December 23, 2014
Dearest Friends and family
TEACHING
We had our monthly combined worship at Epau this past month.
Kathy and I still go to Epau once a month now and teach, usually the third Sunday.
Otherwise I am teaching at Eton on "the parables of Jesus".
LADIES DAY AT ETON with
Kathy
Saturday the 13th we had our last Ladies' Day here at Eton Village. Twenty-one
of us attended, plus a few children. They especially came out for the lunch
break and cake for afternoon "tea". We had ladies from Epau, Etas
and Pt Vila come to be with us. We had lots of singing (they sing very well
here), prayer time and three of our ladies gave a short lesson. It was the first
time for Janet and Salome but Rebecca has taught before. I was asked to "chair"
the day so I got to steer the talking where the Spirit moved me that day. We
exchanged small gifts around 2pm and then discussed what we would like to do
next year. More to come as 2015 comes up.
Singing from the books Tobey had translated with Rebecca (in the gold dress) and Morrison's help a few years back.
Salome was the first speaker and was very good about talking loudly enough for
all to hear her. Salome is one of Rebecca's sisters
Janet was more relaxed after lunch with her approach.
PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS
We had an earthquake Nov 22nd. No damage but we were movin' and groovin'.
The truck is rusting badly in some places and so I had to spend one Saturday
doing body work on it. I just put aluminum strips over the rusty lower door
panels and on the front quarter panel that had rusted through.
I also thought I might as well replace the rear shock absorbers as we had been
hauling heavy loads and I had brought back new replacement ones. One was working
one wasn't. Glad I had replacements!
We have been having trouble with the switch on the 12 volt pump that provides
pressure for our water system in the house. I found that one of the connectors
had corroded off. (Where in the world would we get salt corrosion?? We are over
200 yards from the ocean and the sea breezes zephyr right by the house.) I had
to grind the backlite back and soldered the wire back on. I thought (bad move)
I would go ahead and put some silicone seal to protect it but when I still had
problems I found out the the silicone was between the contacts so I had to go
back in and remove the silicone and now it seems to be working fine.
I have not fallen off any ladders this month and though I feel I have been run over by a D6 Caterpillar at the end of most days I don't have track marks on me.
I did however get stung by a yellow jacket when watering my tomatoes one afternoon. I did not see him but he hit my right calf and four days after the fact the swelling is just going down and the itching is intense. There is a small knot still there under the skin.
The three goats we have are doing very well. We have them staked out at the school and I only had one time when one got loose and ate some of the corn and beans in one of the garden plots. They have become my friends - I hand feed them bananas morning and afternoon. They let me pet and groom them now and they ba-ba me when I show up. Eventually I will probably fence off the gardens and let them run free. They are gobbling up the weeds.
BUILDING THE SCHOOL
Nov 24 - we installed the outside cement board
on the classroom/library.
I bought a wood planer a year or so ago knowing that I would need to plane some
of the wood for door frames and windows frames. I was doing okay and then it
quit feeding the wood. I took it apart to find that it was a cheap cheap (did
I SAY CHEAP) Chinese made machine. The drive gears were just slipping around
the shaft. Knowing that any spare parts would be the same quality I just welded
the gears on the shaft and got on with business. It is working well enough!
Nov 25-27 The school
staff House: the foundation posts were cemented in; the floor joists were mounted
on the posts and strapped down; the floor was put down. One wall was built and
put into place only to find it 30 mm (1 1/2 inches) too long. So we had to take
it down, remove the end pieces, cut 30 mm off and re attached the end pieces.
It fit better the second time.
Classroom: Put the door frame and door in the and one of the windows.
Nov 28 - We spent the morning
hauling wood from the sawmill site to the building site. We seem to be doing
this once a week at least.
Dec 1 - all the framed walls up on the staff house
Dec 3 - we put the iron roofing up over the walls
to protect the floor from the rain; there was not enough slope on it so the
water started running in so we had to put supports under the roofing to get
it to flow off. We received rain for two days.
Dec 5 - finished and installed all the windows
in the classroom/ library building.
Dec 8 - Classroom: installed lock on entrance door.
School staff House: made roof trusses; put roof trusses in place; put all the cross beams up and put the roofing iron on temporarily (not screwed down).
