December 14, 2012
Dear Friends, Brethren and Family
Tuesday November 27
I noticed that my dating was a couple of days off as to the real date. Time
just slowwwwwwwwssssss down here. My last report actually finished on Monday
November 26th, not Monday November 24th.
I waited till the banks opened and called to see if the money transfer had come in. I just gave my name and account number over the phone and they told me how much had been deposited, not that money had been deposited but HOW MUCH to the cents (try that in Joplin!). So I got the bike loaded with empty water containers and empty fuel containers and headed to town. I got about 4 miles down the road and had to go back because I forgot the computer that I needed to check email.
It looked like rain and I had my rain pants on and I was sitting on my rain jacket in case I needed it. Once I got to Port Vila I stopped at the ATM, got cash and then went to a plumbing shop for some things. As I was inside the heavens opened up. I put ALL my rain gear on and went downtown to do the emailing and checking real mail, we got a real letter! I went ahead and sent my blog up to date as well. After that I went to several stores for things then filled up the fuel containers 22,600 vt ($251). I had also bought 2 more 20 liter fuel containers so we would not be short if I didn't get into town twice a week. I then went by and filled up the water at Stephen's before heading home. I had a couple of more things I could have done but it was lunch time and those stores were closed until 1:30 pm. It rained the whole time I was in Port Vila and quit about 10 miles out and started back up with light rain until I got home. Not an enjoyable ride. Kathy chose not to go because of the rain.
Light rain the rest of the afternoon so I just did some odd and end jobs.
Wednesday November 28
I had intentions of starting on Kathy's cabinet drawers but then decided I didn't
trust the weather to get everything out and then it start raining. I was going
to wait until the other container got here with the laminate flooring to bring
more stuff out but decided I was not going to be held hostage by the shipping
lines. I got into the furniture container and got out my desk parts, the side
bed cabinets and mine and Kathy's dressers. I found more boxes of food and kitchen
stuff.
The house is getting smaller. We are going to have to go through our clothes and give a bunch away. At the present time we have no hanging space here in the house and I am going to have to figure a place to have at least "some" hanging space for some of my shirts. (Maybe extent through the wall for just closet space outside???? I even have some brand new 36 inch pants which I have no clue why I have since I am having trouble keeping 32's up.
Thursday November 29
Looked like it was going to clear up but then clouded back up. I finally just
hauled out the table saw and other tools and started cutting up the plywood
and making drawers for Kathy's cabinets.
I took a break late morning and went over and talked with Morris for awhile. Found out it was a public holiday (one of way too many here). It is Unity Day. It goes back to the late 1970's (just pre-Independence 1980) when they had riots in Port Vila and finally Papua New Guinea troops were called in to put down the ring leaders of the uprising who had fled to Santo.
By the end of the day no rain had come and I have all the drawers made and the drawer slides on them ready for me to install the drawers slide rail in the cabinets tomorrow. Then Kathy will have space for all the stuff she has been finding.
I found the other parts to the weather station and now have wind, rain, humidity and pressure readings at my desk. Just like real life!
Friday November 30
Rained last night enough to top off the tanks while we were watching "3rd
Rock from the Sun" videos.
7:00 am a fella at the gate. His name is Andrew. I looked at his TV the first of the year and found a blown capacitor and told him if he could find the part I would replace and hope that was all that was wrong with his TV. The word is out we are here and I CAN FIX ANYTHING. The truth is different - I can fix most things and some things are just Chinese. One way to sow the seed!
It is a gorgeous day! Kathy did several loads of washing with me suppling the water. I was installing the drawers in the kitchen cabinets and a shelf under the sink. I wrestled with that until after lunch. I cut out the drawer fronts from the Fiji mahogany and will sand, stain and lacquer them tomorrow after we get back from town or next week.
I changed oil in the bigger generator after having done the same with the small one yesterday. Packed and cleaned everything up and Kathy and I went over to chat with Morris and Rebecca for awhile.
Saturday December 1
We went to town and got to wear our rain gear all the way back home with groceries,
water containers and fuel. Not much we could do with light rain.
Sunday December 2
We had a great ! We had a combined worship service here at Eton. Members from
Epau and Port Vila came. One from Port Vila and another congregation did not
come because "it was too short a notice" and it was an "autonomy"
issue. We have 105 here and a great feast after services.
