Vanautu
South Pacific Islands
Survey Trip
I-TEC's President, Tom Garber, and his 18 year old
grandson,
Seth Cawthern, went on an electrical survey trip
to the South Pacific in the
country of Vanautu on the island of Santo for a mission
called
Friends In Action International. See detailed report below.
Aug 18, 2009
Hello from Vanuatu,
Our first week has been completed and it has been
interesting to say the least. We have been reminded
daily that this is God’s work not ours as the plans we
make for each day become a moving target.
We arrived on Sunday Aug. 9th after 40 hours of travel
including airport layovers. All in all the travel went
very well.
Arriving with a good dose of jet lag (15 hours + one day
ahead) Monday greeted us with rain and cool weather.
This is their winter time but it is also supposed to be
the dry season. Tuesday was nice and then again 2 full
days of rain.
Monday we started working with the survey team (Ralph
Christianson from BC Canada, and Bill Vedike from NY)
doing the topography for the 250 acres in order to begin
the layout for the houses and various buildings. It’s
good they build water (proof) equipment for the
surveyors as they needed to continue rain or shine.
Seth was able to be the “rod man” for a day, and head
out into the brush holding a short pole with a
reflective device enabling the $15,000 piece of
electronic surveying equipment to register distance,
elevation and much more.
Tim Johnston(President of Friends in Action) and I, cut
trees and cleared the area where the electrical
containerized room, currently under construction at the
I-TEC warehouse, will be located.
This week we hope to pour the concrete for the generator
pad. Please pray that the rains hold up for awhile.
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Tim Johnston |
Tim Johnston |
Seth working with a National. |
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The previous team had planned to set the trusses on the
40 foot wide shop but they were only able to get the
block walls in place because of the heavy rain. With
the help of two neighboring missionaries, we attempted
to set the trusses on Friday but the first one broke due
to the wood being dry rotted. They were very heavy and
we thank the Lord that no one was injured.
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Team Work |
Dry Rotted Truss |
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After discussing all the options, it was decided to
start all over again and order new lumber. We could not
take the chance of a roof collapse under a heavy snow
load. (Just making sure you are awake)
Sunday morning worship was in a small Vanuatu church and
Sunday night we went to Camp Shining Light, about 5
miles up the road, and had a wonderful outdoor service
with a small group of missionaries and their many
children. One husband and wife team (Simon and Megan)
are from Australia and plan to begin working with
Friends in Action soon, along with their 8 children.
We are thankful for at least a slow Internet connection
here even though we must travel a few blocks to get a
connection. At times we have had to sit on the curb
outside the building and try to send and receive emails.
This is when all the good intended forwards with
pictures really clog up the connection. I have had to
wait for over an hour to download incoming email before
attempting to send anything. What did we every do
without email.
Please continue to pray for wisdom as we finalize the
layout of the buildings and set the new trusses this
week.
We will also be visiting a village later this week with
a broken solar system and from what I hear, this village
has the potential for a micro hydro project.
Vanuatu has the highest number of languages per capita
in the world and is truly a field ripe unto harvest. 88
Islands and 110 languages.
Thank you for your continued prayers.
Tom Garber and Seth Cawthern
Vanuatu News Update August 21,
2009.
End of Week Two
This has been a very productive
week on the work site and as of Friday, 8/21/09. We have
the pad poured for the generators and the piers are set
to hold the 20 foot Electrical Container. Thank you for
your prayers. It has not rained a drop all week and
although the sun has been intense at times, today when
we poured the concrete, it was overcast and pleasant.
The workers here are a lot of
fun and love to laugh. We had a great time with very few
words spoken but lots of hand signals and smiles. I’m
looking forward to returning next March with a full work
team (Approximately 12) so if you are interested,
contact Paul Kinley and get on the list. Details will be
available in about 30-60 days after our return.
The well has been dug to a
depth of 100 feet, which is sea level, and the pump is
set at 97 feet. Even though the drill ended in a bed of
sand, it does not seem to have affected the performance.
We pumped 10 gal a min all day on Friday and it worked
fine. I won’t show you a picture of the temporary
electrical connection necessary to allow the generator
to run the pump. When you are in a 50 cycle country and
you have a 60cycle pump and generator and no 240 volt
plug to connect the two, you just do what you have to
do. Not OSHA approved.
Two water tanks came today but
over 2000 feet of trench still needs to be dug with the
backhoe before the well is in complete operation.
All in all, this has been a
great week. Thank you again for praying for us and the
team from Friends in Action. We have met many new
friends who have a heart for missions and like I-TEC
also have a desire to use their skills to serve the
Lord.
FOLLOW THIS WEB SITE NEXT WEEK.
We will be visiting a village tomorrow and will have a
post again next Monday or Tuesday. Also, we begin out
travel home next Tuesday night so please pray for good
travel connections and continued opportunities to share
with other travelers as the Lord leads.
Vanuatu signing off at 10:30
PM, Friday night Vanuatu time and 7:30 AM Friday morning
Eastern time.
God Bless
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Matthew 9:37 |
Matthew 19:14 |
Matthew 28:19 |
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