October 26, 2015
Dearest Friends and family
CONTINUED REBUILDING
I have been able to get the car port on the side of the container rebuilt so
Kathy's car can be under cover.
Kathy's car is a 2013 Toyota Yaris. It gives her transportation and us a second car which is more fuel efficient. She doesn't trust the Red Truck.
I also built an extended shelter over the work area so I can have my table saw more accessible.
We got the wood flashing put up on the dormitory at the school.
Gomon, Juju and myself (on the ladder)
Just today I put the louver frames and the glass windows
in the dormitory. We still have to put up some masonite on the inside and caulk
it, trim it and get it repainted. Then we can get the lights, switches and electrical
installed.
BOB SUL FAMILY HOUSE
We helped the Bob Sul family, from the congregation, get a new house built.
The Rotary Club in Auckland New Zealand put up a shell house with metal siding.
We helped him put a cement floor in and changed out the metal walls for cement
sheeting outside, masonite inside, put in a door and the louvers and the glass
for the windows.
BEFORE:
The shell house
Rebuilt:
We still have several rebuild projects on the books for some of the brethren
here in Eton. We are getting the wood, roofing and everything we need together
so we can tackle them in the next few weeks. We still have much work at the
school and the school property and even here at the house. Just so many hours
in a day and there is always something new needing repair.
BEACH WORKS
There are still a lot of trees down from the cyclone in March and I was asked
to help the Sul larger family clean a beach they own and get income from.
So the little red tractor and me, Goman, Juju, Tal and Sul spent two days hauling off cut up trees and then shifting a lot of sand the cyclone had deposited inland. While trying to pick up one large piece of tree one of the hydraulic hoses blew so Goman and I had to make a trip to town and try to get a replacement. HAHAHAHAHA! We finally found a place that could make us one but they did not have the proper end pieces so what they did was use the connectors on the old hose and use new hose. Cost: $160. That's right - about 8 times more than if I went to Tractor Supply or Atwoods. But we had to have it so we paid, got it back and put it on the tractor and finished the work.
For the two days they cooked me lobster for lunch!
Cleaning trees off the beach
EL NINO
Since the May we have had no substantial rainfall and are in a severe drought.
Most the the village people here rely on rain water and are having a hard time
right now, especially on other smaller islands. We had watched many of the local
rivers on our island slowly drying up, and then our well gave up the ghost.
The pump was sucking sand and was ruined and we found that the well was not
deep enough nor was it in a proper water source. The man who drilled it 2 years
ago is no longer here and in fact most of the wells he dig were not dug in the
right place. So, as if I don't have enough to do I had to start hauling water
from the well at the school (luckily it is in a water source). I had a 500 liter
tank on the back of the truck, I would go to the school fill it up and come
back and pump it either into the upper 1500 liter tank or the additional 1100
liter tank I bought to use at the school later. I averaged three trips every
other day. It took about 45 minutes to transfer 500 liters.
To save on water we started using the rinse water from the washing to water the flowers and gardens. I used this water also to water the banana and papaya trees in the yard. The grass is dead. We do not expect conditions to improve until 2016.
I was finally able to locate and call an Australian man who drills water wells and he came out and divined that there was a river under our property going to the sea, just not where the current well was. He said he could help us out and would give us a 'cost price' since we were working with the Bible School (even though he has no religious leanings at all). He brought his compressor truck to the property and had to go back and get his drill unit. During the previous job the exhaust pipe to the muffles rusted out and he was trying to find piping to fix it. I did not have any steel pipe the size we needed but one of his men and I took some sheet metal and rolled some into a pipe design and were able to repair the exhaust for him. When he got back he started everything up and when he did hear the un-mufflered compressor he came over to look and and then gave me a thumbs up and shouted "I knew you would have it fixed before I got back!"
Twenty five days after the well packed up we were able to get a PROPER well dug. We hit water at 7.5 meters (24.6 feet) and have it down to 14 meters (50 feet). The old well was 7.5 meters to 9 meters but the refresh rate was not sufficient and the pump was sucking sand. Pumps do not like sand! We have to get a new pump also.
Drilling and we HAVE WATER!
THIS 'N' THAT -Feeling Old-timer
I was really feeling like an oldie this past month. I have two ATM cards on
the same bank. One on our personal account the other a work account. I tried
to use one but the ATM was down so I put it in my pocket and headed for another
ATM. When I got there I took the card out of my wallet but it said it was the
wrong pin. I have had this problem before so I tried two more times and the
machine kept the card, said I could pick it up at the main branch later. Then
I realized I had put the personal card in my pocket and had gotten the work
card out of my wallet which had a different pin. I started looking in my pocket
for the first card and then realized some fuses I had bought and the ATM card
I had in a cargo pocket were not there anymore. So one card in the machine and
the other lost. I had to get the bank to reissue the personal card and it took
five days for them to find the other card in their ATM less than 2 miles from
the main branch and three days to reissue the lost card and new pin number.
Kathy had her debit card but not the PIN so she had to request a new PIN.
