Thursday

Today was the first full day of work here in Luganville. The hospital project is coming along, with paint removal, soffit and fascia replacement. The steel for the roof is a day or so away from delivery. An interior wall that was scheduled to be removed to make a waiting area larger turned out to be a bearing wall, so some more thought will need to be given to this part of the project.

Gary worked out at the ranch today on the electric generator that had failed. After testing of generator windings it was determined that the Automatic Voltage Regulator was in fact faulty and in need of replacement. After replacing this board, the generator ran fine. We will run it extensively in the next two days to verify that this was the problem.

Tim and Simon and family went up to Big Bay today to meet with officials from the nineteen villages that will be affected by the proposed road that Friends In Action International will be working on later this year or early 2011. As I write this they have not yet returned. Will report on that tomorrow.

Pictures are pretty scarce for now but we should be posting some in the next day's post.

Work day in PA

Just want you to know that we meet today as a team (about 15) at I-TEC and will be praying for you and the team as you minister there in Vanuatu.

Thanks for keeping us posted.

Do you have internet at Simon's yet or are you at the French hot spot?

Thursday continued

Still at the hotel and still trying to get a few more pictures on line. Please forgive the spelling. It's 1:00am and trying to work with dial up speed while purchasing time at $10.00 per hour. Not really working as planned.

The picture of Linda presenting a case of bibles to Pastor Gabie was last week but just now posted. The bibles were donated by several churches and individuals and were sent in the container with our electrical equipment.

The batteries were a donation from I-TEC to help the bible school solar system be able to supply power for night classes.

If the picture of the trusses over the generator pad get's posted, the black steel frame work was supplied by Steve Mattie (owner of Transport Design in Montoursville.) it worked great, thanks Steve and Brad.

Thursday

Today has been a wirlwind of activity as we all worked on pices of the project that needed to be finished before we left.

PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE- Today about 10:30am between Jim Neagle our mechanical services coordinator and Gary Smedley our lead electrician, and cell phone conections to the US. we were able to get the 75kw generator on line and make the necessary adjustments to the voltage control panel to allow the new 33hp re-saw to opterate.

This is yet another very clear answer to prayer and I want to thank you all for supporting us with prayer over these past 3 weeks. GOD is GOOD!!

Mike was able to complete about 95% of the Murcot's house wiring to the thrill of 8 kids and two smiling parents.

Steve finished up mounting panels and making a few last min repairs.

We finished up around 1:30 and had the privilage of taking the entire Murcott family out to lunch and then back to the guest house to pack and get ready to head home.

I have been trying to get pictures on line but the internet has been so weak that I just can't get them to download. I am going to try again right now as we sit in the hotel in Port Villa on out first stop after flight #1.

At least some blog is better then no blog at all. Thanks again for following the Blog with us as you have been able. For the entire team I say we couldn't have done it without you.

wednesday 7

Hello blogger team.

I hope to get some pictures on tonight and less talk. I am sitting in the front seat of an old Toyoto Pick Up truck along the street in very quite downtown Luganville. The Pizza cafe closed early tonight so I am trying to use their signal here on the street. They know I do this as I closed them up twice this week and had to move to the curb. "Curb Side Internet" sounds almost margetable if that is a word.
My main problem is not the signal from the cafe to the truck, it is from the mind to the computer keys. I keep falling asleep and my finger touches one of the keys and I wake up when I here it ttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt...
doing this.

This will probably be one of the last post as we leave tomorrow (Thur) at 6:30pm. We will be back in Harrisburg at 11:00pm Friday Night. Please pray for all of us to be a witness for Christ on our way home.

It sounds like a broken record but yes, today was again a great day. Steve got the washmachine working.

The local work force began putting the trusses over the electrical container and generators. Picture

Saturday, Linda was chosen to present a case of bibles to Pastor Gabriel in Big Bay. Picture

Mike and Gene were able to hook up a new set of batteries for Pastor's solar

lights to enable him to teach into the evening. Picture

Craig Steve and Tom pulled the last wire to the junction vault. Picture

Tuesday 7/27/2010

We ALL had a good day today and almost completed the work we set out to do 3 weeks ago.