Monday December 3
I replaced 2 sets of window louvers with aluminum as I had bought cheaper steel
ones before and they were already rusting. I had to cut some more louvers as
some were too short and kept slipping out. I hooked up all the plumbing for
when we get running water. I then sanded drawers fronts, stained and lacquered
them.
I had to get up on the house to put some more screws in the roofing. When we put it up in April/May they did not put enough screws . In case we get a cyclone I don't want pieces of the roof to go flying off.
Tuesday December 4
We started the day getting a load of laundry ready. However when I pulled the
starter rope on the pump the rope broke. I took it apart and figured that I
could not just re-rope it. So I used an electric drill to start the pump so
Kathy could have water.
I re-lacquered the drawer fronts and then put them on the cabinets. Sul and his wife Janet came over yesterday and started clearing the brush on the property. It will probably take them to the end of the week. After they get through and we burn everything we plan to plant a garden. Today they found passion fruit vines (loaded with fruit, two pumpkins and two small bush fowl eggs. They also found a coconut scrapper that Yusi Miopa had made when he was here in 1999.
I spent the afternoon building bookshelves for my office and then trying to find the boxes in the container with stuff off my desk.
My office cubbyhole
Wednesday December 5
We went to town on the bike. I dropped Kathy off to do emails while I checked
on the water tank and to talk with a radio station here who are interested in
me maybe doing a C & W show. I want to talk to them that if I do a Country
Western show for them then my pay will be a talk-back show on Family Counseling.
I did get the tank and lashed it to the back of the bike (it was bigger but fiberglass so relatively light). I stopped back by the plumbing place and dropped off the starter rope assembly for the water pump for them to fix. I also stopped off at the the radio station but the person I needed to talk to was not there. (They also own and print the Daily Post newspaper here.)
I took the tank up to Steven's because I was going to have to fill the the water containers and petrol cans before I could strap it down to take it back home. Steven was off work so he offered to take it out when he went later in the afternoon in his truck, I said thanks!
I went down and picked up Kathy and we went grocery shopping and then came back downtown and had lunch before we went back to fill up the water and petrol. I had gotten an email saying the container had finally shipped was expected to be in Fiji Dec 22 and on to Port Vila, Dec 31st.
The container was originally to have shipped 10/30 so much for
30 days delivery!!!! Then they said I was to contact the shipping agent in Lautoka,
Fiji. I had to write back and tell them Fiji and Vanuatu are two different countries
many miles apart. We will see what comes of this.
I also got an email from my VA doctor saying I should get thyroid blood tests
done after I had written about some symptoms I was having. (Chills when it got
under 75 degrees! Nobody does them here so I have to go have blood drawn at
a private facility and then they send it to New Caldonia and then email me the
results, about $120. I did go by a clinic on the way out of town but they were
closed until 2:00 pm for lunch and it was only 1:15 so we just came home.
The water tank was here so I got a couple of guys to help me hoist it on top of the container.
Thursday December 6
I worked on the water system. I ran a PVC line from the pump into the new tank
and pumped about 200 gallons into the upper tank from the ground tank, which
catches rain water off the roof. I ran PVC tubing from the elevated tank and
connected it to the supply line hook-up into the house, I had a few small leaks
but teflon tape stopped those. The line into the house is a small line so the
most I can get is a trickle out of the faucets. The line is too small, not enough
water in the elevated tank and it is not elevated enough. I had hoped it would
work better. So, my next trip to town I will see it I can find a small electric/solar
pump just to get some pressure behind the water. We need rain to fill back up
the tanks as well. (I will have to transfer water from the ground to the upper
tank.)
small 2 stroke pump
When we were in town Wednesday we bought some drawer pulls for Kathy's cabinets so I put those on after a short nap in the heat of the day.
Friday December 7
Sul and Janet have pretty much cleared the property of brush and it is just
piled up drying ready to burn. I went around and used the grass cutter to knock
down patches of grass that have grown back up.
Saturday December 8
I went to town. Kathy was not feeling like riding on the bike in and back home.
One of the exhaust bolts broke off just as I was getting to town. I bought more
downpipe so we could hook up the front gutter to the watertank and fill it quicker.
