Early March 2008

March 7th

Dear Friends, Family and Brethren

Bula Vinaka.

We are finally having sunny days with only spotty afternoon showers.

Our container might be sea worthy but I found out it is not waterproof. I had to go out yesterday to the container and find a couple of books for some research I am doing on Old Testament times and found that three of the banana boxes full of books had been sitting on the floor were soaked with water. When I checked after the first cyclone I did not see any water on the floor. After the last cyclone I didn't look very close, obviously. Most everything is on pallets however in the moving around of things these boxes were set on the floor with other boxes on top of them. I brought the books home and have them sitting out in the sun to dry. I do not hold much hope for them as they are stuck together and most of them were about 1/4 soaked and not mildewed and moulded. In the next days I will have to go out and unload the container and repack making sure things are up off the floor. I will have to spray for ants as well.

This is one of the things about living in the wet and humid South Pacific. If you are a lover of books it will break your heart. Many of the books which were ruined are College Press Old Testament and New Testament series which some I have had since Sunset days. I understand that College Press now has those books on CD which would be a better retrieval system of information for me as we travel so much now and books are heavy.


The books which are sitting out in the sun will never be in our house again because of our allergies to mould.

Please keep us in your prayers with our needs for the Christian Institute of Biblical Studies-Fiji.

In Christ
Tobey & Kathy

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March 8, 2008

Dear Friends, Family and Brethren
Well I told you yesterday that I was going to have to return to the container and check the whole floor, I did that this morning.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?????????? I found four more boxes of water soaked books and one box of soaked photo albums and slides. The new pictures show the photo album pages drying so I can scan them and try to save some of the pictures. I have lost about half of my library. Again many were College press books and they were the series "What does the Bible Say about....?" I especially like the bright yellow mould on the books (could it be a new strain of penicillin worth billions???) and yes I found a huge nest of large black ants that I used a whole can of spray on. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?????????? Did my boxes look like the Christian Science reading room to the ants?

And yes, NOW ALL the boxes are up off the floor IN CASE the area floods again.

Do you know what slides do when they are wet for a period of time? I didn't know that either. The emulsion on the slide liquidizes and the slides go blank. My mind has been going blank now some of my slides have. So much for 1979-1983.

I was planning to donate my library to the Christian Institute but that gesture doesn't sound so noble now. I will have to see what we can salvage after the sun has done its work.


Please keep us in your prayers with our needs for the Christian Institute of Biblical Studies-Fiji.
In Christ
Tobey & Kathy
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Sponsoring congregation:
Mt Hope church of Christ
2830 Mt Hope Rd
Webb City Mo 64870