update

The Family Place is becoming a very noisy place these days. The air conditioners are being installed and because of the thick, old stone walls, it is proving to be quite a challenge! Take a look at that drill bit; it took hours to get through the wall with that thing.
The noise from the mega drill is deafening and it vibrates the whole building. As I have mentioned, our building is very old so replacing missing tiles is proving to be a challenge also. We were sent to a huge tile factory where we were told we might find some of the old patterns. We dug through 1000's of tiles and came up with something that matches slightly. Since we do not own the building (YET) we don't want to tear out all the old tiles and put in new. The owner told us today that the fireplace in our cafe is close to 200 years old. How cool is that? Darrell has a project a minute and he works long hours over at the building. The fact is that he cannot leave the workers there alone so he has to be there anyways. Today, at one point, we had 2 foreigners meeting with their language helper in our office, 3 painters, 2 electricians, our business partner, the landlord and Darrell and me all at the center at the same time. It's fun to see activity around and know that things are slowly getting knocked off the list. When our US teams arrive we will really see some huge leaps forward. Can't wait!!

moving right along...

The outside of our building is totally painted and looks so much better! When we get all the iron painted black and our sign up on top, it's going to be a sharp-looking building. The method of scaffolding is a bit scary & watching these guys come down the sides of the building on this plank was heart-stopping! Everything is old and rusty; look what Darrell found when he took the guts out of this water heater. The piles of wood are waiting for our first team that will arrive in about 10 days. So exciting to see things starting to take shape slowly.

A loooong trip, well worth it!

Left my house at 6AM to pick up 3 other young women and head south for a 2-day follow-up trip. I have so much on my plate these days that I really was dreading this long trip but I knew that God probably had something amazing in store for us and sure enough, he did. The first day I drove 700 km. stopping only one time to go to the bathroom and get a drink. My poor back was screaming for mercy by the end of the day! We arrived in a southern city where our first contact was. A woman and her family who had fled the atrocities of the neighboring country to find refuge here. They had lost all of their possessions back home, everything looted and destroyed. But her husband, having worked in Dubai for many years, was able to get out his life savings before the banks collapsed. Before leaving her home, a friend said to her “when you get there, try to find a certain Christian channel on TV and I’m sure your life will be changed”. She found it and watched it with her 2 girls (8 & 13). There was a number to call if you wanted to know more about Jesus. She called the number and our visit was the result of that call. She told her husband that she had called and he said “no one ever answers those calls. The Mus. Sheikhs don’t answer you; you think the Christians will??” The woman and her husband came and met us at a certain point and lead us back to their place. Both sat riveted as we explained the gospel from beginning to end. When one of the women asked her what she knew about Christianity she said “I know nothing. That’s why I called you. I want to know everything and I want to follow in that way.” The great thing is that her husband sat there the whole time listening to everything also. At one point the couple went upstairs to get something and later the woman told us that she had told her husband that she was ready to follow this way and wanted to pray for salvation. He said “please wait and let’s read the Bible together and learn more and then we’ll both make this decision.” After we explained what they had to do to believe in Jesus, the woman asked “ok, we pray and ask him into our lives and then what comes next?” She was absolutely starved and her heart totally prepared for this encounter. It was amazing and so exciting to watch. She later told us that there are many in her country who would love to make a decision like this. They hate their religion and know that Jesus is the true way. She wanted to make the decision right then but said out of respect for her husband she would wait. We told her she did not need us there to make the decision but should call on the phone and tell us when she does. She later texted one of the girls and said “be waiting for my call tonight or tomorrow”. She said, “after I believe and I get baptized, then how can I grow and learn everything there is to know? They are actually thinking seriously of moving up to the capital and that would afford a great opportunity for them to be discipled well in the early days of their faith. At one point the man went out and brought in food and we sat and ate lunch with them and continued our conversation. The 2 girls joined the conversation at one point and were very engaged and interested. The mother said they have been watching the Christian TV channel and begging her for the family to change their religion. I am sure that the entire family will come to faith in the coming days and that they will be a catalyst to bring many more of their fellow countrymen to faith in Christ. We left them with 2 Bibles, a commentary & several DVD’s. They couldn’t wait to start watching them and I am quite sure they will be devouring the Bible in these coming days. I’ve never seen anyone so hungry and so ready. Who knows the prayers that were lifted up on behalf of these people; maybe we will know one day when we get to heaven!