Mike spent another day wiring Simon and Megan's house installing both 12 volt lights and 220 volt lights. With every new bulb there is excitement with the kids and parents alike as they have been living with kerosene lamps now for many months and according to Simon, the romance of oil lamps has worn off long ago.

Craig, Steve and I finished the last run of underground main feeder line which now gives them a solid electrical system for over 1000 feet beyond the generator.

This will allow for many new homes to be built as new volunteers arrive to begin ministry here in Vanuatu.

Linda and Angie finished painting the fourth container today. It happened to be the I-TEC electrical room container and it really looks nice.

Don continued to clear brush and trees from an overgrown portion of land that had been considered wasteland. This will provide another field to graze the cattle.

UPDATE on the Generator: We received a new code number from Jim Neagle today which allowed us to go in and change the settings for 60hz and US voltage. It's amazing what 5 little numbers will do.

We still have one "low alt voltage" alarm that will not let it run. Please pray for Jim Neagle to be able to find the information necessary to clear this last fault which will allow us to test the large Re - Saw before we leave.

We begin the process of leaving Vanuatu on Thursday afternoon so time is beginning to run short.

We continue to thank the Lord for a great spirit among the team as each one has been flexible through out the project in doing what had to be done.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we finish up many details.

We also need to train those who continue to serve here on the new systems that have been put into service.

Tom for the Team

Sunday / Monday

Sunday was another one to remember for a long time. We had a great time of worship in the local church in the morning, and another time of food, fun, fellowship and worship at Camp Shining Light in the evening. In the middle we went to Oyster Island and enjoyed a time of relaxation and simply enjoying the beauty of the ocean above and below as some were able to do a little snorkeling.

Then came Monday........... I started off standing in front of the 75kw generator asking the Lord to somehow direct me to do the programing necessary to change the generator from 50hz to 60hz as well as the RPM'S from 1500 to 1800. Usually this is done manually but with this particular gen set, it has to be done electronically as well.

After spending about an hour trying everything I could think of, I finally let it sit and made a few phone calls to continue the search of the missing manuals.
Please pray that Jim Neagle will be able to call the right person or find the right Manual somewhere in the office.

I left that sit and went out to help Craig prepare for our last 300 foot pull of wire and again ran into multiple delays. One little stick became stuck in the conduit when we were pulling in the rope and that caused a series of events that left us with broken pulling ropes and empty conduits.

The good news is that Mike and Steve made good progress wiring Simon's house and working on the washing machine repair project.

In between painting the containers, Linda and Angie made a wonderful meat loaf dinner and we enjoyed rice pudding and peanut butter cookies for desert.

All in all another good day as we learned patience as well as success.

Sorry for the length as this is my first stab at doing a blog. I really miss Gary's willingness to do it over the past couple of weeks. It's too late to try to do any pictures so maybe tomorrow.

Serving Together,
Tom for the team

Friday / Saturday

Friday

While most of the group drove up to Big Bay this morning, three of us stayed back to make some modifications to the generator power layout. We were successful in geting the power revisions completed, but ran into a brick wall when we tried to modify the 75KW generator to run on 120/208-volt 60Hz power. We could not change the factory settings and it may be that we need to have a complete instruction and setup menu available. This generator is necessary to run the 33Hp Re-Saw unit. Since Gary is heading home tomorrow it may be possible that he and Tom can communicate sometime next week via telephone to set this generator up properly.

The group that went to the Bible College at Big Bay participated in food prepared for them in this remote village on the north part of Santo.There was a special celebration for the pastor whose father passed away a year ago. The custom is for the eldest son to let his hair grow - on his head and mustache - for a year in honor of his father. The celebration consisted of the "shaving" of his hair and a feast for the village. The men hunted and killed 3 cows and 6 pigs for the feast. The women cooked taro (a root vegetable) and rice for the side dishes. The area is incredibly primitive and the village folk are equally as friendly.

