May 2012
Dear Friends, Brethren and Family
Sweet Reunion
Everything that is left in the house on Monday (April 30) (frig, stove, m/w,
washer, dryer, bed, chair and odds and ends) were taken out in two loads to
the containers and house. I did a final clean of the house before taking the
second load out and then I found out that there was a holiday May 1st in Vanuatu
and so I had to hurry back to town (before everything thing closed for the day)
and arrange for the refund of our deposit on the water and electrical accounts
as well as put our internet and telephone on vacation while we were gone and
get the house inspected so we could get the deposit back. I stayed Monday night
in a local motel and flew out Tuesday afternoon May 1st through Fiji and on
into LAX (Calif). Stephen took me to the airport. (I think to make sure I was
really going!)
While in transit in Fiji I was chosen (randomly they say) to have a special security check. They took some of us (50) into a small room (individually) and swabbed our bags and person for drug residue. I passed the test but then had to crawl over people to get to my window seat on the plane. The plane was full so I just slept all the way.
I arrived about 3 hours in LA before Kathy and I met her at the Southwest arrival gate and she sure was a pretty sight for these old blue eyes! We found her bag and went outside to wait for the shuttle bus to Pepperdine University. We hugged a lot!
The fellowship at the Lectureship was great and the singing in the evenings was super (after you have been overseas for 2 years in small congregations it was heavenly). We attended some good classes and taught our class. We were able to catch up with people we had not seen for some time and also meet new people. Nobody told us Pepperdine is built on cliffs. Everyplace one goes it is either up stairs or down stairs. Not a campus for older people. Shuttles were a God send! Kathy has trouble with her hips and I was having problems with my knees. (explained below)
A good friend of ours from Okinawa days, Robert (Dan) Smith had invited
us up to Reno Nevada to share with the brethren about our work the Sunday following
the Lectureship. One of the Christians from Reno, Nancy, gave us a ride back
to Reno from Pepperdine.
We had a great day with the brethren in Reno on Sunday. Monday we bummed around
with Dan and we flew back to Tulsa on Tuesday and drove a rental car on to Joplin
on Wednesday.
Building Progress
By April 29th (four days after I sent the April report) I got the roof on, the
exterior cladding on (cement board), the louver windows and glass (had to cut
all 186 pieces to length) installed and the doors installed with locks. Left
when we get back is electrical wiring, plumbing, the interior walling and ceiling
and flooring (paint or linoleum). It is open space plan with only one wall section
walling off the toilet and bathroom area. The fewer the walls the cooler it
will be here in the tropics. At least it is secure and we have left some stuff
in there while we are gone. We will have to do a lot after we get back to make
it liveable but the Eton brethren are going to pour a slab for the verandah,
dig the septic system and get water pipes to the house from Morris' pipes across
the road (until we can dig our own well).
(By the time I finished building and left I could hardly walk as I had pulled and torn muscles around my right knee. The climbing up on and down ladders for three weeks took a toll. I am not 25 year old anymore!)
On my last Sunday I taught the last of my "Spiritual Gifts "
class, Morris talked and then we had fellowship lunch outside with everyone
wandered through the house to see how "Tobey builds". The house is
513 square feet of living space and has so far cost just under US$10,000. Small
but cozy!
April 24th
April 25th
April
26th warped back door frame
April 27th 
April 28th 
April 29th
Serving line at Eton with completed (at that time) house in the background(Top)
(Bot) Morris Felix, Eddie Karris, John Dean Karris
and Stephen Felix with containers in the background.
Sunday services at Eton congregation (we help build in 1998) with Morris Felix
giving the lesson (children coloring down front)
For comparison - here is what our nearest neighbors live in.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably
more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within
us, Ephesians 3:20
This scripture has proven true for Kathy and me in the many years (since 1975) we have stepped out in faith and been involved in the mission work overseas. I look back and realize that perhaps we have not had because we have not always ask or imagined. We have repented of that and are now seeing the Lord working to get the Bible School built there in Vanuatu. (We have land and a house build.) I pray for you to ask and imagine with us:
Vehicle Problems
One of the ways we can fix the vehicle problem (we have no vehicle except the
motorbike and vehicles are very expensive) we have in Vanuatu is to ship one
from here. We do not own one that we can ship from here but here is what we
could use: a small pickup or double cab pickup or a small SUV like a Subaru;
with automatic transmission (big enough to use to transport Morris and others
and Morris could drive with one leg).
If there is anyone who can help us by donating one in good condition (a newer model or we would even imagine a new one) we could arrange to have it shipped to Vanuatu. No duty on an imported vehicle for the school!
Do you have such a vehicle that you would be willing to donate to the Lord's work in Vanuatu or do you know a car dealer who needs a tax deduction?
As we continue to develop the school into a self-supporting institution we know we will be needing a tractor to help us till the soil for crops, to backhoe the building sites and etc. etc. Farm tractors can be imported into Vanuatu duty free. I am always amazed at the range of tractors Kabota makes in the TLB and the B series. They sell for under $20,000 with all the fixins as well as a trailer. Do any of you out there know where we can get a good tractor to ship to Vanuatu? It doesn't have to be Kabota, a John Deer would do as well but a newer if not a (imagine) new model would be best. We need one with a back hoe, brushhog, maybe plow, maybe post hole digger.....
"able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine"
Being back observations
Some people kid that we are back here on vacation. (Some even say we are on
vacation over in Vanuatu!) I wish it were so here (definitely deny it over there),
but not having our own car nor our own house (and bed) and living out of suitcases
for up to three months is really a sacrifice for us. I have already had to put
myself into "Time-out" in at least three Wal*Mart stores as I went
into sensory overload with all the STUFF and choices. I have also had to bite
my lip when I drive by new construction and see all the nice dry wood they use
in construction. Maybe (imagine) someone donating a container of dry framing
wood for the Bible School in Vanuatu?????