CHICKENS
Before the cyclone we had bought some day old broiler chicks. We still have
one rooster and one layer. We also still have 7 village type layer chickens,
they are much smaller and do not put on much meat. With the local chicken farms
not back up I have not been able to buy any new day old chicken to raise so
I thought I would go ahead and try to incubate my own. The rooster is huge so
the local chicken stay away from him and do not let him mate. However he does
mate with the large layer and her eggs are fertile. So I have her eggs in the
incubator. So far two have hatched and I have about 12 more to go. In the mean
time two Christian brothers brought me day old village chicks and I have 18
of them in the chicken house feeding them. I have made arrangement with a local
chicken house and they are planning to being some day old broiler chicks the
end of November. We are going ahead and building a chicken house at the school
so we can raise them there as well.
Local
chicken egg on the left, my broiler hen egg on the right (most double yolked)
I know why she clucks so loud after laying her egg!
GOATS
The small brown goat was very sick this past month and we had to visit the vet
in town. They thought she might have eaten some local wild kava root so they
treated her and she came home. She did get a bit better and then turned for
the worse and was found dead by the dormitory by Goman one morning. That leaves
us with one black, boar, female goat but we might get a chance to get a male
later this year.
DODGE RAM TRUCK
The Dodge Ram we bought for the school last month is off the road. Goman took
it into town to get it inspected so we could register it and after he refueled,
it would not start. He had to tow it back to my house. I found it had blown
the fuel pump fuse but that was not the whole story. The fuel pump fuse is connected
to the Automatic Shutdown Relay and every time I replaced the fuse it popped
again and if I used a wire for a fuse it would activate the air compressor relay
and several other relays which indicated a direct short somewhere. It ended
up being the Powertrain Control Module (computer) which I have ordered from
the USA and wait for it to get here (3-4 weeks). Sometimes if it were not for
bad luck I would have no luck at all! It will be a good truck once we get the
kinks worked out. It was also having trouble shifting automatically so I ordered
the parts but have since found the electrical connectors on the transmissions
were not connected so the transmission might be alright.
We have been able to fix up the two trailers we got in the deal and have been
using them to haul local cut wood from the bush back here to the school for
use in the ongoing rebuilding program.
SEVENTH DAY ADVENT CONFRONTATION
The local SDA church decided to have a crusade in the village for two weeks
this month. They had preaching EVERY night for two weeks at the village meeting
area (about 150 meters from our house) not from their compound further down
the road (about 300 meters from our house).
Starting every night at 5:30-6:00 pm with ear busting
music then their pastor ranting and raving after that until 8:30-9:00 pm or
so (starving children is a sign Jesus is about to come back - give me a break!),
which was blasted out for everyone to hear from their speaker system. We could
not even talk to each other in our house with the windows and the doors closed
without raising our voices. I talked with one of their leaders and he said they
were just trying to get a small message out - HA HA HA!
To make matters even worse the school here was having additional night studies
for the Form 6 and 7 students getting them ready for the upcoming exams which
will decided if they can continue their studies or not. The school classes had
to be postponed because of the SDA production, which out of courtesy they could
have scheduled another time in deference of the upcoming exams for the local
children. It just shows a lack of respect for anyone else when the SDA group
cranks up their amplifiers and blasts their message so even the man in the moon
can hear it. I could not get anyone here to do anything. One village leader
said, "I can't complain about the noise (even though he lived next door
to the event) because then the village people would talk about me." He
could not understand my look of unbelief. So Kathy talked me into writing a
letter to the editor and even when it was printed the sound was not muted. I
did hear that the SDA leaders have told the village saw mill men NOT TO SELL
me anymore of the village cut wood. We will see how that goes as I have been
the only one buying what they are cutting at the moment. When I told Steven
Felix about that he said if they did boycott me then we could just get his friends
to cut logs off his farm.
I spoke to the congregation on Sunday about what the Bible teaches about Sabbath keeping and other errors that the SDA practice in the name of "Christianity". The brethren were strengthened and also took tracts I had printed to give out to their families and friends. I have called for a debate with the SDA leaders but they are basically cowards and since they cannot prove their beliefs from the Bible they will keep hollering from their pulpits and not give anyone time to question their belief system in an open forum.
EARTHQUAKE
Some of you emailed asking how we were after the 7.5 earthquake that hit north
of us last week. Kathy was at home and felt it but I was at the beach moving
cut trees so I didn't feel it. It was far enough away and deep enough we did
not have any problems but we live on the earthquake fault and know a big one
can hit at anytime.
SIN IS SIN
This past week saw 15 of our members of parliament (we have 52) sentenced from
3-4 years jail for bribery charges. For months the trial has been going on and
most people felt it would just be thrown out like past trials because these
are members of parliament. However this time it has been shown that no one is
above the law.
The rebuilding is a partnership with all of you who have contributed and continue to give to the needs we have here. Thank you so very, very much and those of the brethren we have helped and continue to help in recovering from the after effects of cyclone Pam say, THANK YOU!
Thus far we have expended over $32,000 on relief efforts and have about $1,000 in the account over here right now. In order for us to complete the planned projects for the local brethren rebuilds as well as help with the deepening drought situation we need to ask for your help of additional funding of $15,000-20,000.
Some of this request is because some
travelling brotherhood missionaries from other countries had promised help but
this has been shown to be only lip service. If you can help, the sooner the
better. Thank you so very much and may God continue to bless you!
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 and
fellowship!
Thank you Lord for healing and providing what we need!
Grace & Peace
Tobey & Kathy Huff
Ph: (678) 596-4821 (Vanuatu) We do texting.
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PS A cyclone relief fund has been set up at our sponsor and Jason can give instructions if anyone wants to wire TT money straight to our bank account there.
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