The drive into the bush took us 3 1/2 hours on roads that can only be described as bumpy, pot holes, rivers, creeks, and mud... mud... mud! We had to pull the only truck out of the mud holes 3 times which added to the fun and adventure. The scenery was spectacular! More green vegetation than I've ever seen and more smiles on everyone we passed than I've ever seen. After driving - with kids and some of our team riding on the back of the trucks bouncing around like kangaroos (none here though) we hiked up a muddy hill to arrive at the "college" and village. Mike and Gene hooked up two batteries that will provide light in the kitchen and a hut that is used for teaching the Scripture. Megan told us that the students are hungry for the Word and would put us to shame in their hungry and knowledge. The village chief and landowner are both converted Christians and therefore the work of the pastor and teachers is fruitful. This village is one of the major focus points for the preparatory work that our team is doing on the ranch. The vision is to have housing and facilities for missionaries to come and go out into the bush to bring the Good News to SO many who haven' heard.

Our day ended with an enjoyable dinner at a resort that overlooks the South Pacific. What a blessing to experience both the life in a beautiful remote native village and the beauty of a nice restaurant at ocean-side.


God is good. All the time!
The pictures don't really do justice to all of it. Included is also one of the French couple that allowed us to use their Internet each night to update this blog.

Saturday
Today was Simon's 40th birthday. We celebrated together today by going swimming in one of the world's best beaches, Champagne Beach. The water was so blue it is difficult to describe. Some of us did some snorkeling, and we all got a little sunburn. Final details of the remaining electrical that needs completed were discussed. Then we took a last group photo and 3 of us were transported to the airport to begin our journey home. One who is leaving is myself, so Tom will be updating the blog after this with current information. I have truly appreciated my part in this important outreach to the people of Vanuatu. I look forward to hearing great things about the ministry here. Gary

Earthquake

After some midnight calling back to the USA and consultation with the manual for the generator, we proceeded to flash the residual magnet. This worked but then the voltage was too high and we could not modify it. Indicators pointed to the Automatic Voltage Regulator, so we proceeded to take it out. Upon doing this we found the fuse to be blown on the board. Finding a fuse in Vanuatu is virtually impossible, as we have had to improvise many times already with "parts". But Simon made it in to the John Lum store before the siesta time and was able to find a fuse the correct physical size that we installed into the board. Once replacing the board the voltage returned to normal. We are grateful to the Lord for the patience and resolution to this problem. It would have been a major issue if it had happened after our team left Vanuatu.
While all this transpired, Mike and Steve worked on wiring the Murcott house for some lights so that the oldest child, Lucy might be able to cook while she can see, as she has cooked in the dark for many months.
Our frustrations are not over yet though, because after we hooked up the Saw Mizer to the circuit we discovered that the generator is not large enough to run it. We will attempt to remedy this situation tomorrow and if you think of it you might pray about that. Some of the group will be traveling north tomorrow to a place called Big Bay. It will be a 3 hour dirt road ride into the bush of Vanuatu and will be an experience. Look for some shots of this trip tomorrow night.
While contemplating the generator situation this afternoon two of us felt an earthquake that lasted 30-60 seconds. I was in the container and it began to rock and I could see the clothes lines in the Saw pavilion swaying. Some who were active doing other things at the time did not feel the tremor. Enjoy the pictures.
Oh, by the way, the backhoe tire really did need replacing, didn't it???

