Where to Begin

Wow so much has happened since I last posted here. Sorry it has taken me so long. It has been a very busy couple of months.

My girlfriend Bethany and her two brothers David and Will arrived on June 2nd. I had a few small projects to finish before they arrived, this wash tub and clothes line being one. It is on the back of the Admin building for those who live there to have a place to do laundry. For the last few years we had only one tub for about 17 people to do their laundry in so it was very well used as you can imagine. This is the third wash tub that I built.

I had a not-so-pleasant experience of being in a motorcycle accident with a man on a bicycle in the first part of May. I praise the Lord that neither he nor I sustained any serious injuries from the accident. You can see the after picture of his bike below. I was able to buy the man a new bike and get things all sorted out with him and his family. I praise the Lord that it didn't have to go to court, which is the normal procedure for this kind of case.

There was much rejoicing on June 2nd when Bethany, David and Will arrived. It is always nice to have friends visit and of course extra special when my girlfriend visited. This was the first time for three people to live together in my round house. I enjoyed having David and Will stay with me and to get to know them better as inevitably happens when living in such close quarters.

I am so thankful Bethany got to come and see where I have been for the last couple years and what I have been doing here. I had hoped for quite a while that she would be able to come and it was a dream come true when she actually arrived. She was such a help for us as we were working she would often prepare meals and keep us supplied with drinks and also helped us with the work too. She loved the times she spent with Matilde, Aurora and Angelina, although it was hard for her not being able to speak their language. Her organizational skills were put to good use in my house, which needed some help :) She was always willing to help out in any area needed.

David and Will were such a help with the construction of another round house which will be part of the future visitors center.

Here they are pouring the footings.

Will has experience in plumbing so we gladly left that part up to him.

Will painting rebar which will be used for burglar restraint bars in the windows.

David drilling holes in the window frames for the bars.

Here I am going in circles around and around the house laying bricks.

A view of the inside of the house through a window.

It was hard to get work done having to pose for pictures. It wasn't that many really, but thanks Bethany for being our photographer and videographer. Well, thanks for most of the pictures anyways :)

To give you an idea of the lay out inside: three quarters of the house will be living/sleeping quarters for eight people. The last quarter is the bathroom. This pictures shows the bathroom lay out: shower stall, counter area, and then toilet stall.

Getting up there.

Will and I starting the roof framing.

Unfortunately we weren't able to get the house finished before we left, but this is what we did get done in two weeks.

We got to go to the lake twice during the time they were here. This picture is of one of the villages that we drive through on the way to the lake.

I have seen monkeys a few times while driving to the Lake but this time we saw about 20-30 of them. They were hard to get pictures of, but if you look closely you can see one in the tree.

People often have gardens that are quite far from their villages so they build these little huts by their gardens that they live in for about a week at a time.

Mud bricks made by hand drying in the sun. Most huts in the villages are made of these.

One of the bridges we cross on the way to the lake. That will make you pray.

David, myself, Bethany and Will sitting in a Baobab tree at the lake.

Me and you know who.

Have you ever seen a bundle of grass walking down the beach? Well we did:)

Those two people seemed to be together quite bit.

There is a hippo that lives there at the beach and he kept a good eye on us as we also did on him.

Most common way of transporting things in Mozambique. Now that's using their head for more then a hat rack.

Pictures don't do justice to sunsets, but here is a taste of one.

And another.

Bethany and I ready to go for an 80km ride out to visit some missionaries in a rural village.

Ok, so that kind of gets you caught up on my last couple of months in Mozambique. David and Will flew back to the states on June 16th, and Bethany and I flew back on the 22nd. I am now staying with Bethany's parents in South Carolina. I am planning on being here till the beginning of August. Bethany and I have been dating for a year and a half and we have spent relatively little time together during that time so this is a good opportunity for us to be involved a little more in each others "normal" lives. We would appreciate your prayers as we continue to seek the Lord's direction for us.

I do not currently have any plans to return to Mozambique. I am so thankful for the total of about two years that I had to serve in Mozambique, for the many things God taught me during that time, and the wonderful people I served along side. My desire is to continue to serve the Lord in overseas missions, but I am waiting on the Lord's direction as to where and when.

During my month and a half or so in Ontario, if you would like to get together and hear more of what God is doing in Mozambique and see more pictures, please let me know so that I can plan that into my time there. Lord willing I will be returning to SC in September.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support while in Mozambique. Please continue to pray for the work and those who continue to faithfully serve the Lord there.