"able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine"
Other than doctor visits and the Sunday and Wednesday speaking engagements (when we can secure them) we are pretty much free the rest of the time unless we are traveling hither and yon to the speaking engagements. Which means we have a lot of free time on our hands and there is a lot of things we could be doing in Vanuatu - so yes it is a sacrifice for us to be here - but being here once every two years we must! (We do enjoy visiting and talking about the work the Lord has set before us! Just ask us - we will come! even other days other than Sunday and Wednesday!)
Many of you will remember that Joplin was hit by a F5 tornado last May. There are still signs of that and more disturbing is the path it cut is just 2 blocks from where we are staying with our son and his family. Two blocks away it leveled everything in a six mile long path and just 4 blocks West it was headed straight for their house but SOMETHING caused it to contract when it went through their area. Much of it is still leveled. The Lord was watching over them!
Kathy has already been to the dentist to get re-crowned and cleaned. I got my teeth cleaned and still need a filling fixed and a new partial plate made. I currently have an eating plate and a smiling plate of upper dentures. The smiling ones keep breaking off two of the front two teeth and I was running low on super glue. The eating denture has stronger front teeth but have broken off on the left side. So I change them out to eat and smile! Both dentures were made in Fiji - go figure!
I have also been to the VA for my physical the first week back: my blood tests came back great, my kidneys and liver are working fine, but my PSA came back high and the follow-up prostate biopsy that I was supposed to have in 2010 is scheduled for Monday May 21st at Fayetteville Ark. I am waiting for MRI's on both knees, talk with the orthopedic surgeon and a visit with the dermatologist for a reoccurring rash I have picked up in the South Pacific. (I think it is sweat rash but would like to know how to treat it better than just scratching myself to death!) I was also told I have a super active (I thought they were going to say imagination - but they said) thyroid!
We ate lunch with Jonah at his school this past week.
OUR plans (we will see what the Lord has in store) are to be in the States until August 16th when we are booked to fly back home to Vanuatu (to camp out until we get the house livable!). Kathy still needs a physical but cannot get in until after July 1st when new funding becomes available in the Missouri health system.
* We have been given the use of a Ford F150 truck to use while we are here thanks to the generosity of a family here in our sponsoring congregation. Thank you Smith's! (Their real name!)
Special needs
1. We have been blessed with a new laptop MacBook Pro. Thank
you R@Y!
2. We want to take back a heavy duty wheelchair for Morris if we can. We need
one that has wide rear wheels or maybe even rear dual wheels . He needs to be
able to travel on grass and gravel since we don't have any concrete footpaths
in the village. Wider wheels would do that. If we can't get a whole chair maybe
just replacement wheels. (If I have trouble getting it back on the airlines
I will just have Kathy ride in it or I could ride in it with my bad knees.)
3. A vehicle we can ship to Vanuatu.
4. A tractor and implements to help the development of the Bible School.
5. A container load of donated framing wood (2 x 4, 2 x 6) and building supplies
for the Bible School
"able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine"
Please write or call if you can help!
Financial Needs
As you have read moving to Vanuatu has been expensive and living there will
be expensive. We need to increase our monthly support $500-1,000. If you
can or know of someone who can help this need please pray about it and let us
know so we can come visit with them.
Even though we sold the idea of the Bible School to be located in Fiji it did
not prove, in our hindsight, to be what the Lord was thinking (maybe like Paul
being forbidden to go to where he thought was best). The move to Vanuatu had
shown that we are indeed moving forward with the Bible School concept after
4 years of no movement in Fiji. The house we are building right now at Eton
is a temporary house so that when we get back in August we will be out in Eton
and not paying rent in Port Vila ($900-1300 per month). We are trying to keep
the costs down but make it livable.
Moving out there will also let us start some Bible classes (using the Eton church building) and to get the ground cleared and the building started for more permanent buildings for the Bible school we have planned down the road. (Again - some of you want me to tough it out but Kathy deserves a more livable house.)
Please pray about these needs and if you can help in any way - please send it to the addresses below.
My phone number here in the USA is (417) 396-0371 - If you prefer to talk with Kathy her number is (417) 529-0866
If we cannot find a vehicle here to ship over it looks like we will really need to find funds for a more reliable vehicle. They cost between $15-25,000 in Vanuatu. (We can ship one for about $4500 (with other things we need inside it).
Additionally some of the needs we have as we move forward on the school property: house ($35,000) (the house we are currently building would be used for an additional teacher or Bible school student family); guttering, water tanks and pumps ($1,800); a solar hot water unit ($2,800); a bigger generator ($5,000) (there are no electrical lines out to the village at this time); a solar/wind power unit ($2,500); septic system ($1,200); a classroom ($12,000; a student dorm/rooms ($15,000).
Thank you so much for all of you who are supporting us and have contributed to our needs. God bless you! We look forward to being with you soon and sharing with you what the Lord is doing through us in this outpost of civilization.
Your seed sowing workers in the Kingdom.
Tobey & Kathy
Contributions for Huffs and building the Bible school, vehicle and house can be sent to:
Huffs/Bible School
c/ Mt Hope church of Christ
2830 Mt Hope Rd
Webb City MO 64870
or
Mailing Address:
PO Box 3229
Port Vila, Vanuatu
South Pacific
Ph:
(678) 710-1617
(678) 22-418