Wells

The well drilling equipment is currently stored at our Khongolote church property and the team is supposed to start drilling tomorrow. It has been quite a long battle to get this work going. We start drilling at Intaka tomorrow and when that is completed, we will move the rig to Picoco and start drilling there. The first day is mostly set up and obtaining the necessary water needed to operate the equipment. This is a dream long in coming and we are so appreciative of all the wonderful people who have gotten behind this effort. We will get pictures! What is especially neat are the vacation bible schools who took this on as a project - we look forward to reporting on this and the impact these wells will have on the people and the children of Intaka and Picoco. Pray with us - the soil at Picoco has some rock and the equipment we have may not work real well. We are praying that we'll be able to slide the auger between the rocks, and right into a nice layer of fresh cool water! So, pictures to come! The picture I have uploaded is an example of the type of wells we are putting in.

Yesterday I had a flat tire - noticed it in the driveway. I pumped it back up with an emergency pump I carry and found a nail in the tire. We drove to the tire store this morning and they plugged it for me. It's quite efficient how they do it here. I parked on the sidewalk outside the tire store, they came out and jacked up the car and took the tire/wheel off. The young man then over-inflated the tire and stuck it in a big tank of water and found the nail. He then pulled the nail right out and inserted a plug without ever removing the tire from the wheel. He overinflated again and tested in the water - oops, another nail. Repeated the procedure (no more leaks!) and put it back on the car. The entire process was 15 to 20 minutes and we never had to get out of the car except to pay. It's the second repair I've had at this particular place and it rates way high on my customer satisfaction scale. I'm not surprised at the nails - we drive on dirt / sand roads more than pavement and often through trash and debris. It's a wonder we've only had this problem twice actually - and I think that is because nails are recovered and re-used vice thrown away. A used nail has value here.

We are trying to put together a plan to travel to Nampula this weekend to check on one of our pastor-trainers and visit Antonio in Macuba. The plan is to travel with Melvin and Sharon - we will probably fly as it is about as cheap with the high price of fuel and won't beat our car to death on the two-day grueling drive. We've reserved a missionary conference center area in Nampula for our annual ECC training week (January) and we want to check it out. It will be good also to see Paito, Maria Nelsa and baby Ana.

Today I was reading in devotions, John Chapter 9, about Jesus' healing of the blind man. A great story but I saw it in a different light this morning. A man, blind from birth was healed by the Incarnate God-man. He was a blind beggar, uneducated, and yet, the very creator of the universe healed him and then we watch this 'social outcast' dumb-found the 'intellectuals' and the 'religious' of the time. The healing itself is amazing, but then to watch this man's life miraculously transformed as he finds himself in the courts of the elite, proclaiming that he may not know about all their theology and their political positions, all he knows is, "I was blind and now I see". And the Pharisees call him a disciple of this man Jesus (whom he hasn't seen yet), and we watch the blind man become more and more bold as God's spirit empowers him. After what would seem to be an impossible time for this man being confronted by the elite, he is cast out into the streets again and Jesus then finds him. He recognizes Jesus' voice, sees him for the first time, and we see a beautiful revelation of who Jesus is to the man and his beautiful final response: "and he said, Lord, I believe, And he worshiped him". Indeed, the elite were blind, and the blind could see.

We are to make disciples. That is our calling, and you don't have to be wise, educated, or trained to make disciples. This blind man confounded the best of the best in that society because his faith was real, practical, and personal. And we see the same model working today as people turn their hearts towards Christ in Mozambique in record numbers - we just need to pray to the God of the harvest for workers, for the field is ripe for harvest.

Blessings to you!

Dave & Ann

"Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" He [the formerly blind man] answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, "Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee." And he said, Lord, I believe, And he worshiped him.

And Jesus said, "For judgment I am come into this world that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind."" John 9:35-39

Training Seminar

We just had a team from the US leave after a week here in Mozambique. Their function is one of accountability for our Every Community for Christ (ECC) program and they need to validate that this program is doing what we say it is and they also have a Pastor roll with our Mozambican Country Coordinator. This visit was a bit different as our ECC Pastor is retiring and brought his replacement along for orientation. We always enjoy showing new people the work here and when we went over the ECC statistics for the year and just what has happened the last few months, it took our breath away. We presented our new field plan for the next fiscal year and also discussed some of the challenges that we have. Right now we have 84 initiated churches throughout this country with the majority of them being in northern Mozambique. We continue to pray about moving north ourselves but we do need a bit more language proficiency before such a move.

