[Blogger's note: from different sources, including Sue Peters (by way of Rob Miller) and Rick himself, who updated his Facebook saying that he was "relaxing" in Bangui, I have heard that Rick is doing much better. I also heard that Nikesi is doing better. He had some kind of bacteria but has received treatment and is reacting well to it. Please, continue to pray for these guys and our continued work in the C.A.R.]This was written by Tim while he was still in PAMA:
Hello. Today we continued our work on the school building. All the concrete is mixed by hand so it requires many to accomplish this. Rick has been doing a lot of shoveling filling the wheel barrow over and over. They have been mixing sand and gravel all moved by hand. Then the water is added and then mixed with shovels. The concrete is then hauled to its final destination. I have been on the finishing crew most of the time smoothing the concrete. We all jump in where needed. It is great to work with our African brothers to accomplish a shared goal. There is much laughter to go along with the hard work to make for a wonderful environment.
Tom, as usual spends a lot of time making jokes and working the crowd to achieve the most laughs possible.
Today we improved our 5 star hotel by adding filtered water and a warm fully automatic shower. Today I got the water filter working which can give us safe water to drink. We get the water from the water well and then we have a 12 volt pump to pump the water through a filter and u-v light to disinfect. Then we set up our shower tent and used the pump to pressurize our shower head (a nozzle used for watering plants in the US). We use the power of the truck battery to power our pump and then an inverter to give us 110 volt power. We then have a solar panel to charge the truck battery so we don’t have to run the truck to charge the battery. Kind of technical there but I thought some may enjoy our effort to have the basics here in the middle of Africa.
As we continue our projects here, our prayer is that God uses us to be an encouragement to those around us. As important as doing projects, we want to build relationships which will last forever. Here are some of the guys we are working with.
Sampson is the master builder here, he is the expert in African construction. He is very willing to teach us and to include us in the work. He also is a very Godly man who has given his life to building things for God. He can out work anyone half his age, but he is a very gentile and humble man.
Nathan is Sampson’s son and has learned well from his dad. Nathan is 26 and married and has two children but he looks barely 15. Nathan is also a hard worker who can do anything. When Tom gets him laughing his whole face lights up with a huge smile.
Most of the time Rick and I have no idea what Tom’s joke is but all the Africans get the punch line and it results it uncontrolled laughter. Tom has a great ministry here. I will share more of the names in future emails.
In His Service,
In His Service,
Tim
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