Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! What an honor to be able to have front row seats to see the accomplishments that come only from Him.
This month started out with a great sigh of relief for our children as they finished their school year and looked forward to having a whole summer “at home”. While not proponents of celebrating graduations at every corner, but enjoying every moment life gives for celebrating our children, we attended Corynn’s 8th grade graduation ceremony. It was fun to go back through old pictures of our firstborn and see what God has done in her life. It also was a huge motivator, realizing anew that time is short, to finish the house.
We have made some great strides in that seemingly never-ending battle of construction. Mark Dressler, our brother-in-law, came down bearing gifts and supplies in the first part of this month. Highlands Baptist Tabernacle in Blue Ridge, GA sent him to help us. Mark is skilled in many areas, but the one way he chose to bless us was finishing out the plumbing rough-in. He worked tirelessly in the not so friendly temperatures and gave us a huge leg up. He knew that we were having a team come down to help with drywall a week after his leaving, so we were able to get all of the plumbing in the walls before they arrived! His church also sent money to help with the drywall purchase.
Thanks to several donors, we have US grade pipe throughout the house. (The pipe available here is thin-wall and very difficult to work with, as no industry standard exists for sizes and fitting. Unless you stick with the same brand for your entire project, nothing fits together correctly, and no store carries enough supplies in one brand to do a complete project.) We have also been given US fixtures, toilets, sinks, and tubs for this mission house. Those large items and the all of the pipe (drainage and water) came in the container that our uncle Hobie Napier put together for us back in 2013. His close friend asked the company Moen if they would be willing to donate supplies for a missionary house being built in Peru. They responded with “We need God’s blessing on our company! We’d love to!” and supplied us with most of the fixtures that we needed to outfit the house. Vann’s lifelong friend/brother, who owns his own plumbing business, donated all of the fittings and other items necessary to complete the project. Isn’t God great? It is awesome to know that we still have folks out there who are willing to follow His leading and provide for His work!
New Union Baptist Church in Blairsville GA, came on their 4th trip to help with this house construction, and worked tirelessly on getting the drywall put into our second floor. The fiberglass insulation that is now available here has no paper backing and multiple laminates were required to fill the walls. Working with it is a miserable project, but they stuck with it, and hung most of the upstairs drywall! The children in the group wanted a project, so we put them on painting the house along with our children. They worked so hard, and were able to get primer on the majority of the house. The team also came bearing gifts. It was like Christmas in June! Restocking the pantry with things like peanut butter, cheddar cheese, hot sauce, and grits, and many tools, construction parts and pieces, as well as new shoes and clothes for all of our family. The love that they showered on our family was amazing. We were so very blessed to be able to host them as they worked so very hard.
For Father’s Day, we were able to love on the fatherless with a visit to an orphanage in a nearby village that is run by a neighboring mission. As well as participating in a small program, the team completely outfitted the children with school supplies for their upcoming school year. It was a really beautiful time celebrating God’s goodness!
Speaking of children, thank you for helping us pray for Hamilton, our helper Alexis’ Down syndrome brother who was so very sick in the hospital last month. Happily, he has made a full recovery, and is back at home and doing well! God is so good!
Vann needs your prayers as he has a rotator cuff/shoulder injury that is severely limiting his ability to do the things he needs to do. It’s nearly impossible to get him to rest, but it looks like that is part of the recipe for his recovery. Pray that he won’t need surgery. As always, thank you for your prayers for our family and your financial support. We are so very blessed to be here in Peru as your missionaries. Thank you for making it possible for us to be here and for this ministry to continue!
The goodness of God is infinitely more wonderful than we will ever be able to comprehend. ~ A.W. Tozer