Our first trip to the bath house project in Wyoming has begun!
As you may recall, we are involved in helping facilitate the building of a large bath house at Haven on the Rock camp. As the building season ended last year we wrapped up pouring stub walls on the foundation in the snow. At the time we were pretty discouraged due to the work not going well and a decline in community support for the project. Both of these have been getting extra efforts in prayer.
We are very pleased to report how God is at work. We are seeing God’s provision in some local people stepping up to serve on the project. It looks like we have an electrician and a plumber who are willing to act as local point men and possibly supervise volunteer work teams. We would really like to see some additional roles volunteering as well. Lord willing we have at least two larger groups coming out for about a week each. All the specifics are still getting worked out so keep them in prayer.
The goal of this trip is to assess the current state of the project, materials and grounds and prepare the next steps for construction. A group is planning to come out to help on Saturday and we are praying that with a large enough group we could frame the remaining exterior walls and prepare for assembly.
As so often happens when one steps out to serve God, we’ve encountered a bit of
opposition.
At Home: Amy and one particular child spent part of a day in urgent care for the tip of an earbud lodged in an ear canal. We are thankful that we were able to get in quickly and it worked out alright. Pray that she and the kids stay sane homeschooling, working, and fending off a mild fever that seems to be making the rounds.
On the road: Chester made it out to Scottsbluff (1.5 hrs from camp) and during a quick break discovered a blown bearing on the trailer. We are incredibly thankful for God’s protection – it could have gone very badly. Zach, the director at Haven on the Rock, drove out with a car trailer to pick up Chester’s trailer, and late that night they made it back to his house. This morning, Chester continued (without the trailer) out to camp. He is hoping to inspect the damage on the trailer on Friday but initially it appears that the axle is beyond repair. We expect replacement to be at least $2K so are asking for God’s wisdom and provision. Pray that if it’s not reasonably repairable, that God would provide a replacement at the right time and price.
At the Camp: Another little bit of opposition is Wyoming weather. Rain for the past several days have left the camp road almost impassable. Their type of soil makes a super slick, almost slimy mucky mud. It is about 10 miles of low maintenance country road to the camp and 2 miles from the road to the buildings. It took Chester more than an hour to drive it this morning. Mudding is fun, but less so when you do not have cell phone access and it is miles to the next neighbor. We are thankful he made it onsite. We’re praying that it clears up and dries out enough for the work party planned for Saturday.
Thank you for joining us on this adventure. We love seeing God provide and work through your prayers. Thank you for praying for us and supporting us. It makes a difference!