One of the great things about this visit, is that the team always brings a day of training for our leadership and the leaders always look forward to it. The one photo is of Dave introducing Rev. Dave Graffenberger who is our retiring ECC Pastor and I'm afraid the introduction was with a bit of emotion as he was a great help to us last year and we hate to see him move on. The other photo is of most of the seminary participants. We did the class at our beautiful seminary and provided a meal with the seminar. It is always a thrill to have the seminary full of people learning about Biblical principles.

Today, as we worshipped at Sao Damasso, the pastor's message included the many of the versus from the training as it had so impacted the Pastor. It's a great model - training others to train others. I suspect it happened in more than one church this morning!

Thanks for standing with us!

Dave & Ann

"So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!—to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others." 2 Tim 2:2 (The Message version)

Funeral Notes

A week ago last Thursday, we had our quarterly meeting with our national advisory board. One of the members we have a more full relationship with because his son was our guard at the apartment we lived in for the first several months we were here. We became quite close to that family living beneath us, experiencing the birth of their second child within days of our arrival, the birth of a twin-sister’s child within a few weeks of that, celebrations, and just friendship with this couple that we were so fond of. After we moved, we retained the relationship with the son, and through that relationship, also went out to his father’s house (the father is the board member) several times, had meals with them, and enjoyed their family as they taught us language and culture. The father and his wife are the same age as Ann and I, so that also helped in our friendship.

On Thursday, Daniel (our friend), told us his wife was sick with Malaria. We’ve become a bit hard to this as this diabolical disease is so common - so we first find out if the people have been to the clinic, are taking their medicine, and are getting better. If those things are true, then you relax and pray for God’s healing touch. If not, you continue to pray and try to make sure the people get to the clinic. Daniel told us she had been to the hospital and was taking medicine and feeling a bit better, so we were relieved and sent our regards.

Late Sunday afternoon, Victor called us to say his mother (same age as us) had died and they needed some help with funeral expenses. We went out the next day to meet with the family and to help as we could. Both of Victor’s parents are pastors with the Wesleyan church and are quite beloved. Preparations for the funeral were underway and the funeral was scheduled for Thursday morning. We rescheduled our visiting OMS team from the states so we could go to the funeral, thanks to former OMS missionary Melvin Kelly and his wife who are here for several months helping out.

Juka advised us culturally on our responsibilities at the funeral and came with us to represent the Palvra Viva (Evangelical Church of the Living Word) churches and to translate for us (Portuguese to Shangana and visa versa).

The day of the funeral about 0900, we drove to the hospital and we formed a line with a very large bus and about four other cars. The people all met there and we somehow fit everyone in the vehicles and followed the funeral car out to the house of our dear friend. At the house, a tent of sorts had been constructed to shield from the hot sun and we gathered around the casket. I would estimate there were close to 300 or more people present in total, filling the house plot to overflowing. We sang hymns and celebrated the life of this vibrant woman who had impacted so many. There was a program and I was on it to speak on behalf of OMS International and as a friend. In this culture, you write it down and read it, presenting the written version to the family. I learned of this the night before and wrote and translated into my best Portuguese into the wee hours. On the way to the hospital in the morning, Juka proof-read it for me and helped me with some corrections. When it was my turn, I read the letter in Portuguese and Juka translated to Shangana.

During the service, many people spoke and the testimony of this lovely family was something to be celebrated and Lydia's impact on her church, her family, and the community was incredible. The speakers were all eloquent and poised, something that is very common in this oral culture. After the service, they opened the casket, which was a few feet from us, and the smell of death whiffed in our direction. The casket was made of well-painted pressed wood with a spray-painted surface and brass-colored handles and fixtures. A line formed at one person would sprinkle some Johnson and Johnson’s baby powder in the casket, another would spray some perfume – this went on for quite some time but there were so many people, that the family member in charge made them stop and the rest just walked by to show their last respects. This customary practice is related to anointing the body as mentioned in the Bible. The casket was closed and the women from her church lifted the casket and carried it on the dry, sandy, hot road to a nearby cemetery about three city blocks away. As we walked through the cemetery, there were many freshly covered graves, some obviously of children, probably also victims of malaria. The hole was ready and the family members carefully worked together to place the casket in the hole. Then, using their hands, the covered the casket and filled the hole, while the crowd watched, and finishing with the final as shown here.

