Arrived in Atrel

It has been quite a day, but a very good day also.
We left the mission around 5:30 this morning and after a short stop at the beach camp we arrived in Atrel at 1:30.  The big truck loaded with supplies arrived around 2:45.
Within a half hour of arriving we started to get a little rain.  It was so wonderful to see God answering prayers like that.  It was very little rain, but it was enough to cool things off a little and the cloud cover was wonderful.
The men on the team hit the ground running.  They immediately started installing screens, framing windows, sealing eaves troughs, hanging screen doors, finishing toilets, and fencing the property.  They finally decided to stop shortly after 7 this evening.

Sealing the eaves troughs

Installing shower room screens and shower curtain rods.

Framing the windows

Robert likes exploring.  There were 2 dogs who came through the property and some donkeys also.

Starting to put the fence up.

Installing doors on the toilets.

The group of on lookers followed them as they put up the fence.

Last section of fence for the night.  The crowd was still enjoying watching.

It is so good to be here.  We are looking forward to church tomorrow and seeing some familiar faces.
Currently there is thunder in the distance so hopefully we get some rain tonight.

Packing for a Week in Atrel

Tomorrow morning a group from Colorado will arrive.  Part of this group will be traveling with us to Atrel to start digging the cisterns for our house.  We are sooooo excited to finally be starting construction of our home.
Taking a team to Atrel is not an easy project.  The past few days have been filled with preparations.  Here are just a few of the things that we have had to pack to prepare to live in the 2 room house that was recently built.
- stove
- bucket toilet seats for the outhouses
- tables (which Kyrk made today)
- 250 gallon large water tote (which we are hoping to fill here since there is no water in the cistern yet in Atrel)
- large amounts of non perishable food (we will have no refrigeration)
- 2 large casseroles that were prepared earlier this week and are frozen for use during the first 2 days
- large amounts of frozen water bottles and pop bottles (it is soooo hot that cold drinks are a real treat)
- a new cooler, which thankfully arrived today through our mail service
- all kitchen supplies

It has definitely been a week of preparations and we are really looking forward to traveling to Atrel on Saturday.


Some prayer requests as we spend the next week in Atrel:
- pray for rain (the cistern needs water and the community is at risk of loosing their third crop in a row if they do not get rain)
- Pray that we would be able to start developing relationships with people in the community
- Pray that we would travel and work safely through out the week

Team House Construction Update

 This past week Kyrk along with a group of men spent the week building the team house.  This building has 2 shower rooms, a small storage room and 2 sleeping/living rooms.  One will be used for people who come and help with various projects including the building of our house.  The other room will be the home of our guardian who will live there to guard and help on the mission property. 
I have included several pictures to give you an idea of how the week went.
We praise God that they were able to get most of it finished this week.  Kyrk will be returning for a couple days next week to finish the exterior and the group of carpenters will finished the ceiling and interior walls.

This was taken from the property that our house will be built on, looking down on the team house.  This was the progress when they arrived on Monday afternoon.

Making the walls smooth of the shower rooms

The progress as of Friday afternoon.

Team House Building Week

This is going to be a very eventful week.  This morning at 5:30 am Kyrk headed out along with another truck fully loaded with building supplies. 
If all went as planned they should have all reached Atrel shortly after lunch and could have started construction this afternoon.  There will be 4 very skilled Haitian carpenters helping Kyrk along with a great volunteer who came in to help also.
It is going to be a very long week for the men working on this house.  The goal is to finished it completely before they come home on Saturday.

If I hear more updates through out the week I will pass them along. 
Kyrk is hoping to take pictures of the progress so check back this weekend, for pictures of the construction.

God has provided

We are super thankful that as of yesterday there is someone coming to help Kyrk build next week.  This is a huge answer to prayer.  Now Kyrk knows that they should be able to get the small team house built in the week. 
Kyrk returns tomorrow from a weekend in the states.  He was sharing at a church outside of St. Louis, Missouri.  The kids and I are really looking forward to having him home again.