Week in Fermathe and Preparing to leave

Week in Fermathe:
Last week we were able to enjoy a little time in Fermathe.  Our kids were really exicted about this since a group recently built a large Noah's ark in the playground.  They loved playing at the playground every opportunity they had.
The main reason that we spent the week in Fermathe was so Kyrk could teach a class at the Summer Bible Institute.  He has taught a class for the past 2 years and this year it was great that they adjusted the schedule so that he could teach the first part of the class in 3 days.  There are 2 other men who will be teaching the other 2 parts of the class.

We came back to Atrel on Sunday and we brought Johnny with us.  He is a young man from Fermathe who will be living in our house while we are gone for 2 months.  The kids love playing with him and he has already been a huge help to Kyrk, with various projects around the house.  We now have eves troughs that don't leek, kitchen cabinet doors installed, shelves in the storage room, more completed plumbing and a functional bathroom downstairs.
Johnny is also learning the many unique things about our house, the electricity set up, the water set up along with other things that he will need to know while he is here for 2 months.
Please join us in praying for him as he learns and then as he is here taking care of things while we are gone.

Roasting corn with Johnny

Anna thought it was yummy

Market Fun

Part of our life here in Atrel is walking to the market to buy fresh fruit and vegetables (when they are available).  Each Saturday and Tuesday there is small market in Atrel and it is always an adventure to walk down and see what we can find for a good price. 
It is also a great opportunity to talk with the local people and get to know them better.
Saturday, Naomi, Robert and I went to the market.  Naomi took a camera along to capture a little of the adventure.

Naomi and Robert think that the mangoes are very heavy on the walk home.

Others have a donkey to carry their things home from market.  Maybe we need a donkey :)

Some of the bananas and mangoes that we bought.

Amazing Progress on the House in 2 Days!

For the past 2 days we were very blessed to have a group of 9 people from Grace Evangelical Free Church in Rockford, MI with us.  They were a fantastic group and were able to get so much completed in our house for us. 
In just 2 days they were able to:
* build all the kitchen cabinet doors
* stain all the window and door trim
* stain 2 room doors and all the lower cabinet doors
* paint all the walls upstairs
* build a large book shelf and stain it
* lay formica on the counter tops and finish them beautifully

I never dreamed that a group of 9 people plus Kyrk's parents would be able to accomplish so much.  For the past month the progress on our house was coming along very slowly, so this was a huge encouragement to have all of this work completed in such a short time.  God really knew what we needed and met that need through these willing helpers.
Thank you so much!!

Josh, sanding cabinet doors

Jay, working diligently to build the cabinet doors

Staining the trim, while enjoying the shade and the breeze

Bryan and Justin installing the trim

Karen, finishing the door trim stain

We were so thankful to have several men help us move the fridge into place.

Patti painting the school room/office

Jay and Rob building the book shelf for the office

Anna had to inspect the work :)

Preparing our first meal in the real kitchen.  It was a very exciting moment!

God is at Work

When God called us to move to Atrel we knew that the main goal was to establish a training center for training school and church leaders.  This is still the overall goal, but seeing the steps to reach that goal are not clear.
During the past few months living here in Atrel we have been trying to learn how things work and get to know the people better, while at the same time we are focusing on getting our house built. 
Wednesday of this past week, Kyrk had the opportunity to meet with all the regional church leaders.  There were about 30 people at the meeting and it was a great time of learning what is happening in the churches and also for the leaders to ask questions and learn more about why we are here.

We are seeking God's wisdom to know how to best serve Him here.  We know that we want to come along side the local church and work with them in the areas that they are meeting needs.  One of the ideas that we had been thinking about was starting a trade school as part of the training center.  Last Sunday the church committee announced that they have decided to start a trade school!  Wow, God is working.  We are seeking God's wisdom to now know how we can come along side the church committee and help them with this trade school.

This afternoon we were blessed with a nice hard rain.  It has been such an answer to prayer to have received regular rains over the past month.  The temperatures have been around 120F during the day, so when it rains hard, the kids always ask if they can play outside.  When the storm had passed, these pictures give you a little idea of the fun the took place.  Yes, this is what you do on a very hot day when there is no pool or sprinkler and water is a treasured commoditiy.

Anna was content to just sit and watch the craziness

Jonathan claimed this mud puddle as his

Rebekah's personal mud puddle

Anna still isn't too sure about it

Finally after the water fight stopped she was okay with playing in the puddle with her tea set.

The new favorite play place in the unfinished kitchen cupboards.

Praise Report and Some Prayer Requests

Over the past week there have been so many things to give thanks and praise for.  Here are a few of the blessings from God.