I was asked to do the closing prayer at the graveside and another missionary friend translated my English into Shangana and we walked silently back to the house. We had another church service, with singing and an encouraging message, an offering for the family, and then we all ate together. We learned about Lydia’s final days, which I want to share because it paints a kind of picture that breaks our hearts. We left late in the day – driving mostly silently home, pondering the day.

Lydia had been to the hospital and was given medicine and sent home. She was also taking herbal home-treatment commonly used for malaria, and they believe the herbal medicines reacted with the malaria medicine and she threw up the first dose. That was Friday and she began to feel a bit better, and skipped the Saturday dose but by late Saturday was very sick, with high fever and chills, a full malarial attack. But, there was no transport (mini-bus or chappas) late at night and they did not get to the hospital until the next morning. In the morning they talked together but when the family went back for visiting hours that same Sunday afternoon, they learned she had passed away. This is a tragic and common story here and heart-breaking for us because we didn’t know, and we can't help but wonder if a better understanding of medicine, doses, and a phone call for help, could have possibly changed events - but we know the family well and they did the very best they could. And where is that divine line between Fatalism, providence, sovereignty, and free-will? If you ever figure it out, you’ll have to tell me – I think it falls somewhere in the ‘great mystery’ of God’s working in the world. But in any case, we know that He is sovereign and we also know full well, that Lydia is truly in a better place.

Pastor Daniel gave an inspiring talk about his wife, emphasizing that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. He emphasized also that each of us has a limited number of days and that none of us know the day or the hour, but God does; that we should live each day as if it were our last; that each person should be fully committed to serving Christ daily – for this family knows without doubt that the very Creator of the Universe knows their name. This gives great confidence in life and in death, whether here in Mozambique, in America, in any country in the world.

Just this week, we saw government workers walking along the narrow road we take to Khongolote through the town of São Damasso. We stopped and talked with them a minute and they indeed were spraying the inside of the village houses with DDT. There is great hope here that the death rate will drop by factors of 10 from this program as the mosquitoes will go to the vertical walls in the houses and then be killed, before the malaria can be spread to another person. Malaria remains the number one killer in Africa but we praise God for the progress we are seeing in a systematic combating of this horrific disease that kills so many every single day here.

Pray for this lovely and close family as they struggle through the grief and loss, and for the church that has lost their pastor.

“Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." Luke 23:42 - 43

T-3 Preschool

Just some quick pictures to share with you of the playground area for the T-3 preschool as built by a team from Ireland lead by Melvin and Sharon Kelly. They hauled all kinds of debris out of the area and installed some equipment and made a nice mural on the wall. Very fast work in a matter of days as coordinated by Melvin, who served here as a construction engineer for several years and knows all the 'ins and outs" of how to get things done.

Still no license, but we're getting closer every day! This was one of the things the government officials wanted us to do.


Dave & Ann

More on Wells; Some Sad News

This week, a three-man team arrived from OMS International to review our Every Community for Christ (ECC) work and talk with our ECC teams. It has been our joy to take them around and introduce them. Their first day here was interesting as the morning we were to go to the airport, the well-drilling people called and said 'we're passing through Maputo and need to see the locations where you want to drill water wells'. We're to go to the airport late morning for our team and wondering how we will do this. But God already had a plan and one of our national Pastors was in down and available to help us, taking the well-drillers to one location while we got the ECC folks at the airport. We later met up with them at Intaka and we have plans to drill two wells the week of the 22nd, one at Picoco and the other at Intaka. The Picoco one is a bit of a challenge because the soil is a bit rock and they took some sames to analyze at their lab to see if they think they can drill there. The rig they are using is simply a big auger and if there is much rock in the soil, you need a type of drill rig that both drills and hammers, which they don't have. So, we are praying that this is going to work out as to hire the special rig is much much more expensive.

The ECC folks who are here are OMS people who have direct responsibilities for oversight of ECC and we have enjoyed taking them around. Ann and I have reviewed all the details with them and will be discussing more with Juka and Xavier and the team tomorrow. That is also when we will receive a full report on Juka's recent trip north.