Some Frustration

As things go along you sometimes run into issues that don't seem to make sense. The work today went pretty well until this afternoon when the 60Hz generator failed. Gary was working on grounding the power plant and shut the generator down to make the bonding connection. When the generator was restarted it did not produce voltage. After some troubleshooting without any actual manuals on the generator we were not able to get it working. The generator is critical to the Ranch as it runs the well pump for water for all of the ranch. Another frustration involved the float switch on the Ranch water supply tank. Earlier in the day we had to check out the float switch in the water tank on the hill because we could not determine that water was being pumped into the tank, only to find out that the float switch does not function. It has never been hooked up to power the pump as we only yesterday installed wires to the tanks, a distance of about 1/2 mile. Tomorrow morning we will try to find a replacement switch at the local Santo Hardware store where we have been buying some supplies from Adrian, a manager from Vancouver Island, Canada. Please pray that the generator problem can be solved. One blessing to this is that the problem occurred while we are still here at the ranch rather than a few weeks after we leave, We do have a manual for this generator back at the guest house and we are hoping and praying that the advice in it will be useful in solving the problem. We also expect to call back to the USA later tonight to see if we can get some good advice as well.
Other things that happened today involved the women painting the containers again. They worked the full day and then went back to the guest house to prepare our evening meals. They faithfully have fed us every day and for that we are very thankful. Then who could forget little Charlotte helping glue PVC conduit together! She is a very cute little girl. She and her siblings polished off the last of the fireballs I brought along yesterday, so I guess I will have to send some more over when someone comes here again. Also, we enjoyed singing Happy Birthday to Don.

Big Wire

Today we set up to pull in the largest wires to the area that will someday be populated by a number of missionary houses. Right now it is a pasture with lots of brush and nettles. The tackle broke the first time we attempted the pull but after "retooling" we were able to get the wires pulled in. We used a bulldozer to pull them with a tractor keeping up the slack. It certainly helped that it rained too, and the wires slipped in pretty well as they were slippery.
The women worked on painting two of the containers while we were doing electrical work. Since there was also some concrete work being done we ended up having our lunch in the shop. We installed wiring to the water tanks on the hill so that the float switch up there can maintain the proper water level. We are anxious to see how this works tomorrow.
Also, the backhoe was out of service all day because of tire repairs. Hopefully we can get to a garage in the morning that has a large enough air compressor to blow up the tire we tried to squeeze with chains to cause the bead to seal to no avail at the ranch.

Start of a New Week

It started out raining today and we thought the day would be a washout as far as outside work is involved, but the rain stopped and we got a full day of work in after all. Enjoy some of the pictures which include Iris, the Vanuatu woman who works at the guest house, and some of Simon and Megan's children helping out with the chores. As usual we are still improvising with some of the materials we sent from the States not necessarily being right or adequate, but things are getting done. The generators are all connected now and operational. The shop is pretty well wired. We have the first leg of the conduits in the ditch for the future missionary housing. One picture is from Camp Shining Light missionary fellowship last evening.

Sunday in Vanuiatu

We awoke to some drizzling rain today and as I write this it is also drizzling. But this morning we went to the local church and enjoyed the fellowship with the local Christian believers. It is difficult to completely follow the language (Bislama), but you can understand a lot of what is said, as the language is written phonetically. Our team even sang a special number in front of the church. Jeremy Pinero, from Camp Shining Light, gave the sermon and it was well received. We then went across the water to Aore Resort where we had a delicious lunch and most of us spent a couple of hours snorkeling off the resort among the coral. The fish were plentiful and beautiful. It is amazing to just swim among them and realize that many of these fish probably don't venture too far from the protection of their specific piece of coral in their lifetimes. This evening we went to Camp Shining Light for the missionary fellowship time and a meal. It was good to visit with these folks. Tomorrow we will awake to another week of work. Please pray that we are not rained out this week as there is still a lot of outside work to do. Keep checking back for more updates.

Saturday

We got up this morning in anticipation of finishing the connections to Simon's house and turning the generator on for this. Yesterday we were able to turn on the 120/208 volt 60 Hz generator for the shop. We are missing a few electrical components that will hopefully be able to come along with the next team. We connected the transfer switch that connects between the 25KVA and 75KVA generators for 50Hz 220-volt power. We installed the main panel for this service and connected to the new panel in Simon's house. Megan was so thankfull that they can now do
laundry and use the toaster at the same time, something they have not been able to do until now.

We finished up around noon and headed back to the Mission Guest House for lunch and some afternoon R&R. After lunch we drove to Camp Shining Light, the ministry that Friends In Action is working with here in Vanuatu. We toured their facility which provides housing for missionaries working on the islands. We went out to the reef and some of us went snorkeling for an hour or more along this beautiful reef. The colors and scenery below the surface is so amazing, we are enthralled by the majesty of our Creator.

