Where credit is due

Particularly on the last two trips into the tribe, I’ve realised that there are several ‘skills’ or ‘tricks of the trade’ I’ve learned from people who have crossed my path in life and been using quite a bit.  Without knowing these things, my tasks could’ve been much more frustrating and time consuming.  So without further ado, let me share four of them that I’ve learned and give the credit where it is due.

First, and foremost, I’d like to give credit to my Dad and oldest brother, Richard.  Ever since I can remember, I’ve enjoyed working with wood.  Taking a piece of rough lumber and creating something useful and/or beautiful with it is something I hope to never tire of.  I used to watch my Dad as he would work on making things in his spare time, and he would take his time putting so much attention and detail into it, so it would turn out just right.  My brother Richard, hired me to work in his wood shop after I finished high school and then off and on through our missionary training.  It was he who taught me how to inspect each piece of lumber, examine the grain and then work the wood with the grain in order to have it come out straight and smooth.  He showed me how to think and plan through the process of creating things I’d never done before and were sometimes unconventional. This has proved to be very valuable as all the lumber we’ve been using for our house comes in a very raw form.  (Just ask my Dad!)  Each piece has to be inspected to figure out the best way to mill it down into lumber that is being used for everything from framing to kitchen cabinets.  Thanks Dad and Richard.

Second, I’d like to recognise a couple of friends from our home church, who I had opportunity to work with at various times in between our phases of missionary training.  Ron and Frank are two men that used to operate custom stair and railing businesses.  It was while working for them that I learned the principles involved in laying out and building a set of stairs and railings.  This has been so helpful to remember as I just built a temporary set of stairs to get up to the front door of our house.  I’m also planning out the stairs for both the porch and inside the house, so it was helpful in knowing how to calculate the length of the stringers by knowing the height of the rise of the stairs and the width of each tread.  Thanks Ron and Frank.

Third, I’d like to say thanks to Robert for showing me how to re-sharpen the blades of the thickness planer.  Robert came with Adam from one of our supporting churches to work on our house back in February.  I had commented to him how it seems to not take very long for the blade to get dull, because the wood we are using is extremely hard.  He proceeded to explain and show me how to use a sharpening stone to simply put the edge back on the blades.  What a difference it made!  We are now able to get much more use out of them before needing to take them to Manila to be sharpened at a machine shop.  Thanks Robert.

Fourth, let me express gratitude to Alistair for showing me a simple, little method of removing stubborn little screws.  Alistair came with the New Zealand guys to help us on the house back in March.  On one occasion he noticed I had the grinder out and I was standing over the thickness planer about to grind a slot into an Allen key screw (used to hold the blades in place).  He showed me how to use a crescent wrench as an extension on the Allen key to give it more leverage.  Amazingly, it worked, and has made a world of difference and saved me a lot of grief since then in changing the planer blades.  Thanks Alistair.

Finally, (I know this actually makes five) I’d like to show great appreciation to Bethel Evangelical Missionary Church in Lion’s Head.  It is because of them that we have been able to repair 2 pumps and replace 2 pumps in our village.  One of the pumps, located near our house, which we were able to replace had been broken for years, and now it has become a main source of water for all the neighbours.  They are thrilled to not have to walk to the other side of the village to fetch water anymore.  So on behalf of all the people in our village, thank you everyone at Bethel EMC!

by Chuck