The ECC program uses a trainer, who gathers around him 12 to 15 people interested in learning more about the Bible and about planting churches. This begins a three-year discipleship program. Our goal is to have teams in all 10 provinces in Mozambique. When Juka went north, last time, he gathered all the trainers and their students and trained them on how to use the training material, and then turned them loose, thinking the trainers would work with their students. When he returned this time, many of the "church planters" (students) thought because they had been trained, they were also to gather 12 to 15 people around them and start training their students and planting churches and they did. So, what has happened in a few short months is that the trainer is now training 12 to 15 people, who are also on their own training another 12 to 15 more. Of course it isn't 100%, but the number of groups that are studying the Bible and church planting materials has grown beyond our wildest imagination. So, we will be talking more about his tomorrow. So instead of five guys with 12 to 15 people, we have potential for something like 5 times 12 times 12 kind of numbers - it is staggering - and only possible because it is God who is doing this and it is a kind of revival sweeping the land in the north. At the same time, it truly emphasizes the need for more of a teaching presence in the north to work with all these new believers and churches. The harvest is ripe but the workers are few.

We're working on improvements to the administration to get our arms better around the numbers of people involved in our ECC program, which would sound easy but in a land where the communication is all by cell phone, computers are rare, gathering the information can be a challenge. We're on it, however!

We went back out to Picoco this morning and one of our visiting Pastors brought the message, which is always appreciated here. We used our friend Timoteo as a translator and he did his normal great job. Afterwards, the church was dividing up some badly needed clothing that we had brought up to the church last week, clothing gathered from a Youth for Christ drive. The church had many new visitors and it is clearly growing. The Pastor has nearly 25 people he is disciplining right now using our church planting materials. Exciting times every day.

On a much sadder note, we receive word that one of our National Adviser's wife died today from Malaria. Of our four advisers, he is probably the one we have seen the most of outside of quarterly meetings, having been to his house a number of times and having seen him in other settings as well. In fact, we feel quite close to him in a way that is hard to explain - a kind of heart to heart link that happens with some of the people in your life. In our meeting a few days ago he advised us that his wife was sick but she was taking medicine so you kind of assume that everything is well and she will recover - but Malaria is a serious disease and sometimes it doesn't go that way, as in this case. A bright, faithful, and vibrant lady taken to be with the Lord.....So we are grieving today and tomorrow we will visit with the family and are seeking advise from other friends on what our roll should be culturally. We are also very good friends with one of his sons and his wife, who helped us when we first arrived in Mozambique and who we have remained close to. Very tough and a wake up call - take precautions, spray the house regularly, use repellents. Malaria is a horrible, insidious, diabolical, and deadly disease that is the number one killer here.

"And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted...."" Mark 5:1-3

Picoco Sunday

We're having a bit of trouble getting photos to upload to our blog - mainly because our Internet speed is just too slow here to accommodate photos very well.  So, unfortunately until we figure it out, we will not be able to post photographs for a while.

Sunday we went out to Picoco for church and did a short video clip that will be used in a DVD being prepared for use at the OMS Northeast Conference.  We only did one-take, which is a concern as in other video's I've done, it always takes many many clips.  I hope it turns out ok - I didn't say all I wanted to say but when you only have 30 seconds to a minute, what can you really say anyway!  We love going to this church which is so full of joy.  This people are very very poor in this area but they worship with a joy that can only come from knowing God.  

Church was great and we had a small time to share with this new congregation and enjoyed introducing Larry and Susan who came along to get the video footage and see where this church was located.   We especially enjoyed two wonderful songs performed by all the children.

When they announced in church that we expected to start drilling a well on September 22, there was a great cheer that w

ent out and the older ladies did their clicking sounds that are common here as a show of appreciation.  It was quite moving and it will make a big impact on life at the church and in the community.

On Monday, we helped Pastor Nelio and his wife move to a small house relatively near the church that will eliminate his three-hour one-way commute that he has been making faithfully for many months now as he has developed this small church and started his training program.  His new house is very very near a large mosque and we pray that this does not prove to be a problem for him.   We also took out quite a bit of clothing that had been gathered by Youth for Christ workers and Nelio will distribute them among the church. 

