Last phase

God has truly answered prayers as we come closer to the end. We have been painting fast and furiously as the clock is ticking. It is a difficult process to paint masonry and completely different from anything I have painted before. We need to do three coats as well, so it is time consuming. Last week after the tile guy finished he was stuck in town here with nothing to do. We had become friends and he offered to help paint. It was amazing, he was the best worker I have ever seen and helped get so much accomplished. The interior painting is all finished. All the details are coming together now. The plumbing was also completed on Thursday. Andy and the team from the US just arrived on Saturday and are here for the dedication service next Saturday. They are actually staying at the center right now, though there is still no electricity. We will have a very busy last week though there is still so much to do. There is also a lot of site work to be done and dirt and rubble to be moved around. Please continue to pray for the last phase here.

Baptism

Last Sunday and this Sunday a number of people were baptized here in Oussouye. Last week I got to participate and it was really a cool time. The girl pictured here was a regular at my bible study on Thursday nights. We did the dunking in the river near the main road into town. It is something truly to celebrate.

More hurdles...

The closer we get to finishing the more the little things seem to matter. There is less than two weeks until the dedication ceremony and it seemed all the trucks to transport construction materials were broken or occupied. I was trying for week to get a truck to deliver sand and shells to the site. Finally today we had a breakthrough! After much searching, even in different towns, I found a truck to get us the stuff. Now we have all the materials at the site, keep praying for the work! Another twist was the contractor went to Dakar last week to vote and he didnt return. He wanted to stay at his home for an extended period of time, not really concerned about our discussions of a deadline. He came back yesterday finally, so I am hoping he will see it through. He seems a little volitale now as well and we had some kind of argument though I am not sure about what or why. Tomorrow we will start painting...

Broken

The tile guys finished up today and they did an excellent job. I am really happy with the details of everything. The pictures show the kitchen floor and counter and give a feel for what it will look like. It still needs to be cleaned up and painted but it’s almost there. You can see me there working with the tile guys to piece together the mosaic floor pattern. It is really cool how God is truly in the details. One lesson I have been learning over and over again is how nothing goes how I think it should and I am not in control. I shared the saga of getting the tile in Dakar and the transport adventure but I didn’t give the follow up. When the tile guys started we discovered that about half of the tiles were broken in transport! I was pretty disturbed and disappointed to say the least. Then God reminded me he has everything taken care of. So instead of getting all bent out of shape it was time to roll with it. I began to look at how many tiles were whole and go back to the drawing board. I came up with a design and showed the tile guy and we worked together at making the mosaic patterns with the broken tiles. After all is said and done I must say we ended up with a much more beautiful result than if the tiles all came in one piece. Once again I learned a very important lesson.

Almost there

Here is a recent shot from the back of the center. You can see the doors and windows a little better. There has been so much progress it is hard to keep this blog updated. The tile guys are almost finished and I hope to post some of those photos soon. Everything is coming together. I have been getting pretty worn out, the pace has been tough the last couple of weeks but the finish line is in sight. I also wanted to say that the weekly bible study at my house has been really cool. We have been focusing on hearing Gods voice and some cool things have been happening. This past week we talked about being baptized in the Holy Spirit. At the end we prayed and worshipped and the presencence of God was strongly felt and all experienced a touch from God. Some of the people began to speak in tounges as well. All left refreshed and Ishmael just had a huge grin and said how happy he was. So, though I have been consumed with the project God is still very active and moving in other areas. There have also been some cool times of evangelism lately. Please keep me in your prayers. I need Gods strength and I want to finish strong.