We thought you might enjoy seeing the most recent photos of the Training Center in Mocuba. We still don't have the windows installed but they are very very close. The center will be used for a 10-day conference starting the first week of August, so the pressure is on to finish everything.
In this first photo, you see the training center on the right, with the small temporary structure used to house tools
and materials during construction, and the house in the back where people will be able to stay. The other photos are from different views.
W
e are very pleased to have this work completed. It gives us a great focal point for the church and we look forward to continuing the vision to eventually move on to the second phase as we build our residential seminary extension site. In this photo, you see Pastor Antonio walking across the ground. The major north - south road in Mozambique is just this side of the trees you see in the distance.
God has blessed this work and answered your
prayers - no injuries, no major problems. We still don't have water and need to resolve that before expanding further. We do have a good well within walking distance so the water can be hauled to the facility for use, which is consistent with the local culture. You can see some of the nearby house roofs (grass) in the distance.
In this last photo, you see my close Mozambican friend and colleague, Juka, fixing the fence with a nice shot of the center behind him before adding doors and finishing the outside with a skim coat of cement. What is so
cool is that we can continue to communicate by text messaging and email while we are stateside! It is a far cry from the days of sailing ships and letters!
The formatting of this post is a bit off for some reason and I can't seem to fix it. Sorry about that!
We are stateside as of last Friday. Our plans for vehicle and temporary storage of our shipment fell through, forcing us to purchase a used vehicle. It is a story itself of God's provision as I was praying about what can we do and I picked up the paper, randomly opened it and an ad caught my eye, which led to a dealer, and some wonderful men who helped us work through the details. You should try it sometime - buy a car with an out-of-state drivers license, no permanent address, working overseas with an 'employer' in another state, and what stateside address we have (our daughter) had been changed a month ago to an even different state from an even different state. Ok, now, think about getting a loan for this same couple, who by the way, had no insurance and one of them has an expired driver's license (of course from another state). So, then go get car insurance, then car tags.....you get the picture. It is less stressful in Mozambique!
But, God was merciful and it all worked out although I have until early September to figure out about that first payment! What a life we are living as compared - no Lord, I'm not asking to go back to Egypt - anyway, I don't like leeks! (you'll have to look up the verses!)
So then, we had to quickly move our shipment from Mozambique (that came in with out any problems and we are hats off to the US customs people who were tremendously helpful to us and helped us get everything squared away on this end. A great office in Huntsville. So, we rented a u-haul truck and took it to knoxville where we can share a storage unit with daughter three before eventually getting some of it back up to Pittsburgh. If it sounds crazy, you are right. We did squeeze in a day trip to Nashville to see our pregnant daughter Sarah and her husband David. I don't think that baby can stay in very much longer! The way back to Huntsville was interesting because we got into this massive back-up from an accident where the Interstate was closed. But that worked out also with some alternate routing and driving skills I learned in Mozambique!
So, goes the report on our first 4 days!
We are in South Carolina now for a time of transition, de-briefing, and wedding!
Much love,
Dave & Ann
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