This past week significant progress was made on our training center facility roof trusses. Although “significant” is likely a relative term since our realities are not what they are in the developed world, but we are grateful for progress.
A big reason for the progress has been the arrival of two capable people to assist at the mission. Rick Cogbill and Bob Denusiuk have been here for almost two weeks now. Bob is a contractor and Rick is a mechanic who is now transitioning to being a missionary mechanic doing training and in the initial stages of starting Mercy Tech Missions. Besides the training center, foundation work began on a mechanic work shop that is desperately needed for all the mission vehicles and will also serve as a training shop for a mechanic training program that is in the initial stages of development.
This week both Rick and Bob shared in the weeks’ morning devotions and a story Bob shared really seemed to make an impact.
Bob and his wife (who I have not yet met) apparently love collecting rocks. One day as they were out exploring a river bank in the wilds of British Columbia, Canada, they found and incredibly beautiful but very big rock. Bob’s wife fell in love with it which launched them on a quest to get the rock downriver to the camp and into their vehicle so they could take it home and plant it in their yard. As Bob described the various ways they tried to transport this rock, our local Mozambican team laughed and laughed! Finally they were able to roll this rock into a blow-up boat they had and Bob held on to a rope navigating the little boat and rock downstream to the camp site. They then had to borrow the campsite wheelbarrow and only after pumping up its tire were they able to use it. They rolled the rock into the wheel barrow and as Bob’s wife cleared the small rocks that littered the beach out of the way, Bob maneuvered the rock up to the vehicle. Lots more laughs by this time as Bob described the difficulty of this project and the concern his wife had for the rock! Finally they backed the vehicle into a ditch which lowered the tail-gate enough to get the rock in. The rock now sits in their yard as a monument to their effort together.
The application Bob made was that we were all important rocks being built into a “building” in which God’s Spirit wants to dwell. Not only so but the building is founded on the rock Christ Jesus. And this foundation is what has helped he and his wife build a strong home.
I am sure I missed some of the application but we had lots of fun listening to Bob’s story. On Thursday when time is given for feed-back to the weeks themes, Eunice a Mozambican lady who heads up ladies literacy ministry, commented on how impressed she was by Bob’s story because it illustrated so well Bob’s love and concern for his wife's interests and his willingness to listen to her. This is the kind of difference a solid foundation in our life has and Bob’s story illustrated that clearer than he might have guessed! This is also most definitely the reason we are all here and working to build strong Christ-centered families, churches and communities.
My wife Lynn had the privilege of making a trip home to Canada to be with our family. There are key times in life where our families need us to be there for them and this is one of those times. We are soo grateful for friends who partnered to make this trip possible. Lynn will be very busy with family priorities, so she will have limited time to meet with friends and supporters. Thank you for your understanding.
As Lynn mentioned in her last blog, Ron and Barb Wayner are back working hard on their house and helping on numerous other projects including the bridge, runway and finalizing fund raising for the hangar that will be on it’s way from the U.S. soon. The runway project is an important one for all of us here at the mission and we have been grateful for those who are partnering to make this a reality. The "Ed Lepp memorial fund" donated a further $5,000 to the project this past week and another private foundation donated $5,600. Besides this a donation from a Swiss company for $2,000 has come through, so we are well on our way to our goal. 
Check out the project page if you are interested. www.samministriesprojects.blogspot.com
And don’t forget the importance of a Rock in your life and the value God places on you as someone who can be a part of building something that lasts!
