We are excited to report that we are making fast progress on several fronts:
 Roof - our big blue roof is 80 percent complete. We have had a LOT of rain ove the past two days that has kept the roofing guys from finishing the job. As soon as they are done, they are to begin building the ceilings on the second floor.
Stucco - the stucco contractor will be done with the inside within a couple of days, then he will move to the outside of the house and he says he can have the outside done within a week.
 Tile - David (a member of our original crew) has come back to work for us and he and another man are finishing out room by room downstairs. It should be about two weeks before the tile work is complete downstairs.
Paint - Tim has trained a local guy to use the paint sprayer and he will paint each room after the tile is complete. Kim and Ashanti will follow up doing the detail work.
 Windows - Tim hired a local guy to do the welding on the window bars and install the windows. He works quickly and we should have them all installed within two weeks.
We have designed window bars that are strong but will look like multi-paned windows so they do not look like window bars (if that makes sense). We are mounting the bars far enough from the windows to allow clearance for cleaning windows.
Veranda - we put a veranda on the front of house and poured the concrete for it on Wednesday. It is nice and big and will be good for entertaining or just sitting out catching a breeze.
 As you can tell from the pictures, we are putting the Blue in Bluefields. We are glad that we brought the roofing material from the US because the guys told us that they cannot even get material this strong from Managua.
We have had some really heavy rain the past 24 hours and the roofing has sealed very well. The local guys were worried that the screws would leak, but they have not.
Our electricity has been really wierd. The 220 is not working. Normally on 220, you have two 110 volt legs that are in opposite "phases" to each other which creates a 220 volt differential. Well, sometimes the second leg is dead, or sometimes it is in the same "phase" as the first leg.
When the second leg is dead, sometimes it will come back on and operate normally if I turn the radial arm saw on and back off (I swear, this is true). Never a dull moment. We have contacted the electric company several days ago and they promised to come out and look at it manana . . . whenever that is . . .
We still do not have internet or phone service, and it might be several months before we get it. The phone system is badly overloaded and they are installing a new fiber optic system which will be really good when it is installed (we hope). For now, it works fine to use the internet cafe.
Thank you for continuing to pray for us and thank you for your faithful gifts. We see the results every day and soon our updates will be filled with ministry reports and pictures.
God bless you,
Tim and Kim |
