1Mar12
Time is flying for this journey in Haiti.
Unfortunately, it means that I have also not made much progress towards the long term goals of establishing a workshop, holding training seminars, or building a factory.
However, that doesn’t mean good work hasn’t been done.
God has placed some very interesting people and projects in my path.
As I’ve talked about before, things are going very well with MIA out in Les Cayes. The new guest house/farm resource center is moving along quite well. I am super excited to see all the progress in the community as it grows from a very poor, daily needs driven community, to one that seeks to build up the economy through agricultural production.
Also, in Jacmel, I was blessed to work with Sister Bonite again. Although I hated to see that her inverter had been broken, I was glad that I got to install a new one for her.
Without getting into too much detail, I think the new inverter will help her entire system because I switched to a 48Volt inverter, and the TS-45 charge controllers will be able to provide twice as much power each day since they charge at constant current and I doubled the voltage.
Now I am in Grand Goave again.
This week has been great so far. I am hanging out with 45 people from the World Race.
This group will be traveling to 11 countries in 11 months. Currently, they are on month 2 after spending January in the Domincan Republic.
They have been great to build friendships with, sharing in worshop and awesome stories of how God is working in their lives. It’s also been a great time for me to share with them, especially about my thoughts on safety and God’s providence.
It’s also been very good for me, that as I share, I also re-evaluate where I am in my standing with God. I can talk about how much I trust Him to provide, but this week, as I was talking with the team, I felt my heart stirring that I was not living out all the talk as much these days. God has provided a truck and a lot of things for me here, and I was letting it become a time of complacency, where I was not fully trusting in Him.
So, I’ve been back on my knees, drawing nearer to Him this week, and it’s been awesome.
In the play-by-play realm of updates, this week has been a time to work on my truck.
I emptied and washed the interior of the cab, and now I am going around cabinet by cabinet, emptying the tools, cleaning them, cleaning the cabinet, and organizing.
Today I sanded and repainted the floor of the back of the truck and the bottom of the power tools cabinet. Both were starting to show rust, so I cleaned them and put on rustoleum to try to quell the problem.
I also put two racing stripes on my hood to cover some other paint chips, though I will have to repaint them at a later date since the spray paint did not bond well with the previous paint job.
Wish List: (to add to what I already sent Josh, Dan, and Dad)
-Welding Mask from Harbor Freight (Auto-Darkening, watch for them to go on sale, should be able to get for ~$35-40.)
-Strap for my Miller Pro-Hobby Series Mask. (There’s a welding supply shop in Hornerstown, between Dale Oxygen and Advanced Auto on the riverfront road).
-Ear Plugs, and maybe 1 set of hearing protection (ear muff style)
-Surgical Masks, or something else for working in a dusty environment
-Bottle Opener (Coke is great in glass bottles here)
-F1 T-shirts. Both colors, variety of sizes.
-iPod charging cable. Mine disappeared recently.
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Awesome praise reports:
-As I was cleaning my truck, I found my Klein Clamp Meter. I thought it was stolen about 2 months ago. Pretty excited about that.
-Also, I’m pretty stoked about the team coming from Johnstown next week, and the team comgin from DC the week after. God is awesome for setting these teams up.
-And, I found out today that Josh won a snowboard trip to Utah through work. Pretty excited for him (and a bit jealous if i’m honest), but I’ll be hanging out with Dan, Cherith, and Megan that week, so it’s all good.
Need Help:
-I need to know 2 things:
(1) What type of tubing (like IV tubing, or rubber piping) can I submerse in Sulfuric Acid (in batteries) without it reacting poorly? I want to make an automatic battery watering system…
(2) Where can I find a water meter for a 3″ or 4″ PVC line? I have found meters for 3/4″ lines, but I need to find for our main distribution lines now.
(3) Is it possible to get a small dehumidifier for the truck? It could be AC or DC powered, or maybe I can rig it with a solar panel. Basically, since I have no Air conditioning, rainy days create too much humidity in the cab with the windows closed, and the windows fog up pretty bad as a result.