* On Thursday and Friday of last week, the local school held two days of special classes for the school children.  These days were focused on spiritual teaching.  On Sunday they were overjoyed to share that several children (approximately 15) received Christ during those 2 days.  A huge answer to prayer is that the church is taking an initiative to disciple these children.  They have started a special Sunday School class for these children to help them grow in their new faith.

* We have been getting small rains almost weekly.  This is a huge answer to prayer and we pray that these rains will continue, so that the crops that are starting to grow will yield a good harvest. As I sit and write this, it is gently raining and our children are outside enjoying God's giant sprinkler.

* Progress on our house continues.  We were truly blessed to have Rob and Pat Holloway with us last week.  They did fantastic work helping to get the walls finished and painted.  Kyrk has been working on the kitchen and it will be a huge treat when the kitchen is completed.

* We have been enjoying lettuce and spinach from our own garden!  This is so encouraging to us, to know that we can grow things like this up here. 



Prayer Requests:
* For the children who were saved, that they would grow in their faith and for the church leaders who will be teaching the special discipleship class

* Pray for wisdom as all the church leaders from 6 of the surrounding districts come together on May 29 for a regional meeting.  Kyrk will be attending this meeting and we are hoping to have a great time of fellowship with these leaders and use this time to talk together with these leaders to find out what they would like to see from us and how we can work together to make a training center for teachers and pastors become a reality.



Fun pictures of the kids enjoying the rain.

 The kitchen is progressing well.

Praise God for Rain and Drywall Helpers!

There have been so many answers to prayer recently. 

On Friday night and Saturday morning we were blessed with over an inch of rain.  It is so wonderful to see God sending much needed rain to this area.  The crops that have recently been planted, are starting to grow, thanks to the gift of rain God sent.  This morning in church they were expressing their thankfulness to God for how He is providing rains for their crops. 

God also has provided some help with our drywall.  This is a large project and we are so thankful that God sent Rob and Pat Holloway.  They arrived on Wednesday and after making the trip up here to Atrel on Thursday, they have been diligently serving.  They have been a huge help and are doing a fantastic job.  Hopefully by the end of the week, most of the walls will be finished.

Meeting with the Atrel District Church Leaders

Today we had the priviledge of attending the monthly meeting for all the preachers and church leaders in the Atrel district.  There 16 churches affliated with BHM within the Atrel district and each month they gather together to discuss the things that are happening within their churches.
It was very encouraging to talk with these men and continue to get to know the people in this community.

Over the past few months we have had many visitors and several of them have brought things to be shared with the people here.  We do not want to hand these things out to people and have them begin to rely on the foreigner.  Instead we want to use the Biblical example of the church taking the responsibility of taking care of those in need.  Therefore we gave all the things that had been left to the group of church leaders today so that they could take them back to their communities and help those who are in need in their areas. 

Below is a picture of most of the church leaders who were at the meeting.  One of the things we gave them were mats that had been made by people at Forest Baptist Church.  They were very thankful for all the things that were shared and were looking forward to passing these things along to those in need.

Showers of Blessing

Right now in the Atrel area it is a common site to see men and young boys working in their fields each morning and evening.  They are diligently working the hard rocky soil, preparing it to be planted soon.  This is all done by hand and it is very difficult work.  I am always amazed at the diligence of these men and their willingness to work so hard for the small crop that they will hopefully receive.
It is a challenge to me to think: "Am I willing to work diligently, under difficult circumstances, not knowing what harvest I will reap, as I work for the Lord?

Group of men working a field together

This morning we had the privilege of attending a Harvest Celebration at the nearby church of Grand Kay.  This community invited us to attend and it was very special to be a part of their celebration.  During the service they were thanking God for the harvest and all the blessings that they had received.  Just as the service was about to end it started to rain really hard.  The closing hymn was "There shall be showers of blessings"  What an appropriate hymn to sing, as it is pouring rain.  It rained super hard for about an hour. 
As we drove home, in the rain, we were super excited to find that it had rained hard in Atrel also and we received almost 2 1/2" of rain.  This is a huge blessing!!
Another blessing was the gift of a goat.  We are always humbled when churches give us gifts.  We know that many of these people have very little and when they choose to share with us it is very humbling. 

Church at Grand Kay

Our new goat, which the boys have named "Dark Thunder"

Back in February, with the help of several people, I was able to get a garden built.  This past week Kyrk set up the irrigation lines and I was able to plant the lettuce, carrots, and a few other vegetables into it.  I will be so thankful to have some fresh vegetables soon.

Installing the irrigation lines

Plants ready to go in the garden

Fun pictures of the kids:

Jonathan was trying to make a parachute

Matching sisters

Beautiful rainbow that was in the sky Friday evening.