November 2014 Highlights

In November our busy, fall conference season wrapped up.  We had a chance to catch our breath and actually work on some projects around here like deep cleaning and painting in housekeeping.  In maintenance Dan and the guys could get into buildings and do much needed repairs properly.  Some of our staff took a trip to Asia to make some connections for future partnerships and team outreaches.  This is a first for our base to be in this part of the world so we are excited to see how God will lead.  The C/DTS finished up lecture phase and outreach preparations in November and left for South Africa on November 22.  The base is always so quiet when they leave.  I like the way there is an ebb and flow here.  It's good to have just us staff for a little while during this quiet time and then we are always excited for teams to return from outreach and for new schools to start.  

This is one CDTS family that our boys enjoyed playing with.  They are from New Zealand. 

In Michigan, Thanksgiving was always so predictable.  We would see the same people almost every year and eat the same delicious foods every year.  Since we began serving with YWAM each Thanksgiving has been very different.  2009 we were on outreach in Fiji, very warm and beautiful.  2010 we were with a family from church.  There was another family there too that are missionaries from Uganda to the U.S. so we had some Ugandan food.  2011 we were leading outreach in Guatemala, I think we ate tamales in addition to some traditional U.S. dishes. 2012 we hosted with some families here, pretty  normal.  2013 was similar to the year before but with different people.  2014 may be one of the most memorable yet!  We had 2 gals from Brazil, one just arrived the day before and didn't speak any English.  We also had a man from India, he had just joined our staff and thankfully he spoke English.  Here's where it really gets interesting.  We had a staff family that cooks southern food for Thanksgiving.  While I cooked the traditional turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and green bean casserole she cooked greens, ribs, fried chicken, and sweet potato pie.  Wow, what a feast we had!  We got to explain why we celebrate the holiday to our friends that were experiencing their first American Thanksgiving.  I always miss family back home on Thanksgiving but I'm so thankful for good friends to celebrate with here.

The fist PVC greenhouse that we built in the spring started to break when the temps hit triple digits.  Dan was able to cut it into big pieces and re-design it.  One day in November we gathered some strong teens and put up the pieces while Dan glued them together.  It was hard work but good to have a greenhouse frame up again.

It needs some supports and ends then it's ready for plastic. 

October 2014 Highlights

October started out with a quick day trip to a wedding of a dear friend that used to be on staff with us.  It was in the beautiful Napa valley and we would have loved to have stayed but had to get back for a event.  We hosted what we call a YWAM Presence Gathering on our base.  This is when we invite other bases from the west coast to come, stay for a few days and seek the Lord together.  It's a lot of work but so good to have a huge group of YWAMers together in one place!  After that conference we had a little bit more time to spend on our aquaponics system.  

We picked these fresh veggies and herbs from our garden in October.

This is a compost box and pile that Robin keeps adding to in effort to make great soil.

These are the pipes that will carry the nutrient rich fish water to the grow beds. 

Here Dan and some fellow staff are putting the plastic liner in one of the grow beds.

We even got some of the teens from our base involved in the project.

Here's our system with fish tanks in the middle and 2 grow beds on the sides.

After a way too busy September and plenty to do in October we were ready for a quick, fall camping trip with friends.  The forecast included a Saturday of rain but we decided to go anyway.  It was an adventure and we made great memories.  The guys put up lots of tarps to create a warm, dry "living room" for us that included our fire pit and picnic table.  The boys had to dig trenches around our tent to keep the flood waters out.  Adventurous yes, would we do it again?  maybe not.  

Every Monday we take part in a class (a secondary YWAM school) called School of Ministry Development (SOMD).  This fall quarter started in September and lasts about 12 weeks.  The topic for this fall quarter is outreach and evangelism.  We had one great class about evangelism explosion and learned some fun techniques for sharing the gospel.  

We also take part in local outreach and either Dan or Robin goes to the nearby town of Hamilton City almost every Friday.  We've been working with precious middle school and a few high school boys.  The town is known for crime, gangs and drugs so we want to reach the next generation before the gangs do.  Robin also wants to start a community garden there on an empty lot and we may replace a crumbling roof on a home in town.  

Robin has been teaching science to the K-2 grade class this fall.  She loves kids and science and wants to instill a love of science in the kids.  She currently has 4 kids, 2 staff kids and 2 whose parents are in CDTS.  With all this, she is the head of housekeeping and has to lead a department to keep our base clean and make sure we are prepared for conferences.  

Dan is part of the maintenance leadership team and does a lot of project planning and prioritizing needs in our busy maintenance department.  There are 80 buildings on our base that were mostly built in the 20's so there is ALWAYS something to fix or remodel!  

You can see, there is never a dull moment!