Bethany made it in Sunday night. No problems at the airport (except snow and sandals don't mix well). Ask for her pictures of her roommate with 8 legs. I am sure she will have much to tell when she catches her breath. She was able to see many of the kids.
Thank you again for your prayers, help us praise the Lord for His goodness.

They are back

The team returned from Chad tonight. They looked tan and tired. Pray for JD and Nathan, they are a little under the weather.
We had an email from Bethany (for the first time). She is doing well, but is coming to grips with reality, she asked us to bring her boots to the airport.
I am sure there will be additional reports from these as we go through a time of debriefing the next few days.
Thank you all for praying.

The Bears? Ancient history

took a step backwards on Tuesday, not as bad as Sunday. today i'm working again, i'll probably take a break from noon-3 as it's maybe 11 now & i'm starting to feel it. Yesterday was the hottest so far which doesn't help.

We're progressing, working from 7 to 6 when the sun is gone. We'll not get everything done that Mark had hoped for on the optimistic side, but i think we'll be able to finish all the things he has to have us for. Actually, we've already completed a lot of the biggest "skill" jobs and all the trusses are up on the roof now. His plan is/was to take the metal off of the old building to use on the new one, which would only require a couple of the local guys helping him.

Tell Faith to email me, JD & i want to know if the Bears made the playoffs.

p.s. Blago's Senate appointment/rejection made the BBC last night. We're famous

Late Monday night from Chageen

Just wanted to ask you send on some prayer requests to the college age group tonight. You can pass them on to the parents as well & even the facebook group....i wonder if many are checking it. We have a lot of work left, things work a little differently here...Mexico is pure luxury compared to here...Wal Mart & Carl's Jr. But we've got all the windows & trusses for the roof made & have began to get the roof up. It's not the safest, lots of walking on top of 9 foot walls with large wooden trusses. We're running into some calulation problems with our geometry...JD is coming through big time with the measurment/calculation stuff.
Anyway, i'm a bit under the weather. I was fine until Saturday night, i was out on the walls all Saturday hacksawing...might have contributed to Montezuma's revenge. I took Sunday off (they went to a church in another villege) i would have never made it. I was strong enough to work this morning, but i faded throughout the day & i'm still not back. Please pray for our health, and for sleep. Russ barely gets any & JD & i are in a different place surrounded by goats & chickens (outside) that make noise all night...not to mention the drums & people awake at all hours. Disperse this knowledge, hope you get this in time for Bible study, i know they'd love to pray for us. Tell Steve & Luke we wished they were here, they almost made me weld...i dodged that bullet as Russ took one for the team

James Shields

Pastor Fred called today. He had heard from Jim that Social Security called jim and told him he was approved (and would need to come in to fill out some more paperwork). Uncertain when the first check will come, but Jim and Pastor Fred were rejoicing. Join us in thanking the Lord. Physically he is about the same. An 82 year old Lady is willing to rent a 1 bedroom place to them in the area of their son as soon as he gets an official document from SS.

Report from Russ and Fred (no word from Nathan)

Sunday was a much needed day of rest for the team in Chad. They attended a church about 7 miles away (except Nathan who was not feeling too well). Continue to pray for rest for the whole team, they are having trouble sleeping due to the heat Also pray for the work and the Lord's encouragement, they had hoped to be a little further along.
Carolyn gathered the above info from Donna and Julie who seem to be doing well themselves. You better pray for Nathan ( his mother has not heard from him lately).

Chad: The beat (and bleat ) goes on.

Bonani was a big new years celebration in the village. They were working hard building trusses for the roof this past week. They are having a little trouble sleeping, the drums and the goats maintain a little different sleep pattern than they are used to. Keep praying.