The weather has been very, very hot and humid after the two days of rain. The classroom was build under some trees but the house has no shade. It has been very difficult to replace liquids I lose with sweat. I have even been sunburning through my shirt. By the end of most days I am drained. Leg cramping it a norm I am not liking!!!!! It sure is fun to have Kathy putting diaper rash cream on my back everyday because of the salt rash I have even though I change my seat soaked shirts as many a 7 times a day. At night it is still in the 80's with 85%+ humidity and the winds are slight to nil. The fans are rotating people!!!!!
One of the problems we have here is that all building materials (other than wood) have to be imported and even though the hardware stores have the stock in when you price the job they might not have it when you start building. Such was our need for cement board which we are using for the eternal walls. We were going to be short for the house but were able to source just enough to get the walls finished. Hopefully they will get another shipment when we need it for the student housing.
Dec 9, 10 - we put reflector paper under the roofing and the roofing iron was installed and screwed down; we have three eternal walls covered with cement board.
The sun was again very intense - where are the clouds when you want them - especially
putting up the roof. Tal has taken off and that means only Juju and I are doing
the work.
Dec 13 - I went up to the school property and burned several of the large piles of brush we had cut cleaning off the ground. I then came house and ripped trim on the the table saw for the windows and doors of the school buildings. I am using mahogany that I bought in Fiji before we moved over here.
Dec 15, 16 - Juju and I picked up several more loads of framing timber and then primer painted the door frame and window frames in the school staff house.
Dec 17, 18 - Juju and I picked up loads of framing timber both days from the sawmill. I installed both the front and back door and half the windows with louver frames and glass. We exterior trimmed around all the windows and the doors.
On the 17th we had heavy rain in the late afternoon with over 2 1/2 inches falling in a very short period of time. There were no leaks in either building.
Dec 19 - I surveyed the foundation for the student housing and we are ready to get the foundation posts put in and we have enough framing timber to get the walls and roofing tresses up.
Dec 20 - I spent the morning up at the school cleaning up brush and burning it.
Dec 22 - I installed the rest of the louver frames and glass in the staff house. The delay was caused by the hardware store not having enough 8 louver frames and I had to buy 9 louver frames and cut them down. I also had to cut every glass louver to length as they don't have various lengths to choose from. (At least the size our windows turned out to be.) We put the verandah roofing up on the classroom/library. I got Juju started on priming the masonite that we will be using for the interior walls for the classroom/library and the staff house.
Juju and I also put up the school sign on the highway this afternoon. I can
still use a router!
Onward and Upward!!!!!!!!!
Scholarship Fund for the Bible school
in honor of Joe Cannon
We have a new support program for The Christian Institute of Biblical Studies.
I have had memorial funds donated in the name of Joe Cannon in the past two
years. So we have established a scholarship fund called the "Joe Cannon
Scholarship Fund for The Christian Institute of Biblical Studies".
Joe Cannon was a great warrior for the Lord in his missionary journeys in Japan,
Okinawa, Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya, Ukraine and Memphis for over 60 years.
He touched a lot of lives in his living and I was one. It is only natural the
memory of Joe for the Biblical training of Christians since that is what he
was about his whole life. The funds generated will be used to support students
that come from the island nations around Vanuatu where we will be seeking to
strengthen the Biblical training of Christians from their islands for the future
needs of the kingdom in their home islands. They cannot work while they are
here and thus the need for support for when they are here. The scholarship funds
will be only used to support students who come to the school from outside Vanuatu.
We will be asking their home congregations to cover the cost of the travel to
and back from Vanuatu. Funds can be sent through our sponsor. (CIBS Scholarship
Fund: Joe Cannon)
Thanking you for hanging
in there with us with the building of the school.
As we start building we will be in need of additional funds in the next few
months for building of student dorm-rooms, about $30,000. So if anyone out there
can help we would really appreciate it.
(Thank you so much for those of you who have given extra thus allowing us to get a start on the timber for framing of the student housing.)
Please note that we have been able to get our website (http://www.oceania-outreach.com/Index.html ) back on line and I will try to keep it current. It also has a link for downloading mission books that Joe Cannon wrote.
Onward and upward!
Thank you so much for all of you who are praying for us, supporting us and have contributed to our needs. God bless you! Thank you for your prayers!
Thank you Lord for healing and providing what we need!
Grace & Peace
Tobey & Kathy
Huff
Ph (and text): 678 596-4821 (Vanuatu is +17 hours)
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Contributions for the Huffs, the
Bible school and the Scholorship fund can be sent to:
Huffs/Bible School
c/ Mt Hope church of Christ
2830 Mt Hope Rd
Webb City MO 64870
or
Jason Huff
2730 E 24th St
Joplin MO 64804