Mary Magdalene House Renovations - Day One - Cleanup

 Here is a shot of Leo - we found out to our great surprise that his name was written on the wall - I hadn't realized that earlier!  This was right before we started the cleaning up.

Here is a shot of Ricardo moving out an old dust covered oven.  We'll be getting new appliances, so no need to keep this thing around!

 We continued in front of the house after removing everything.  Some of the old iron will be sold, all the plants and trash and accumulated dirt were removed so we can be ready to start moving in the building materials.

 Here's Favio breaking down some old pieces of roofing.

And the finished product in front!  All trash out, and the ground scraped clean!

Side view, rid of all the trash and (unauthorized) improvised chicken coup!

We were expecting to take several days to get this work done, but got it done in just one morning!  Many hands makes light work - what a blessings!

Missionary Arrives! Work Begins!

It has been a long time coming, but we are glad to welcome Leonardo de La Garza from Laredo, Texas to Salvador Brazil!  He arrived last Thursday morning on a flight from Miami and has been settling in - we hope to have him spend a month in a parish to immerse himself in the language.  The brothers are so grateful for all the hoops he has jumped through in order to get his visa, and the various sacrifices he has made to come here and serve.

Here are a few photos from last night's adoration in Alto:

After Adoration, we had a meeting with community leaders about starting the work on Mary Magdalene House.  We will be starting with a blessing of the house on Sunday (02/24/13), and then we will begin preparing the house for renovations on Monday (taking out trash and remnants of old furniture).  The first phase of renovations will begin in about a week - after things have been picked up and cleaned out - and will involve more technical and structural repairs.  The first phase should last about a month, and will be followed by a second phase that will include refinishing the walls, painting, and moving in furniture.  The second phase is projected to last about two months, which means we plan to be finished by the beginning of June.

We entrust this first moment of work to your prayers through the intercession of the Virgin Mary and St. Mary Magdalene!  God Bless!