Mutton Sandwich

I have found this great sandwich here in town that is sold by a handicapped person down at the bus station. He starts with lamb meat rubbed with his special rub and skewered with bicycle spokes over a charcoal stove. He then has French baggette bread that he puts the meat into. Then, he adds onions, tomatoes, oil, more of his "special rub" and then wraps it in cement bag paper that he has just hit with his hand to get the rest of the cement off of. It reminds me of the movie "Princes Bride" when Billy Crystal talks about his "mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich." It is a great sandwich. The problem here is that they don't know germ theory. Last week, the guy ran out of oil that was in a small plastic bag as he was squirting it on one of the sandwiches, so he grab another bag and BIT the corner off of the new bag and kept on squirting on the oil. Ed, Dan and I laughed and said that is something you don't see in America. We ate the sandwiches and they were good (we didn't get sick either). If you can get them hot, that's just a special bonus.

Big Advances

Our third building is really taking shape. The color is being put on and the final cement work is being done. We are working hard on the electrical, tile, and plumbing. We have a work team from Southgate coming in January to help with the plumbing. This is the dream team of plumbing and we are really looking forward to their arrival. The "Ronald McDonald house" as I call it is almost finished. I only needs the color put on. When I say "the color put on" I mean that color is added to the crepisage or stucko. Its the final coat of cement added to the buildings. Next in line is a new concrete incinerator. The old one has a metal chimney and roof. The metal only last about 2 years and needs replacing. I want something permanent that will last as long as the other buildings so we are making everything we can out of concrete and fire brick.

We had a golf cart donated to us and it is a huge time saver. Our complex is big and I would spend huge amounts of time walking from one project to another. Now, I just jump onto the cart with the person and we drive to where his project is and then I can return to what I was doing in a short amount of time. Huge blessing. It has a rear seat that turns into a work bed so we can haul things also. When I am not using the cart, the other guys are transporting things to and from the workshop. You ought to see the looks of the Africans when I drive by them. I have been asked, "what it is?" I try to explain golf to them and why people use a vehicle like this to play. They just don't get it. Then I tell them that it is just a small car. Then the light pops on. I had one guy say "why would anyone want to hit something and then go chase it down?". I understand the thinking. Cultures are different that is for sure.

We hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Years. I hope to be posting more now that teams are not here until mid January. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support. We love you all and will miss you this Christmas season.

Capitaine

We bought a 12 kilogram (almost 25 lbs.) Capitaine fish from the "fish lady" today. The official name of the fish is Nile Perch. These things are huge. It will be good eating. I wish you could all enjoy with us. Blessings.

A Very Exciting Day

The grain grinder is now up and running for the chicken operation. We can now grind our own grain and mix it for the feed without paying for the grinding. Just trying to take out the middle man. Benjamin resurrected this grinder and single cylinder diesel engine for this project. This is going to be a huge blessing for Bethel and the students. The students will no longer have to take their grain to the village to get ground saving them money and the chicken project won't have to pay either. It is a win win situation. We praise God for allowing us to help in this way. Keep praying for insight a vision for this project. Enjoy the video. The 55 gal. tank to the left is the "radiator". The noise was horrendous. I think I need to get these guys some ear plugs. I hope OSHA is not watching! Blessings. No video. File size to big. I will have to see if I can make smaller. Sorry.

Chicken stuff

There are a few problems we face raising chickens here in West Africa. One of them is the heat. We are told by my father that the drinking water for the chickens need to stay under 87 deg. F. That poses a problem especially during hot season when the temps are rather high and we are drawing water from a water tower sitting in the sun. We are running new waterlines to the chicken houses to feed two 55 gal. drums to hold water in. We are going to try to use the God's principals of evaporation to bring the temp of the water down inside the drums. We will wrap barrels with burlap material and will keep the material damp. We will see if this works. Here are just a few photos of working with the chickens. Blessings to all.