I also bought a 12 volt regulated water pump to try and get pressured water
into the water lines into the house. I bought more bolts for the exhaust and
when I got home and finished putting up the down-piping I bored out the broken
exhaust bolt and put in a new one, finishing in the dark using a flashlight.
(Actually here is what really happened: I decided I had enough time before it
got dark to fix the bike exhaust. I needed a tap out (where you drill a hole
in the broken bolt and then use a tap out to bring the broken piece out of the
head. I knew I had a set but didn't know exactly where. After looking for about
an hour I finally found the set the last place I looked, a steel footlocker.
I got the drill bit and the tap out and as I was carrying them out to the bike
and as I was trying to get the drill bit in the drill the tap out slipped out
of my hand into the grass SOMEWHERE. I used magnets to try and retrieve it but
did not find it. So I drilled out a smaller hole and tried a smaller tap out
but since it was the head the fragment of bolt did not want to come out. So
I drilled a bigger hole and used a smaller bolt and MADE IT FIT!) Then I finished
up in the dark!
When in town I also stopped at a clinic and made an appointment to have blood drawn and sent to New Caldonia. They only do it twice a month and so on Dec 17th I will go give blood and get my thyroid level checked as well as to see if my PSA has stayed put or elevated itself.
It was cloudy most of the day and on my way back home I ran into a brief shower which gave me a rinse cycle before I moved away from it. I dried quick enough with the winds being freshening.
Sunday December 9
Heavy rain just as people were getting ready to come to services. Went over
and got Morris, Tal pushed the wheelchair while I held umbrellas over us all.
I gave the lesson and for the first time since being back the children had coloring
pages to color during the lesson time. Pretty low numbers but it did rain to
beat the band 40 mm (1 1/2 inches).
I pumped water from the ground tank up to the elevated tank after services while we were eating lunch. I filled the tank. At 1730 after more rain the lower tank was overflowing as well, so for the first time we have both tanks overflowing. Prayers answered!!!
Monday December 10
I put cement board walls and a window in the laundry room for ventilation. I
had been using roofing iron on the side and that gets very warm.
I dug holes to put posts in in front of the church building where they have
been wanting a small verandah to keep the rain off the front door.
Tuesday December 11
I was able to get the pressure pump installed and we now have real running water
in the house.
pressure pump
Again I had a few small leaks but was able to get them stopped. We even now have a real flushing toilet. However when water becomes short we will use rinse water from the washing to flush with. Tal and I cemented in the two posts for the new verandah on the church building.
Wednesday December 12
We went to town on the bike. About 5 miles from town we had to stop and put
on the rain gear and we wore it into town, around town and back home in downpours.
We got over 4 inches of rain. The water tanks were full. When we checked the
internet weather there is a tropical depression (cyclone wanna be) lurking by
Samoa and North of Fiji. Projections show it is to move South toward Fiji s
a cyclone then another depression will join up with it Friday-Sunday and Monday
and Tuesday it is to intensify but stay in the Fiji region. All models do not
show it moving West to hit us but you never know. This the season! We are just
showing scattered showers through next week.
Thursday December 13
I worked on a chainsaw one of the Christians brought over. The choke was not
working so I just ran a wire for them to pull to choke it. Forget Magyver I
have become a true "shade tree mechanic". The motorbike lost one of
the exhaust bolts on our ride Wednesday so I had to re-drill another hole, re
tap the threads and install another bolt. Hopefully this one will stay put!
Thinking of people bringing me everything to fix, I appreciate more the story about Jesus where after he healed people he told them not to go tell anyone because His time was not ready, but they did anyway. I fixed a TV for our neighbor and now I have another TV, two DVD players, the chainsaw and more people are stopping me and asking if they can bring their "stuff". Some I can fix some I cannot. But I really wasn't ready for this, yet!
I finished up the verandah on the church building (as far as I could). I will have to go buy wood and metal for the fascia and another piece of ridge capping.
Kathy was overjoyed that she can just use the washing machine without me having the run the water pump to full it up. It is also so nice to have running pressured water in the house. We have a small "on demand" water heater in the shower and don't have to heat up shower bags in the sun anymore. The larger generator handles the extra demand very well.
water system: down-pipes divert the rain
off the roof into the green tank, I pump water from the green tank up to the
white tank which then runs back through the pressure pump into the house.