Kitchen Finished

Praise the Lord it has been an amazingly productive week. I am so thankful for the gifts and abilities God has given to me and I am very thankful to be able to use them here.

These are flat panel cabinet doors meaning a solid wood frame and a plywood panel in the centre. I don't have as many power tools here as I have had working on some kitchens but I have been very thankful for the circular saw, drill and sander that I do have. A table saw, router and compound miter saw would have been nice but aren't necessary I guess.

Complete with Lazy Susan in the corner cabinet.

It went from this....

To this and sat for a year and a half.

Before it finally looked like this.

James and I spent the last two days working on the school. Thursday morning we laid the 2,837th block which was our final one. We didn't have a party but I felt we should have. We then started working on the roof structure. In a day and a half we had it finished. We are so thankful for the way the Lord helps us to accomplish things and keeps us safe as we do them. I know the Lord gave me help in ordering materials for this roof, because we had exactly the right amount of boards needed and only six nails left over. I could have done that. Thank You Lord.

The Curb side view.

A view of the school from the water tower.

I think this is about as much as I am going to get finished on the school. I only have five weeks left here in Mozambique. This coming week I will be building a small guard house. Then the following week getting materials for a couple of round houses ready and try to get the foundations prepared. Lord willing June second my girlfriend Bethany and her two brothers Will and David arrive as well as a work team of 6 or 7 people. My last three weeks here are going to be very busy but hopefully quite productive as well. We hope to build two round houses during that time that will be for a visitors centre.

The School Moves Along

I figured it was time to show that we are still working on the school. This week we made some good progress since we finished pouring the ring beam last week.

My first ever attempt at making trusses. By Tuesday afternoon James and I had the three of them up and they seem like they just might work. lol

It was nice to see that all the peaks lined up. Hopefully will make for a nice straight roof line in the end.

The two smaller trusses have a 7.6 meter span and the one across the corners is almost 11 meters. We built them on top of the wall rather then trying to lift them up already made. That made it possible for the two of us to be able to do it by ourselves.

The wood is black because we have painted it with used engine oil to protect it from Termites.

I thought I should get one picture in here to make it look like I am doing some work on the school and that I am not just the photographer. I am sure some of you were wondering:)

A couple gables up to match the roof line of the trusses.

There will be a veranda all the way across the front of the school. The roof won't stick out as far as the truss tails but I just left them long and will cut them all in the end to have about a 50cm over hang.

We have a very nice view to enjoy as well as we are up work on the roof.

We have laid 2,757 blocks and we only have 80 more to go. Yippe We have one more course of blocks to lay across this end wall and across the back wall.

In one week we went from looking like this minus the truss.

To looking like this. Thank You Lord.

I will be switching hats for the next week or two from a mason to a carpenter. Since making part of the kitchen in the Admin building about a year and a half ago I have been trying to find wood to make the cupboard doors. This week I finally have some and Praise the Lord it is already quite dry. It is hard to find good wood and nearly impossible to find dry wood ready to use. Thankfully all things are possible with God.

This is the kitchen I will be finishing Lord willing in the next two weeks.

Drying out in LIchinga.

Things here in Lichinga are very good. We are starting to see signs that the rainy season is almost over. We went for two weeks without rain but got a pretty good down pour Saturday. Normally by the time we are into April we don't see much more rain. It is amazing to see how much everything can grow in a few short months with rain. The grass all around our property is over six feet tall and will grow another foot or so before it is finished. Everything will remain green now for another month and a half before it starts showing sign of lack of rain as we enter the dry season which will go till October or November. Six to seven months with zero rain, it gets dry alright.

A typical Portuguese fried chicken meal, at a local restaurant.

The week before last I made a couple of beds. This one is for Howard you may remember me talking about him. In February of last year my friend Rudy and I helped a few others put a new grass roof on his house. He is a quadriplegic, so we try to help him out in different ways that we can. His old bed was made from bamboo and is was quite broken and his "mattress" was sacks sewn together and filled with grass. The grass was rotting and the rats were taking up residents in it.

Many of the village children crowded at Howard's "gate" to watch us put his bed together and put it into his house.

Peering through the gate.

His new bed, now with a foam mattress and all made and ready to be slept in.

We have been blessed with some more finances to continue with the school construction. All the walls are up to the tops of the windows and doors and all the steel reinforcement bars for the concrete beam are placed on top of the wall.

I am so blessed to have James to work with. He and I make a great team.

The forms all ready to pour the concrete ring beam.

Pouring the ring beam.