These guys are GOOD!

Currently there are 10 boys that are in the carpentry phase of the school and 4 of the boys have been with us for just shy of a year; and let me say, they are good at the skills they have mastered, thus far, in carpentry.

We've been talking to them about quality throughout the year.  Quality is what is going to set them apart from the other carpenters in this community.   We talk to them about taking pride in a job well done.  We talk to them about working for the Lord and not for man.

A person can walk up and down neighborhoods in Leon and find small carpenter shops, several in one block.  But so many of them have one thing in common, cut up some wet wood,  throw it together with some nails and hope to sell it for the price of dinner.

We've had other boys leave the class after several months with what they consider enough skills to become a "carpenter".  They will do better than the scenerio I described in the previous paragraph because we have taught them methods that will help them to do better.  However, their mindset still is: lets build it, get it done and sell it.   But, they did not have the desire to develop into the class of craftsman that our current boys are becoming.

The 4 boys are perfecting their skills.  They will be the first to point out that something did not fit together as it should and want to make adjustments in order to make it right.  We see in them the desire to put quality into their work.   Just yesterday, I (Sandra) was in the shop looking over their work and inspected a drawer box.  All the seams were perfectly smooth and the edges aligned.  I thought it was completed.  One of the boys picked it up after I inspected it and proceeded to nail the bottom. As I said, I thought it was complete because the bottom fit into the frame so tight that no matter how many times I turned it over and inspected the box, nothing moved.  The drawer bottom fit that precisely into its frame.

As I voiced my excitement and approval over their workmanship, it was apparent that they were happy to be complimented for their work. They love to be praised, their smiles get bigger and their eyes sparkle.

In the 4 boys, we see Michael as a true craftsman, Israel with leadership qualities along with his skills, Noel works hard at any task put before him and Pablito, well, he is showing up every day.  Pablito is too young to know what he might want to do with his life, but in the mean time he says he is learning something useful.  

I've described to you the practical side of what they are learning.  Let's not overlook what God is teaching them and working in them.  They are learning about God's love for them and His faithfulness to heal.  They are learning to be tolerant of one another.  They are learning to be committed to what they have started. They are learning that they are valuable and have something to offer life through their skills.  They are learning that they have a destiny.  They are learning to trust. They are learning that they are deeply loved for who they are.