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Mission house remodel

3/27/2018

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I thought maybe there might be more people interested in what the process is going to look like for the mission house remodel.

We will run out of funds before we finish, but by the end of June, we are hoping to enclose a hallway and the stairway to the second floor...so that the building will now be one building, and not two separate floors.  

Here below you can see the layout for that first floor, when we can get the tile floor installed first (going with a mosaic of broken tiles of different colors.)  The idea is to break up the bathroom and shower areas, and use double bunk beds instead of triples, with the same stairs we already have elsewhere for access.  

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The 5' opening in the rough middle of the building will be used to load and unload the Fords of group bags and supplies
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The holes for the columns and walls of the new exterior for the hallway
After we get the enclosures done, we can then use groups or any special donations that come in for this project to keep going on building out the new interior and getting things installed.  

Once everything is done on the first floor, then the work would move to the second floor, removing the bedrooms upstairs, expanding the kitchen, the dining area, and then the couch space, leaving a half bathroom as well on the second floor.  

We are trying to do this like we do everything with groups, using groups and group or special designated funds to do the work.  So far, groups help the mission overall and have not been a drain of finances, but rather helping the other areas of ministry.  We might have to invest a bit this year since we have employee commitments to meet (at least to keep them employed through June) and thus some material costs to keep going, but hoping that most of the costs can be absorbed by the groups from 2018 and 2019. 

If you are wondering why with so much of 2018 left why we won't finish, that is because we had to curtail how much we are planning to do and how long we will be able to do it this year because of the huge reduction of groups we are seeing for this year and thus the funds available and help to continue it.

The goal is to be done by June 2019, Lord willing.  The benefits will be a more welcoming atmosphere, easier to live with for groups, nicer long term housing, more space for supplies, and more space to spread out for bigger groups.  Plus, moving the bedrooms down a floor will cut down on the noise from the street, noise from those that stay up late, and to keep the temperature more pleasant for sleeping.
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Coffee 2018 and beyond

3/13/2018

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It seems an update regarding the coffee farms would be good via this medium where we can expand a bit more than just a regular email update. 

You might not know it, but the farming we do (all of it really it just so happens that most of it is coffee focused) has a focus on...providing employment, being self sustaining, producing quality products, looking out for the environment, and doing all in the name of God.  Overall it needs to provide funds to not only self sustain itself, but also to help with the other areas of ministry.  

So that is the goal, and the reason we do it.

It wasn't always in our plans, and originally came about from there being coffee plants on the Church property in Sampedrana.  Quickly it spread from there, but this is probably not the place for a complete history of our involvement with farming and coffee.

Currently there are two farms where our focus is coffee, in Las Botijas (1.5 hours from Tegucigalpa) and Sampedrana, both of which are quite large, and then one farm in Cantaranas of a few acres that is not suitable for coffee, and another small plot near the Church in San Juancito that we have basically turned over to the Church to use themselves.  

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So how about an update?

Here you can see part of the farm in Sampedrana that has been cleared, the hodgepodge triangle-sort-of-shape of cleared, green, polka dot (avocado tree), and coffee.  We own further up the mountain, we are just working on getting enough plants grown in our nurseries to then clear more and plant.  This will take years to complete, as each acre roughly needs 2,000 plants, and the rough cost from seedling to going into the ground is $1 per plant, and we have well over 10 acres left to plant.  

As I have written, our main need here other than continuing to develop the property is to improve the road conditions getting there, some widening, some leveling, but mostly improving the road itself for less slipping and sliding.  We are going to have to invest at least $3,000 this year on this road to try to get it up to snuff.  And one more thing will be building a house on the property and using it for a family to live and be daily caretakers, as well as just a base of operations to do cleaning, pulping, drying, etc.  
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The farm in Las Botijas was one we took over from another missionary when they left the country.  There is one big homestead, and several other pieces of property, several of which have coffee growing on them.  We were concerned about getting a proper caretaker for several years, but God had not opened any long term doors until August of 2017, when we moved Rony and his family from Sampedrana, where he had transplanted almost eight years ago to work with Don Escoto on his farm, but was going to lose his job because the farm was being divided and given to his children.  

There is quite a bit to do here as well in terms of planting more coffee and other improvements on the multiple properties, and that is exciting, but even more exciting is that after a brief time working in Las Botijas, and not having a place to worship, just by worshipping as a family, Rony has turned into a pastor by opening doors to what is already 15 believers and six friends in the community.  Seeing how we can help this burgeoning Church will be a bigger priority moving forward.   
PictureOscar with Rony on the farm just East from the farmhouse...planting corn between the coffee will feed his family for several months with corn.

