February 2007 Adventures

We mentioned in January about the baptisms we had.  We took a video of the entire afternoon.  This month we have been traveling to each church and showing the video.  How fun it is to hear people laugh as they see themselves, for the first time, on the “big screen” (actually, a king size sheet hung up in the front of the church).  It has been fun!

For such a short month, we have really been busy.  We now have 4 separate projects going, so we meet ourselves coming & going!  We are still working on the Susannah Wesley School, building the new pastor’s home at Quinta Linea, raising the roof at Tacuapi, and drilling wells!  Let’s take a look.

The Susannah Wesley School is just about finished!  PTL!  We still think that the closer the school comes to being “finished” the slower our work crew works.  Check out the new section we’ve added to the web site “Susannah Wesley School in Quinta Linea”, with lots more photos.  Here are just a couple of recent shots.

This is from the front with the new paint.  On the right is the corridor with the nice new tile

The pastor’s house next to the school is also just about finished.  The family is already living in the house, just waiting on the finishing touches such as paint. 

The photo on the left shows the front of the house.  The photo on the right shows the new oven and stove.  This is a very typical stove/oven combination used inside houses.  The small door on the left accesses the oven, which is heated with wood under the burners.  Quite efficient, but it does make the kitchen very hot!

This month we’ve been raising the roof at our small church in Tacuapi.  In addition to a new roof, we are also adding 2 Sunday school rooms.  We are excited to see this project get underway as it is really needed.  The children were having Sunday school under the trees behind the church – when there wasn’t rain.  During construction we’ve been having services at the pastor’s house across the street.

We’ve even managed to sneak in well drilling this month.  We drilled another well where we installed a hand pump.  This project is at the home of Felix, the former pastor of Quinta Linea.  This is another new settlement that doesn’t have electricity.  This is a photo of the drill site and Felix’s family watching.

On a sad note, we dedicate this month’s Adventures to Harry Westmoreland.  He is the man who developed and built our drilling equipment.  He spent 2 weeks here in Paraguay with us in 2003, showing us how to use the equipment, basic drilling instructions, how to properly develop our drilling mud, and lots of fellowship.  Harry was a strong Christian and co-founder of Living Water International, who drills wells for the less fortunate all over the world.  Harry went to be with our Creator on February 26, 2007.

Just as the Lord takes home a dedicated Warrior, the Lord gives us a new life.  AnaBelen Dickson was born on February 22, 2007.  She is the daughter of Christian and Angelica Dickson, missionaries also with The Mission Society.  This is the first baby born on this field to Methodist missionary parents.  We welcome AnaBelen to our missionary family.

AnaBelen Davenport Dickson Born: February 22, 2007

We apologize for this month’s report being so long, but there was just so much happening, it was hard to leave out anything!  Also, we remind you to take a peek at other sections on this web site.  It is always hard to decide which photos to include in this report.  Hope you enjoy reading.