The Needy

Homeless go without eating... Elderly go without needed medicines...Mentally ill go without treatment... Troops go without the proper equipment...Yet we donate millions of dollars to other countries before helping our own first!!! 99% of people on (...) won't have the guts to re-post this.....WILL YOU?!!

I read this this morning and it made me think. I believe we need to take care of our own in the States where there are some true needs. I have lived on both sides of this coin. There are true needs in the states, but without living in a third world country, it is hard to comprehend (if not impossible) to understand what it is like living in the third poorest country in the world. I was sitting tonight thinking about this statement while watching 4 people digging up gravel to sell for $0.20 to $0.40 a day just so they can eat and maybe feed some of their family (the picture is of the place they dig for gravel and one of the ladies that digs). I am working to build a Women and Children's hospital that will be hopefully the best Women and Children's hospital in all of West Africa and I think that 99% of the women in the US would not deliver a child here because of the conditions in this hospital. We are offering THE BEST care anywhere around and saving lives, yet not to many women from the states would even think of having health care done here. A birth at our hospital cost an equivalent $25 with prenatal care and vitamins. I have watched women die in child birth and children die of malaria because they don't have the education to come here before it is to late or money to buy the medication to help heal them. I was talking to a father today that has a son, Samuel, that has had malaria for 1 week now. This same father, almost lost another son to malaria less than 2 years ago. Thankful for the care and medications of the Nesselroade family, he survived. Money spent on these people is not a waste of money. Each person here is made in the image of God and God loves them like He loves EVERYONE from the States. Yes, there are needs in the States, but there are great needs elsewhere also. Let's don't forget about people that we don't see or even know about. I believe as Christians we are to help the people God puts in front of us and who He burdens us with. Let's be faithful in that. Right now for me, it is the people of Mali. It is a hospital full of sick people. It is the sick. It is the poor. These are the heart of Jesus. Let's be faithful.

The second story is going well on the third building. It is fun watching all the block going up and the windows and doors being installed. We are looking forward to the teams coming this fall and helping with the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, etc. on this and the second building. It will be a busy three months with teams and construction. Please pray for wisdom with the organization of the work and team. Pray God's plan goes forward and His Love is shared.

Bethel lightning protection

Back in the summer, Bethel got hit by lightning on the radio tower. Bethel is the bible school here for national missionaries and pastors. They teach in French instead of the local language of Bamara because they want the student to be able to use all the resources that are in French that would not be in their native language. Bethel is powered by 100% solar power with a back-up of a diesel generator. Last spring before we left for the states, the diesel generator went down with a mechanical failure that was not repairable without a new generator. Then, the solar electric system got hit by lighting and they were without electric. A small temporary generator was set for temporary use for about 1/4 of the campus. Money was raised in a quick order to allow Anco to buy the parts needed to repair the solar electric system up to 75%, which came to about $20,000. We are still in need of the last $5000 for the rest of the inverter system and then about $5000 for the generator need to be as a back-up. Here are some of the picture of us installing the new inverters and parts down in the underground 40 ft. container. The container is put underground to keep equipment cooler because of the African heat. We are setting up an expensive lightning protect system for the entire campus so this doesn't happen again. Mali is in the highest lightning strike area of the world so therefore we need protection against it. Pray that all the new equipment and protection work so we don't have the costly repairs again. Have a great day.

Chicken Farm

The chicken farm is up and going at Bethel. We got 500 birds from a hatchery in Bamako. We lost 10% in travel from Bamako to Koutiala, but haven't lost any since. If all works well, we will be able to run Bethel Bible on the profits of just the eggs produced from one batch in one year. We have started the vaccination process and just completed the beak trimming. The one picture is of Benjamin learning the beak trimming. So far so good. Thanks for all your support.