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Rony and his family in the Church building that is on the farm property.
Finally you can see here below the property in Cantaranas.  We have received funds to plant the hill of this property this year with fruit trees, which should provide more long term investment and return for the property such as we already get from the two avocado trees there.  The valley Jonathan and the Church are still currently trying to use (you can see they have the greenhouse there) and we will see in the next twelve months about the long term housing on site about maybe developing that even more.  
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So you can be praying for the workers, and their families, for their safety, for good crops and harvests, and ways in which we can use those harvests more in our local areas, and abroad, to further the work of Christ.  Finding buyers abroad especially for the coffee we produce would be a great way not only to help us locally more but have more ties that could help us improve what we produce, but also to reach our goal of being self sustaining and starting to really invest some of what is being done into the other areas of ministry as well.  That could be helping hire more clinic staff, planting a new Milk Project, a new Church plant...the options, even limited just to what we are already doing and in areas where we already work, are numerous.  May God guide us and direct us through it all!
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building into the future

3/11/2018

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2018 is starting with finishing one construction project that was almost a half decade in the making (the Milk Project building) and working on several continuing projects in different phases of development.  

To show the Milk Project building finished is hard because there is just so much more space, and more than one level even to show (four different levels total.)  

​Here you can see the lowest level, closest to the clinic, of the play area.  Up from there is the storage for food and supplies, and potentially a future classroom, along with bathroom and cleaning area.  The main level has most of the operating area...main entrance, kitchen, bathrooms, sewing room, computer room, library, and classrooms.  

The upper level is serving its purpose very well right now of keeping the main level nice and cool even in warm days.  It is impressive.  That upper level is very basic right now, since we are not sure how it will be needed in the future.  However, we have already been able to put it to use with extra game space for the kids, and as well hosting the entire mission activity we had in late February, when the board of directors was here.  There is no electricity or any finishing features installed here yet, but that is according to plan (and our budget.)  But the big wide open space is a good set up for the time being for such meetings, which was a nice bonus! 

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Speaking of the Milk Project, plans are proceeding with the expansion in Sampedrana.  There has been a lot of talking about how to best proceed with the execution and selecting the children involved (the Church is wanting more than 50% to be children not from the body itself) and while forming rules, time, menus and such still come together, construction has begun, putting the kitchen above the current Sunday school rooms.  Thanks to Swiss Cove Christian Church we have the funds to get the kitchen fully built out and mostly equipped as well.  

We took advantage of a group from Sherwood Oaks Christian Church to spur on a few other construction initiatives as well...first being getting the mission house remodel in Tegucigalpa under way now that the Milk Project building is finished. First was eliminating pretty much everything that was in the old first floor, as you can see here.  We have actual plans for this floor and the entire new building when it will be completed.

Those plans include these columns which will be formed in the current parking area, and long story short...the building will be one building with one entrance when this is done, not two separate floors if you will.  It will be much more spacious upstairs, and downstairs accommodate 22 people on double bunks.  Why the columns and how all this will work?  More to come on this as we can make progress, but we are not expecting to finish this (money being the factor slowing things) until hopefully June 2019.  




We also took a big step adding on to the farm home in Cantaranas, as we hope this building will get a more permanent long term resident, especially as we hope to expand planting fruit trees here soon, along with pastor Jonathan expanding the use of the main farm land.  The added room we hope will allow for an inside bathroom and kitchen.  


Aside from us doing construction, there is also plenty of road work going on outside the clinic campus.  We are anticipating the main entrance being closed for hopefully under three months total, but that remains to be seen.  They are installing all the main future sewer lines, and then...supposedly (we are still in disbelief) will be paving the road all the way from above the clinic down to the bus stop.  If it all comes together in the time they are promising...it will be a huge, huge change for the neighborhood.  


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What else is going on with construction?

-Cantaranas wall continues, mostly with groups, but some the Church totally by themselves.  Hoping that can be finished by the end of 2018?

-Need yet to build a farm house in Sampedrana for a long term family to live there and keep an eye on things

-Road work in Sampedrana will be a big financial need and physical requirement to be done this year.

-We are told funds are on the way to put in the Church floor and windows for Las Botijas, which will be huge for that burgeoning body there (more to come soon on that)

-Several smaller projects around the clinic campus, and potentially partnering with ICCC Tegucigalpa (next door) on some bathrooms they are working on for their Sunday school areas.  

So...2018, not slowing us down any!  Please join in prayer with us to make strides on all these projects...safely, and with the needed funding to make it all happen.  

Interested in contributing to the cause?  If any blog post would seemingly be ripe for a PayPal link, this would seem to be it!

Donate here for...construction 

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Cantaranas Wall
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Las Botijas floor/windows
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just one beautiful spot needing road work in Sampedrana
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    Blog writer:
    Felipe Colby

    Executive Director 

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