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PL676
Dated: 14th May 2017
It's been a truly mammoth week of working hard and playing hard. And though we are exhausted and (to be honest) feeling a little bit uninspired in front of the computer at this moment, the results of all of our labor have been well worth the effort. If this week's prayer letter feels a little light, we'll rest up and bring you a more robust report next week. For now, we'll mostly let pictures tell the story.
Where to begin? Perhaps we should start with the most exciting news of all. This week our library got its new concrete roof! After five late-night days putting together the mold and the maze of reinforcing iron for the roof and beams, we set the date for the big pour for Saturday morning.
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A grimy, sweaty Clifton shifting 50kg bags of cement.
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8:00am rolled around and the building site was a hive of activity with more than 40 men working at one stage. Two concrete machines were brought in, each was set up with their own teams of laborers who worked with incredible resolve and a wonderfully happy spirit in the incredibly hot sun (111°F / 44°C).
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The two mixing stations set up at the site.
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The jungle of supports from underneath holding up the roof mold.
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This guy put's Clifton's photo at the start to shame...
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...and he does it with an even bigger smile on his face!
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Taking a break from loading gravel to observe the work going on.
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Up on the roof, bucket-load after bucket-load of concrete was met by two-man teams ready to cart it where needed. Another team would spread the materials before the vibration team would ensure that all air bubbles were removed from the mix. It was hard work, possibly equal amounts of sweat and water went into the concrete.
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The scene up on the roof.
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Dumping one of the first of what may have been thousands of loads of concrete.
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The end in sight.
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Earlier on in the week Rick, Sunny and the workshop men were hard at work on the tin roof. Thursday morning saw them rising early to start work at 6:00am so as to avoid the heat. They were able to get incredible amounts done an we are super excited to see the new roof really taking shape!
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Guttering is not as straightforward as you might think.
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Sunny & Rick installing the last gutter as the library roof work continues next door.
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The end is in sight. We think it looks amazing! Great work team!
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We could go on and on about the countless other jobs, the new pumps that have been installed, the electrical work, the vehicle repairs, the farm work, the accounting, the gardening, the installation of a new car port, the tests in school.. We could go on, but we won't. Truth is, we just don't have the energy.
We'll finish this weeks newsletter with a few fun photos of a white water rafting trip that Clifton led for around 90 of the students of our school, the Maxton Strong School, on Tuesday. Not to be confused with the white water rafting trip we had last week for our boys, or the rafting trip we are having tomorrow for our girls. Seems it's rafting season.
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We had a lot of excited children on Tuesday!
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A few quick instructions on the banks and it was straight in the boats.
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A few practice laps around some soft water...
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...and it was straight into the white.
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What an adventure!
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We will bring this weeks letter to an end here. Sorry for the lack of photos and stories of the children. As we said: it has been a busy week! Thank you for the incredible support, prayers and encouragement that you are to each one of us here. Now...to bed.
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Blessing on you,
Rick, Clifton, Eugene & Priscilla
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