What a thrill to make a little bit more progress for the Kingdom.   Juka called us yesterday and was overflowing with joy about the work in the north and we look forward to his report.  He returns Friday and our ECC leadership team from the States arrives Saturday as our ECC shepherd turns over his responsibilities to our new ECC shepherd.  It will be a busy week but it is always a pleasure to show off the amazing things God is doing here.

Lastly, we are really being challenged with electrical problems here.  First the power is on and off all the time, enough we had to discard food because of loss of refrigeration.  And when we take a shower, we've had a small tingle from the faucets, which we recently replaced. When the water is flowing, you get a small shock.  We have checked our house and the water heaters and nothing seems to be wrong with them.  However, last night, I got more than a slight jolt in the shower, just a down-right hard shock.  I had to turn the water off with insulated pliers.  Now, I think most of you know that water and electricity don't mix.  I searched around this compound we live on and found a place where an electrical ground rod and been stolen and the ground wire was just hanging.  I fixed this, but got a very strong current going to ground, which doesn't seem right either.  So, we continue to chase this electrical problem but unfortunately, finding a good electrician who really understands is quite a challenge.   So, we will see what tonight's shower brings - one of our African friends had the solution - of course, you simply get some rubber insulated sandals to wear in the shower - that will allow you to live with it - I don't think so!  The photo is of the deadly shower complete with water stains (it is clean, it really is!).  (Late edition - the ground wire fix seemed to resolve the problem! or at least for the past couple of days - I made a late change to add photos!)

Thank you for standing with us!

Dave & Ann

Wells

Great news today - the well drilling folks have given us dates - we will be drilling wells at Picoco and Intaka the weeks of September 22 - 24. We've been delayed for different reasons, such as equipment problems, and so we are getting closer. We are very excited to get these projects going and look forward to seeing what God will do through this project so generously supported by so many of our friends. Thank you! Sorry for the delay, but things just don't always move as fast as we would like here. Every day we have to take a deep breath and say 'we aren't in Kansas any more!' (for your Wizard of Oz fans) as things move differently - not better, or worse, just differently but almost always slowly.

One of our new church planters has run into some governmental bureaucracy problems. We gave him a letter documenting that he was one of our OMS folks and that we were registered with the government. The officials in this new province did not accept this standard letter that has always worked before and want certified copies of all our registration paperwork. We will be sending it up with the family member of one of our church folks who is visiting this weekend (which is a holiday weekend in Mozambique). So, pray for Jose Carlos as he is getting a little bit of push-back from the local officials as he initiates a bible study. This is a 'first' for us and we think it is probably just a particular local official but there will be more to come. Pray with us as this government things can sometimes be quite a challenge, as we found with the T-3 preschool.

The Irish team has come and gone and they built an amazing playground area, complete with a mural at our T-3 church as we continue to work towards re-opening our pre-school. Many from the church turned out to help the team prepare the area, move debris, paint the mural, and install the playground equipment. Even neighborhood people not associated with the church came to help because it was great fun for everyone. We praise God for this wonderful team (called the 'heart-beat team') who came prepared and simply implemented, doing drama, bible teaching, children's ministries, and playground construction. Thank you Lord.

Tonight the wind is just howling and the dust is everywhere - coming into the house through every crack in the doors, windows - I just pray our church people with reed homes can weather this terrible wind storm. One of our leaders came to the house tonight for a meeting with us and told us this was characteristic of wind before a big rain - so we will see. It is very hot some rain would truly be a blessing as it is so very dry. We just today finished repairing some holes in our roof, so a big rain will provide a good 'leak-check'. There has been so much wind and incredible amounts of dust and debris in the air - I checked the air filter on the car and it was way plugged and I hadn't changed it all that long ago. The new filter was about $75.00 USD - that will get your attention but we have to have them. This new one I bought is one I can supposedly wash off and re-use up to three times - what a clever idea! Many people install these snorkel assemblies that pull air from way high about the level of your roof to help reduce the dust intake - it is something I am thinking about because so much of our time is spent on dirt roads. It also helps when you are fording deep streams but if I'm in that deep - something isn't right, now is it! Like Ann would say - it is a car, not a boat!