Back at it in Koutiala

Well, its been an interesting move back to Koutiala, but God has been faithful in meeting our needs. It all started by the South African Air loosing one of our bags that was loaded at the gate of the D.C. airport. Thankfully, we just got news that they found it and we will be getting it this Thursday. Then when we got back to our Apt., both our stove and fridge broke. We still don't have the parts for either one of these. Hopefully within a couple of weeks we can get them working. Next, my motorcycle would start or run, but I spent a little time working on it (which is a joy for me to work on motorcycles). Last Friday, Daniel got bit by a dog here on the compound and now we have to figure what we are going to do with the dog. It has been a challenging two week start.
Please keep praying for us as we are settling in and working out what God has for us to do. We thank all of you for your support.

Back in the States

We have been in the states now for one month and we are running around from place to place like a rodeo clown being chased by the bull. It has been great getting back together with family and friends. The boys have enjoyed being with the grandparents and friends and also doing the things they use to enjoy when we lived in Springfield. On our agenda for the rest of the time here is taking the family vacations, speaking in churches, and trying to catch up on the needed rest. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

The construction at the hospital is still moving at break neck speed with teams coming and going with getting tons done according to Robert Braafhart. They have gotten the first floor poured and the walls are going up on the third building. We have a great picture of the hospital complex that was taken by Dan Nesselroade from a TV tower next to the hospital . This will give you a little idea of the size of the campus.

Keep praying as we raise the rest of our support and get things ready for our next two years. We have a lot on our plate to look forward to when get back to Koutiala. Pray that we can stay focused on the tasks at hand and that we are able to keep getting the gospel out to the lost. Thanks again for all your prayers and support. We couldn't do it without all of you.

One week away from leaving Koutiala

Our days our winding down here in Koutiala. We are leaving for the States the beginning of May for 3 months. We will be spending time in Berne and Springfield for the most part. Some of our time will be trying to raise the remainder of our support for the next two years. We need about $25,000 to finish our first 4 years. Please pray with us for this money.

We opened the first building of the Three building complex this month. This is a picture of the first day opened this wing of the hospital. For the most part, it was a smooth transition from the other Pediatric building. We also opened up for Pediatrics now that the Women's building are now open. Things are moving at break neck speed for here in Africa.

At Bethel, We are trying to convert some of the old buildings that are not used into chicken houses for egg production (this is the second picture). We are hoping to teach some of the pastors and national missionaries to raise chicken for eggs in a larger style of operation so they can eat good, clean, and nutritious eggs. The diet of most of the people here is terrible. They do not get the protein and minerals that they need for good health and eggs would help in this area. It would also allow them to sell these egg for a profit to help give them income to live and survive as a pastor or missionary. Pray with us that we would be able to teach and build what can be used and reproduced here in Mali.

Thanks to everyone that is supporting us in prayer and also financially. We couldn't be out here without you.

Southgate Team and Footers on Third Building

Well, the Southgate Church team has been here and gone with tons a work accomplished. God, in his infinite wisdom, allowed the pipes to start leaking in the original OR (operating room) just a couple of days before the Southgate team got here, so our plans for the team got changed. Since we had a couple of plumbers on the team, we decided that we would take the time necessary to repipe the entire half of the building. This was not the first time that the original piping sprung a leak. The Joe Faust and Jim Yowler did the repipe in just one week. Now we have plumbing in that building that will last a long time since we install pex piping from the States instead of the "made in China" stuff that we get here in Koutiala. After that project, Joe and Jim installed plumbing in the second building. Jon Johnson and Rick Chamento installed four A/C's in just a few days and then Rick helped Anco with the fiber optic network in the first building. The remainder of the crew, Matt, Dan, Brent, and Chris, worked on installing tile in the second building and taught a couple of Malians, Agib and Joseph, how to tile. Now that the team is gone, Agib and Joseph have installed wall tile on three of the bathrooms in the second building. The Southgate team was a huge help to us here and a great encouragement. It was fun having friends from our home church in the state help us here at the hospital.
The footers and columns are going up in the third building now. It is exciting to watch all the Malian guys accomplish all that they do each week. It is moving rapidly. They really enjoy working in the shade of the roof for the third building since we started with the roof structure. We are now officially in hot season and I am sweating buckets just typing this post. The Malians do a lot better at handling the heat than I do!
It is only one month until we come back to the States for three months. Please pray that we will get accomplished what God wants before we leave. We are looking forward to coming home and spending some time with our family and friends. We love you all.

