At the end of January, we purchased a new refrigerator for the kitchen. The old one was running constantly, and not keeping the food cold enough overnight when the solar power to the unit was off. The new one is larger, with the freezer on the bottom. It is very efficient and keeps the food cold all night, even the ice cubes stay frozen!
When we arrived here in December, seven of the windows had been replaced in the house. Now, we started working on replacing the remaining five windows. The original windows were wood frame double hung from the US. The termites thought they were very tasty. We had used very good paint on the trim and in some cases, the paint was the only thing left holding the windows in place! One of those windows was in the guest room. Since the new windows were slightly larger the cement block had to be cut with a saw to enlarge the opening. Then the vinyl window is screwed into place, then it must be cemented in, with the final coat of cement creating the window sill and making the walls up to the window smooth again. So there is no wood involved with the windows. After this was finished we needed to clean up the dirt and debris, and the room received a new coat of paint. Then clean sheets on the beds for our soon-to-come guests.
As of February 14th, Wifi service was installed here at the mission house. This has made communication so much easier. Andy was able to attend the CMTS board meeting via our laptop! This is great.
Our good friends Ron and Cindy Johnson from New Jersey arrived on the 15th for a two-week visit. Ron’s big job was to demolish and reconstruct the kitchen cabinets, which had been destroyed several years earlier by termites while we were in the USA. He had to work with the pieces that were still good and some other cabinet pieces we had stored plus some new wood. He also installed a granite countertop. The last cabinet door was hung on Saturday the 26th late in the afternoon. We still need to seal the lower doors but it looks beautiful and the new pull-out drawers are very handy. The best use of reclaimed wood I have ever seen! Cindy helped me empty the kitchen, prepare meals in the makeshift kitchen on the back porch, polyurethaned cabinets, and provided great moral support for me. On their last day here, Ron rebuilt our master bath vanity (also a victim of the termites) and finished the new ceramic tile at the kitchen window.
Right before the Johnsons arrived, Andy started having pain in his stomach and intestinal system. I wanted him to go to the clinic but he wanted to help Ron. Finally, a week later, the pain became so bad that he could not function so I took him to the clinic. He was diagnosed with amoebic dysentery and put on some very strong and expensive medications. After two days in bed, he finally started to feel better and was back to work again. On Friday, we received a message that Wilfred Skillings, from Canada, was planning to arrive the next day by airplane. Wilf has been with us on many mission trips; he is a super trucker, a great mechanic, and he has a servant’s heart for the Lord. He usually drives down. That meant we needed to prepare the second guest room which has two sets of bunk beds. That room had two new windows so there was twice as much dirt and it badly needed to be painted. Ron painted around the ceiling edge Friday night. Saturday morning, Andy painted the walls and I did the edging on the tile floor. We were done by noon. After lunch, the men moved the furniture back in place, then Andy left for the airport in Belize City. Cindy and I cleaned the room and made the bed!
So Ron and Cindy wrapped up their projects and prepared to return to the USA on March 1st. We were sad to see them go. Meanwhile, Wilfred was getting settled in. He has been busy working in the shop on lots of different pieces of equipment. It seems like everything either needs servicing or some kind of repair. We have several things up for sale including two buses and a delivery truck. Please pray that we will sell something soon. The funds will be used to keep the project going. There are 10 Haitian students who are seeking to come here for a three-month internship over the summer. They are working on their visas and raising funds to travel here. We are trying to prepare the facilities to accommodate that many students at a time. We greatly appreciate your prayers on our behalf.
Blessings, Nancy
