature of the game was seeing so many bare feet kicking the ball as if they were wearing a pair of soccer cleats!

Late morning a gigantic truck unloaded an even more gigantic pile of sand for mixing the gigantic quantity of concrete that will be required to form the floor of the second level. Keep in mind that this concrete process begins with several folks with strong arms and backs mixing the sand, gravel, cement and water with shovels. Then loading that mixture into large metal bowls. Then passing those bowls along a number of sets of hands lined up along the ground level and up the stairs to the top. I keep dreaming of a concrete mixer appearing early the morning this process begins!

For a few hardy souls who were not otherwise exhausted, a second truck delivered more bags of cement weighing 50 kg or 100+ lb bags. Our Ghanaian friends hoisted them onto the tops of their heads are propped them on their shoulders as if they were carrying a preschooler. Some of us are still in awe of the First Churchers who pitched in with this task.

As we had been promised, we were invited to gather our dirty clothes to be laundered. So the youth center kitchen bustled more than ever as women peeled and fried plantains for lunch and washed and rinsed our clothing in large wash basins. Outside a crew of guys dug holes, erected poles, strung lines, poured mortar in the holes--all in preparation for hanging clean clothes on the new clothesline. A few of our women discovered the joy of smooth hands after working in water containing shea butter soap.

For lunch at the youth center we took a departure from our usual delicious chicken and mounds of rice and ate red-red, a scrumptious dish made with black-eyed peas, spices, and probably some additional ingredients that make it an appetizing red. Some of us loved the texture and flavor enhanced by ground casava meal. The fried plantains have become a big hit among us.

In the afternoon a number of us explored the highway-side shops of the wood carvers for which Aburi is famous. The shopkeepers are the most assertive salespeople we have encountered thus far, although legends of the Accra marketplace suggest the best are yet to come.

Best of all, after eating dinner, sharing God moments, and completing our prayer time, we welcomed our Mo-Dega travelers back to Aburi tonight. They have begun telling their adventurous tales, but more on that in coming days.

Words can hardly express the gratitude each of us feels for your support, prayers, and love as we represent our beloved faith community in this land. Serving as our more-or-less official photographer has given me the privilege of constant opportunities and requests for me to take photos. Our Ghanaian co-workers and neighbors of all ages love to have their pictures taken. One of our Ghanaian friends asked me at lunch one day what I would do with my hundreds of photos. I replied that we would share them with our families and church community to help tell the story of our work together to support the mission of the Methodist Youth Center and to introduce them to our Ghanaian friends. He and a few others sitting nearby smiled with excitement when they realized that we will never forget them and their lives of faith. To all of you who have supported this endeavor in so many ways, we say "meda ase" (may-dah'-say), or thank you.

Ruth Gerald and Stacy Shultze receive a lesson in washing clothes from our Ghanaian friends

A portion of the second level crew ties rebar intersections together