We have now reached the end of week 2 in Life FOCUS XV. This means that we are very close to coming to the end of all the intense work we have been doing. We have learned so much about diligence, thoroughness, contentment, and selflessness. Here are a few things we did:

Organizing Furniture. With lots of remodeling going on here at South Campus, there has been (almost literally) tons of furniture to move. The longest anyone has been on this job is Victor, who has been on it for four full, consecutive days. The stuff is moved from one building to the third floor or basement of a second building. Thus basically everything from the four floors of the first building has to be hauled up or down some steps. Too bad the elevator isn’t working!

Destroying a Beaver Dam. While most of the guys were inside, a few of us went down to a small beaver dam. Our mission was to clear it out as quickly as possible. It had vanished and water was flowing freely through in a few hours.

Uncovering Drain Pipes. Now this was interesting. The pipes that we were commissioned to find were so old that a 10 foot tall tree was growing on top of them. Well, the tree came down and the dirt went up. We finally found the pipes almost 8 feet down after working with pick and shovel for days. 

Moving Sand. Having cleared away all the weeds from the sewage pit, we now had to refill it with sand. Because the sand could not be dumped anywhere close by in the first place, we had to make the extra effort of filling buckets and carrying them to the pit. It was hard work!

Pulling up Railroad Tracks. This was the hardest so far because it was the longest outdoor job. Once used for a large, model train, the track was no longer needed and had to be taken out. The trusses were disconnected, the rails disassembled, and finally the loose dirt and gravel hauled away with wheel borrows. The work was worth it because the lawn looked much better once it was gone. 

Organizing Mattresses. This was the easiest job but I couldn’t leave it out because it was so much fun. In the attic are stored all the mattresses used around the place and over time they had become disorganized. It was hard not to make any soft choices J

Replacing a Roof. One more project we have mainly focused on for the second week was replacing the old roof of one of the campus buildings. After raining, it was a rather dirty job, but that didn’t make any difference in the pace of work. The layers of gravel, tar, and fiberglass insulation all had to be removed.