Restoration Ranch

Sleeping outside and fighting off the mosquitos was not our plan for the construction team we had visiting us this last week. You know what they say about the best laid plans. The house we had rented across the street from the farm that will be Restoration Ranch did not work out well for the team. So we took the borrowed mattresses and cots over to the little house that is already on the farm and manage to get a few of the guys in the room upstairs. The rest found places under one of the two gazebos. The five people under the larger gazebo were fairly comfortable during the hours when there was electricity. The fan kept the mosquitos at bay. The two men under the smaller gazebo had no fan, so I assume they never did get comfy! Electricity was unreliable of course. While we have gotten moderately accustomed to that in the 11 years we have been here, it is still a shocker to people that come over from the States for a week or two hoping to accomplish great things for the Lord. While they are putting heart and soul into their work they have to battle the constant lack of what should be normal every day items - such as running water and electricity. Ah, life in a developing nation. How interesting it can be!

This particular team came from South Carolina and consisted of 10 people. Among them were electricions, a plumber, an engineer, a home improvement pro, a nurse, and more. They accomplished so much during their tough week with us. (They are the first team we ever 'housed' outdoors!) We all agreed, however, that it was nice to right there on the property all week, and not hours away having to drive in every morning. We set the gas stove up under the gazebo and cooked meals right there. The wife of our farm worker, Marta, cooked several of our evening meals, and everyone enjoyed them tremendously. The gazebo is wired for electricity, when there is any so we plugged up the coffee pot and had good Dominican coffee every morning. The mornings when we had no electricity, we cranked up the little generator and perked our coffee that way. Where there is a will, there is a way. And there was certainly a will!

More later. Have a great day.