Sunday Train Ride

We decided to take the train today and go down to a city 2 hours south of here and attend the church service. Just when we think this country is so advanced & runs so well, we are reminded of just how third world it really is. We bought first class tickets and found two empty seats. We took off right on time which was impressive. Immediately we started hearing loud clanking noises and every time we stopped and started again, the same noises were deafening. We could hear water running somewhere and discovered it was coming from the ceiling. (they told us the air conditioner pipes were clogged?) Our feet were soon in an inch of water as the river ran all over the floor of the train. The windows would not open and the shades were all broken and filthy dirty. I could not believe this was actually first class! The seats were broken in a reclined position so we were lying way back the whole way. Quite an experience, it was. Wouldn't you know, a couple hours later when we got on the train to head back home, we got on the exact same train and repeated the whole process over again. I think we might drive next time:)

slowly but surely

My dear husband insists that he can't do what he used to do and is slowing down a bit. I cannot see any difference in what he used to do and what he's doing these days but perhaps the aches and pains are greater when he comes home in the evening. He is chiseling away at the small jobs that are too numerous to count and getting things ready for our 3 short-term teams that will be coming this fall. We have a wonderful local guy doing all the outside patching of walls and painting and things are going to start looking a lot better at the Family Place real soon. Here are a few photos showing some of the work going on right now; ripping old, rusted water pipes off the side of the building and installing new plumbing in the kitchen. (yes, that's Darrell lying on his back under the sink) The building has the first coat of paint on it and two more to go!

miserable

Saturday afternoon we took the Metro downtown as usual to attend the ch*ch service. It is always crowded but even more so now in the heat. I wore a long-sleeve shirt and high heels because the walk from the train to ch*ch is very short. Afterward, we shoved our way through the mobs to get back on the Metro to head home. Halfway home, the train started to slow way down and came to a screeching halt. The guy came over the loud speaker and informed us that the electricity that powers the train had been cut and everyone should get off and take a bus or walk. The buses were beyond crowded and every taxi was full and/or racing to get home for the evening meal. We had at least 1/2 hour to walk home but didn't have much choice. The sun was blazing hot and the sweat drenching us. My high heels began to give me serious blisters on my feet and I knew there was no way I could make it home. Darrell was desperately trying to flag a taxi but they all went whizzing by. Finally, a dear old man stopped and took me the rest of the way home. I was never so thankful for a ride! Just one of those miserable experiences that you're so happy you can talk about in the past! That evening we thought we'd take a ride out to see an area of town we hadn't seen before. Wouldn't you know, our car was as dead as could be when we went to get in it. We waited until the next day and a guy came and helped Darrell go buy a new battery. Good thing that happened before the Ramadan holiday because everything is now closed for the rest of the week.

Ramadan is over!

This is the last night of Ramadan and I will be so happy when life gets back to normal. Nothing works like it's supposed to during this month of fasting from sunrise to sunset. People sleep most of the day (or sit in a cool place and try not to move too much)and eat and party into the wee hours of the morning. Most nights we go to sleep to the sound of drums & loud music all around us. Everything is backwards and upside down. The stores are jammed with crowds of people buying an overabundance of food. Everyone is on nerve's edge and a brawl will break out at the smallest disagreement. The bad breath is what really gets me; I was told that people are proud to have bad breath because it tells everyone around that they're fasting. Yuck! The driving is treacherous. One takes his life into his hands going out during this month. Everyone is in a hurry to get to where they're going & the patience level is very low. For us that are not participating in the fast, we take advantage of the hour when everyone is eating and venture out to do our shopping then. The stores are completely empty and we have the isles to ourselves. There have been workers coming to the Family Place to "work" everyday but their energy level is sadly lacking and we're getting about 2 hours of work out of their 8 hour day I'm afraid. They choose to work only in the shady spots which I can't totally blame them for; after all it is 100+ degrees in the sun and no water allowed. I love it when they try and convince me that this is the best month of the year and they hate to see it end. They could sure fool me with their pained faces and lethargic shuffle. Doesn't look like a lot of fun to me! Well, it's over for another year & I for one couldn't be happier. I'm also so happy that it is not my suffering or giving up things that gains me access into heaven!