Yesterday we made a quick run to Nelspruit, South Africa to check our mail drop and purchase some supplies we can't get here. I got a couple more tools as I build my inventory (and I use them often!) so we can keep things going. This has been made possible by a very generous gift from some Sunday Schools at our home church and what a blessing where you have to really use ingenuity sometimes to fix things - but I learned from my nuclear power days, you can fix most anything with tuck tape and plastic! Now, if I could just find that nuclear-grade tape...The border crossing was quite pleasant for the second time in a row as the two countries work to make the process a little more efficient. I always offer the Customs inspectors a coke, as we usually pick up a load of groceries while we are in South Africa. They always enjoy that and it provides an opportunity to talk with them - some of them are starting to remember us for this small act of kindness. It is a way to open a door.

We had a long conversation with a young man today whom we care deeply about. Without going into the very long story, he had been offended by a decision we had to make last year that he did not agree with. The long and the short of it is that what offended him most was that we just didn't spend enough time in relationship with him during that time. It is so important in this culture to just spend time. As we drive back home at night, we see lots and lots of people moving about - and what they are doing is visiting the people they know as it is the networks that people build through relationships that keep things working here. Tremendous networks that people spend incredible amounts of time developing. That is a lot different than the Western "get it done, now" approach we know so well where the relationship is often the last thing that is considered. Our visit by a National leader tonight was just that - building relationships. We continue to learn as God teaches us every day. It is only through Him that we can do anything here - may He alone receive the glory.

Dave & Ann

"And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world." John 12:47

New Church Planting Team

This morning I got up very early to take one of our new church planters to the bus stop.  Over the weekend we had helped three of our new church planters to transport their needed supplies from the city to Khongolote in preparation for the journey north.   So I'm up at 4 am this morning and driving in the dark to Khongolote to get Basilio and take him to the bus-stop, which amounts to a rotunda area with buses crammed in everywhere, each bus an independent operator, and what would appear to be mass pandemonium.  But we've learned the system and we drove into the chaos and found the right bus, unloaded the material, negotiated the tickets, and loaded the bus, and I was home by 645.  Not bad - we will probably be doing it again tomorrow or the next day as we have another fellow going north but he needs to resolve a banking problem today (his new ATM card isn't working and that is how we get money to him in the north).  

So, exciting times for us as we send one more team out to reach the country for Christ.  As we drove in, he told me about the special commissioning service for him Sunday at Khongolote - his sending church.  He is their missionary (like so many of our church planters that seem to come out of this vibrant church), going north to start a new work in the Gaza province.   Basilio is one of the guys I've always had a hard time understanding and he me, but we're getting used to each other and this morning did pretty well.  I would prefer that I adjust to them vice the other way around, but I organize the sentences differently still - I spent some time Saturday helping another missionary from the States with some electrical issues, and found him a good electrician.  He speaks Portuguese quite well and I understood him perfectly and so did the Electrician.  But then he explained to me that the reason I understood him was that most Western folks who learn Portuguese, organize their sentences the same way because Portuguese is not their heart language - and that is a lot of the understanding.    For example instead of saying:

The water pump is not working and we think it is because their is a short to ground, we would need to say something like: "the pump of water is not to work and we think because ground of short to exist".  Or something like that....

I didn't take pictures at the bus stop and probably should have, but it was quite crowded where we were and I was a bit reluctant to whip the camera out in that setting - wouldn't want my camera to 'run away' into the crowd.  

Dave

Update on CAM School Upgrades

Just a short note - last week we had an inspection of the security upgrades at our Christian School.  We've been doing security upgrades under a US Embassy re-imburseable program.  Ann and I had prepared the bid package for this last year and the proposal was approved while we were back in the States at the OMS conference.  I felt bad because although I had done the pre-work, cost-estimates, etc., I dumped the actual work on another missionary as we were Stateside when all of this needed to be started.  

The work has gone very well and the Embassy personnel were very pleased with how far we had stretched the dollars and with the quality of the work (our friend Belarmino did most of the work).  The Embassy folks had a few additional things they thought we should do since we are a tad under budget, but those are small things that should be completed in the next week or two.  The changes aren't real obvious but they are important - a film on the windows to prevent glass from flying around in the event of an explosion near the school, an improved fence that is more difficult to cross, video cameras to monitor the perimeter, improved locks and gates, an intercom system, and immediate communication with the Embassy.  Good things that we praise God we were able to take advantage of for the benefit of our students and staff.

This picture is during the inspection in the parking area / basketball area adjacent to the building.   

Blessings this day.

Dave & Ann