Dear 'family',

We want to send your our greetings, tell you that we are healthy, and thank you for keeping us in your prayers! We have seen God busy in our lives and in those of our neighbors here.

So, here's the scoop on our decisions, and projects:

School: We try not to be negative, but I knew last year when I visited Lassin for the first time, that the structure of the school had problems- the mud brick walls were cracked badly, the concrete is so soft in places that you can break it off and crumble it with your hands. Many walls were leaning precariously, and one had even fallen down. The bright spot was the roof, it looks great and doesn't leak. The classroom that we're using was constructed first and the quality is acceptable. We are so thankful for this room! However, I have very seriously considered abandoning the facility to build a new one. After much thought, prayer, and discussion we have decided to 'repair' the existing structure. This year's work will involve 'classroom 2'. We will replace the two outer walls, replace the rafters, and put a concrete floor in. I hired Gregory to 'mud' 500 bricks; they look great! He is 'dredging' sand from the local stream to make the new concrete. It's clean and beautiful; the pile is impressive. He's put it inside of classroom 2 to make access easy. When the children are away for Christmas break, we'll 'scatter' the walls, hire a few more fellows to rebuild them. Then we'll rebuild the rafters from straight and very strong eucalyptus wood. Last, we'll pour the floor and stucco the walls inside and out. We'll be busy for the next few months, but we'll also be ready to expand the school next year while conserving on expansion expense, but not on construction quality. Next year, we'll replace every wall of classroom 3 and the offices, and perform each type of concrete work.

Perspective: although the school was 'built' and very significant work had been done before we came, there was much carpentry and concrete work left to be done. We are very thankful for the months and months of sweat, long trips, negotiation work, labor contracts, financial load and PRAYER that brother Charles and our friends from Din have provided before we came!
Thanks to them, we were able to begin school 22 days after our arrival in town. This is incredible.

Just a note to 'touch your heart'. The other day, I was walking home from school when the sound of singing caught my ear. Our only Falani student, a Muslim girl, was walking down the path toward me singing, 'with Jesus in the family, happy happy home.' Sure keeps the perspective of why we're here!

Steve and Carol