Dear friends!

We have had a bit of excitement lately. On January 6, Carol came home from school and announced that the roof over the construction area (classrooms 3 and 4) had shifted to the East. Naphtali had noticed and told her that it needed to be braced. He and I drove to the school to brace it. It had in fact shifted about 2 inches. The pressure from the stable portion of the roof and the hand of God were all that kept the school safe. Let me paint a mental picture: 60 x 40 feet of sheet metal roof was supported by only one wall while the other 3 walls had been ‘scattered’ and were in process of being rebuild. The remaining wall was supported by portions of two internal walls, but these were not up to the task. Oh yes, the rafters were supported vertically by strong eucalyptus poles, but the lateral support was ‘a bit shy’. A photo will come some time.

The progress on the school is exciting. We should be able to provide the entire primary school education (class 1 – 6) – provided we have teachers. Know any?

Next bit of excitement… Our church family would like to build a church on a piece of land of its own. We’re renting and this is mostly good, but land for a church could also provide other benefits such as a nice location for gardening and teacher housing- close to town and closer to the school. This is not really an expensive proposition as the Fon of Lassin has promised to give us land. Labor for bricks and other things is reasonable, roofing is ‘expensive’, but all-in-all a church is the next logical step after the school is completed. Housing is last, as for now our rental house is fine- we have a shower with a concrete floor and a drain piped to the septic tank! We have one more bedroom that will provide two lucky people a place to stow their stuff some day. Bedroom number two is occupied by Nadia, from Australia, an ‘Arise’ graduate, and energetic bible worker. We are happy to have her with us in the home and in the community.

I would love to discuss finances in concrete terms, but it is enough to say that God has provided well.

Last note, I said that your gifts were not tax deductible. Well, if you hand them to my dad, they are not. If you give them to Gospel Ministries International, then they are. My dad has been a big help with facilitating transfer of funds! Enough talk of money. Continue to keep us in your prayers. We do the same for you!

I must tell ‘one more story’. We received two boxes containing 12 new church hymnals! Thanks WR & PR! You should have seen the faces and heard the squeals of delight from our church members. How nice it is for each person to have one. Last night, Wednesday, we had mid week meeting. Naphtali and Franklin each had a hymnal. Flashlight in hand, they read and sang the hymns that they chose. The two kerosene lamps lit the room enough to see the 20 or so children, but the hand ‘torches’ were required for reading. Don’t get any ideas about lighting, we’re happy.

Love from Lassin,
Steve & Carol