Friday December 14
I started moving all the sand out from in front of the house so I could start
cementing the verandah. The weather is changing with the wind changing directions
and thunderstorms developing very rapidly. We are still not under a cyclone
watch but Samoa got hit and the cyclone is supposed to move South toward Fiji
in the next 24 hours.
Tal and a friend and I were able to mix and pour about 1/3 of the verandah before we ran out of concrete. Man it was hot out there!
Thank you so much for all of you who are praying for us, supporting us and have contributed to our needs. God bless you! We are glad to be in our home and sharing with you what the Lord is doing through us. Thank you for your prayers!
Please be reminded:
This is our plea (still)
(a new way to help without cash, see #2)
For forty years we have tried to share with people our dream of "Church
Planting, Leadership Training and Bible Training in Oceania". Various
places have demanded differing roles in our work (Papua New Guinea, New Zealand,
Vanuatu, Fiji). The current location is Vanuatu and the role is still the establishment
of a located Bible Training facility to train and equip brethren from the island
regions of Oceania to teach and train their own language groups in the Bible
and Bible living. We are not trying to establish a preacher training school.
We are planning to train and equip brethren in the Bible and trade training
(mechanics, woodworking, sewing, village bread baking, etc) to help them support
themselves when they return to their home islands.
This is a plea: we need your help with finances to establish this facility.
#1 - Can you personally help us with a one time
financial gift of $50 or more? Can you personally help us with $25 a month for
a least a year? If enough of you gave $25 per month for
a year this would give us funds on a monthly basis to build monthly.
Will you PLEASE?
If you want and Autopay form (ETF) which will allow you to have funds automatically deducted from your bank account and transferred to the school bank account please ask. It can be stopped at any time on your part. Simply print it, fill it out, sign it and mail it back to the addresses supplied or scan it and email it back to me.
#2 - Another way to give: (without
cash)
In our journeys and talks with people, many have said they want to help missions
and especially help us build and operate The Christian Institute of Biblical
Studies in Vanuatu but have no cash to give.
If you have RMD (Required minimum distribution for over 70 year olds from their
IRA) whatever is donated is tax free. (Example: if the government requires you
to withdraw $10,000 from your IRA (whether you need the funds to live on or
not) whatever you donate you do not have to pay tax on- whatever you keep you
have to pay tax on. If you donate $5000 and keep $5000 you would only have to
pay tax on $5000.) If you have other retirement funds (SS, etc) that you can
live comfortable on then a RMD withdraw might put you into a higher income bracket
that would mean that all you were required to withdraw might go toward taxes.
Aught not to be, but that is the tax code.
If you have some stock (ie Walmart, Lazyboy, Apple, Microsoft, etc) and cash it out you have to pay 15% capital gains tax on the difference that you paid for it and the price it is sold for today. If you don't want to pay 15% capital gains tax you can donate the stocks or again if you just want to donate some non-producing stock, your donation (the current value of the stock) is also tax free. Win - win! You don't pay tax (legally) and the Bible School gets built.
So we have set up a brokerage account with the bank that has our school account. It will be in the CIBS name with proceeds going into that account after being transferred and redeemed. This is just another way to help those of you who want to help missions but have no cash to give - you can give and lessen your tax load (and keep the cash in your hand).
It was also explained that if the Bush tax cuts are let to lapse then the capital gains on stocks after December 31 will be 28% just like ordinary revenue. So you might want to review your stock portfolio by the end of the year and see if you can get a better deal donating.
If anyone reading this would like to transfer IRA (RMD) funds or stock to this account (which will directly benefit The Christian Institute of Biblical Studies in Vanuatu) you need to talk with your broker and give him this name and number:
United Missouri Bank (UMB)
300 Grant St
Carthage Mp 64836
A/C# H8P033855
DTC# 0226
At the end of the year you will receive a letter of tax deducible donation
from us.
Your seed-sowing brother and sister.
Tobey & Kathy
--
Contributions for the Huffs, the Bible school and house can be sent to:
Huffs/Bible School
c/ Mt Hope church of Christ
2830 Mt Hope Rd
Webb City MO 64870
or
Tobey & Kathy Huff
c/ 2730 E. 24th St
Joplin. MO 64804
Mailing Address:
PO Box 3229
Port Vila
Vanuatu
Ph: Mobile: (678) 596-8421
Web Site: http://www.oceania-outreach.com/Index.html