Helping Hands

So here I am, finally sitting down to say thank you to all who have come over here to help us get our tribal house to where it is today.  THANK YOU!  At the beginning of the year we had no idea how it was going to all come together, but the Lord reminded us to simply trust Him and watch Him make it happen.  In all, 8 men came from various places literally from around the world to assist us. 

First, Grant came.  Grant is a single guy and friend of ours whom we have known since our Bible college days more than 10 years ago.  He also is serving with NTM here in a different region.  Grant was with us for two weeks in January and was a great blessing in helping to finish preparing the lumber.  Thanks Grant.

Then came Adam and Robert from one of our churches back in  Ontario.  Adam told me that he really felt the Lord wanted him to come and help, but didn’t know if it would work out.  Everything came together, and Robert was willing to accompany him.  They were here for 10 days, and we were able to get the 1st floor plywood down and walls framed.  Thanks Adam and Robert.

Plans for the next 3 guys didn’t come together until 2 weeks before they showed up.  Tosh, Dave and Alistair arrived on the jeep in the village which came to pick up Adam, Robert and my family.  Talk about perfect timing!  Only God could make it happen as smoothly as it did.  These 3 came from New Zealand, and boy could they work!  They framed up the second story, put up the roof and got the siding on 3 sides of the house.  Thanks Tosh, Dave and Alistair.

While our New Zealanders were here, Ryan also came in to lend a hand.  Ryan and his family are enroute here in the Philippines to serve fulltime, and he wanted to come beforehand to see what’s happening.  We were able to make good use of him as he helped me with much of the bracing inside the house.  Ryan was able to see firsthand the tribal work in the beginning stages as he watched us building not just our house, but also relationships with the local people we will one day be able to share the Gospel message with.  Thanks Ryan.

Of course, where would our house be without Bob.  Bob and his wife  are serving here as associates from Australia.  His building experience as a professional contractor has been invaluable to us as he has helped to orchestrate this building project from the beginning.  Bob was able to come in again and help during the time the guys from New Zealand were with us.  Thanks Bob.

Finally, (I know, this makes more than 8) Erik was a huge blessing to me.  He kept busy going in and out of the tribe, picking up supplies and people, and ordering parts for the thickness planer (more than once!) from the U.S.  He and Grant planed thousands of board feet of lumber and carried many gallons of water. When Shannon and the kids left, Erik jumped in and became ‘chief cook and bottle washer’.  He kept everything running smoothly behind the scenes in so many ways.  Thanks so much Erik.  Much appreciated.

By Chuck