After this we came back to the guest house and then went to the Island Chicken Restaurant for a delicious sampling of local dishes.

We are very pleased with the amount of work we have been able to get done this past week at the ranch. We will be going out to a local church service in the morning and then we are hoping to go to a resort on another island where we will have lunch and possibly be able to do some more snorkeling. Tomorrow evening we will share in the community worship service at Camp Shining Light.

God has blessed us with beautiful weather here. Every evening we can gaze up into the sky and see the Southern Cross (Crux). The temperatures are very moderate and there is a tropical breeze blowing every night that requires one to use blankets to sleep.
Please keep the ministry of Friends In Action in your prayers and minds and especially the ministry of Simon & Megan Murcott and their eight children, who we have grown to love deeply.

The Women's Perspective

Today's post is from the women's perspective, Linda, Angie, and Janie. Our main task is cooking for very hungry men which mean a daily 3-hour trip to town for food. There's a large Chinese influence in Luganville, therefore, most markets, shops and restaurants are operated by the Chinese; except of course, the produce that is available through the open market. We shop for the non-perishables first and then for meat, fruit and vegetables. Everything is VERY expensive here except for the local produce. You ladies will appreciate this: $18.00 (1800vt is the currency amount in Vanuatu) for 2 pounds of cheese and $6.60 (660vt) for a dozen eggs. Here's another example: our toaster broke so I priced one and for a meager $41.00 could have bought another. We passed and toast bread in a pan on the stove. Oh, speaking of the stove. We had a gas leak and the stove blew up on Gene - not once but twice. Thank God he wasn't hurt and he looks cute with no hair on his arms and legs! With that said, here's an amazing story of how God works. We knew that there was a new stove in one of the containers for Megan at the ranch (she has 8 children and has been cooking mostly on 2 burners). What we didn't know is that there were TWO new stoves on board! God is GOOD! So, after one day of creative cooking in a rice steamer, we're once again normally cooking great meals for our crew.
Back to shopping in town. Most of the time, we begin our trek buying the staples like rice and coffee then to the open market. The markets are run by the women and children from different areas of the island. They come in with their goods in the evening, set up their tables and sleep under them. I met a man from New Zealand who preaches and sings with the ni-Vans at the market at 10 PM and 5:15 AM everyday. What an awesome ministry that is! The local produce in season is mostly bananas, lemons, mandarin oranges, grapefruit, papaya, mangos, and all kinds of greens (lettuce, carrots, cauliflower are rare but we picked up a few at the grocery store). Our last stop of the morning is usually the meat market. Surprisingly, the meat is not priced that much differently from ours. Angie and Linda are great at creating meals from the bare necessities and what's available locally. We've had nothing but rave reviews from the men.
The people are very friendly. Yesterday, Linda, Angie and I visited a shop operated by the local women. They each have a small area of the shop where they sell their hand-made dresses, jewelry and baskets. When talking with one of the women, we introduced ourselves by name and she pointed me to a woman whose name is also Janie. I went to her, introduced myself and she jumped out of her chair, wrapped her arms around me, giggled and swung me back and forth in delight. I LOVED it and so did she! As you might be noting by now, I love the people. I love watching them, trying to talk with them as much as I can (the language barrier is a challenge for me :-), and experiencing their reality.
Today, the three of us had a special treat. We went with the missionaries - the Murcott family - to the local school to conduct their "Friday Bible Club". What beautiful kids...singing, listening intently to the Bible story, memorizing verses, and playing. They are teaching the children in English while their native language is Bislama. I've been blessed by their innocence and enthusiasm to learn about our Lord. The school accommodations are poor but the students are rich in their love for God!
"The poor will always be with you"... and like other third-world countries, Vanuatu is no exception! God be with all of you back home, we're praying for you and know that you're keeping us in your prayers for which we depend and are grateful!
Blessings, Janie