Sanekuy Village Clinic

Dan, Anco and I with some other CPAM staff went to the village of Sanekuy (Sa-ne-quee) this past Saturday to install a portable ultrasound machine and supply power for the machine via a solar panel and controller. I was once again reminded of the sad situation of the clinics. Most do not have running water or any electric in them at all. The clinics function as small hospitals with minor surgery and baby delivery as well as a dispensary. It is hard for us from the states to understand how a clinic can function with any sort of cleanliness without running water. To get water, they have to walk outside the compound wall to the nearest well and draw it out by bucket and rope. The third picture down is of a well for the drawing of water. Notice the animal around the well and what do animals do after they drink and eat? That's right, they like to poop and pee and all that right by the well opening. Not to sanitary, would you say? Dan Nesselroade and I were talking and we were thinking how far 20,000 dollars would go at each of our six clinics. We could set up a well with a solar powered pump, a water tower, new plumbing and fixtures, and then install some solar electric power for lights and equipment. This would make them into a great functioning clinic and could offer a much higher level of care to the people of that village and the surrounding areas. Then we thought, how could we get this work done. Most of this can not be done by the Malians because they have not even seen anything of the sort that we would like to install. If we could get different churches to take on a clinic as a project and raise the money, get together a team to do the work and just take the clinic as a whole under their care, that would be ideal. The work team would have to be a specialized team and set up like a "extreme or survivor" team because there would not be any comforts of home. They would be sleeping in tents, using bucket showers, outdoor toilets, and no electric except what we produce from a generator while we work. I know that if this is going to happen, God would have to impress on the heart of the different churches and put these teams together. Please pray for God's leading and wisdom on if we should pursue Churches and teams for such as this. I believe that God wants us to show compassion on his people here, now we just need to find the best way to do it. If you have any ideas or questions, please let me know. This is a work in progress but I think it is necessary to make the clinics all God wants them to be. Please be in prayer with us.

Over Half Way with the Roof

We are over half way on covering the second building with the metal roof. The problem now is that we are caught up with the welders installing the trusses, so we took two of the team members and added a second shift for welding. We will see if we can get the roof up by the time the team needs to head back to the states. This is a hard working group of people, that is for sure. Thanks for all your work. God Bless.

Roof on Second Building

The Christ Community Team is here now and they are installing the roof on the second building. They will be here for two weeks and they want to get all sixty-eight meters installed. They are off to a great start and are about fifteen percent done after the second day. They are off to the market this afternoon to do a little shopping since it is market day. Have a great day.

Progress

The Beaver Lodge team has left and the Christ Community team is here. We are getting ready to put the roof on the second building and start to move into the first building. Thing are going well and are moving fast. Here is a picture of all three buildings with the first one almost complete. It is hard to believe that the building in the forefront was still under construction when we first came here and now look at the campus. God is Great.

Dogon Country

We made a trip to Dogon Country this last weekend with the team from Beaver Lodge Alberta Canada. The Dogon Country is an area of Mali that was inhabited by people that were escaping slavery and Islam indoctrination. When they would feel pressure by an outside people group, they would move into the cliffs of the area. They built "second houses" to live in with a supply of food to last a long time. The houses were made of mud dobie bricks up in the cliffs so they could defend themselves and the enemy could not get to them easily. Absolutely fascinating. This is a picture of Daniel with a traditional head rap by our Malian guide (and friend) Sakou. Check out the Obama button on the hat of the guy on the left. Even Dogon people know about Obama. We had a great time with the team and learned a lot.
Alyssa Kah has spent the last six weeks with us here and is now leaving to go home to Indy. It has been absolutely a blast having her with us and us getting to know her better. We felt like she was just part of our immediate family. We Love you Alyssa!