Great month at Barnabas

We have finished our first month at Camp Barnabas and it was an exciting month.  We have been able to see the new location at Branson where the Barnabas prep program will be held.



Here we are on the way down highway 65 to Branson.  

Our destination is this beautiful building which was once the home of Gary Smalley and his family.

It will soon be the home of Barnabas Prep, a school to help the disadvantaged gain another step toward independent living.

The only problem with this beautiful home is that it needs enough beds for 30 students and fellows.

 One of the critters who is hanging around in Branson is this great walking stick.

But back to Camp Barnabas.  There seems to be no lights in the RV area.  Once the one over our motor home was taken down it was clear that it probably suffered the same kind of damage as we did when the lightning struck here 18 months ago.  The electronic eye was fried as well as the starter.  Replacement was the only real option.

 Then there was the water leak at the BDL which last summer was the camp Chaplin's home and next summer will be the camp nurse's family home.  The back hoe really doesn't like the rocky Missouri soil here and there are a whole bunch of pipes down there somewhere.

Fortunately we didn't break any of then and now we are putting together the replacement parts to repair the leak.

 
Inside the house, we removed a wall which separated the laundry room from the kitchen.  With a little rearrangement of utilities and cabinetry we intend to provide a kitchen space large enough to set a table for four.

Sheet rock is all up now comes the finishing.  Jason and his son have never finished sheet rock and they are very interested in learning.

The whole time we are hanging and finishing Jackson is keeping guard to make sure we do it right.

 Oh, and by the way, it looks like this guy may have caught a ride with us while we were in Branson!

Patrick,(brother) what is this critter we have hanging all over the house?

 
We have been blessed to have a number of humming birds at the feeder.  They sure do fight for control of the feeder though.  We will fill it as soon as it is empty.

 Our oldest daughter called her mother and asked if we could build her a cat tree for her new kitty.  Of course we couldn't say no.

It is going together---

 ---and we will be ready to ship it to Maine soon.

 Guess what we found in Granby?  A new yellow apron.  Billie wore her old one out just before we took to the road with Sowers and now we were able to replace it.  It only took 3 1/2 years.

 We have has several guests around our house---

---and  SURPRISE we also have had a visit from our exchange student from Brazil.  She spent her senior year with us at our home in Roseland, Nebraska.  She spent her 18th birthday with us 20 years ago and now she will be spending her 38th birthday with us.

 We will have meals together in our house---

---but she will be spending her nights in the Teas beautiful house.  They have retired from the camp and moved to southwest Texas.

 While she is here Billie enlisted her to help with making the Christmas stockings for the Prep students and fellows---

---but this will be her private suite.  It was the bedroom of the Teas daughter---

---and the camp has supplied her with her own transportation.

 Our camp maintenance director has a special event;  his 60th birthday.

 And a part of the celebration just has to be a special appearance of the newest grandchild.  Doesn't look like a proud grandpa does he?

 We were all invited and a good time was had by all, then Roger and Kay (his wife) are off to a two week float trip down the Grand Canyon.

 The nest day we were invaded by several of the fellows and the prep students.  That evening we joined them for pizza and of course Billie and Vee were behind the counter serving the pizza.

 This is quite a group and it is a pleasure to know and work with them.

 On Sunday the ladies put on their finest and we spent a great day with brethren at the Monett Community Church---

---then as we were getting ready for supper last night we received a call from another special visitor.  Isn't he just beautiful?

Completed at Sunshine, on the way to Camp Barnabas!

We finished August at Sunshine Bible Academy and headed down the road to the farm for a short stay, then on down the road to Camp Barnabas in Purdy, Missouri.  We did stop along I-29 to see a special couple we had worked with at SBA in July.

 The weather at SBA was, for the most part very mild.  However, during August it was very dry.  We did get a few showers and the mornings after the showers gave us some of these. 

 Most of Billies work was to finish covering the many new test books and she is very good at it as you can tell by her concentration.

One last page and the job is done!

 We found that the EXIT lighting wasn't working.  Since we couldn't find the source we decided to pull a new source from a new power supply to make sure we had it covered.

 One of the last classrooms to receive a projector mount was the chemistry room.  It was a pleasure wiring this installation since the space above the drop ceiling is relatively clean.

 There are times however when getting to all of the junction boxes is a challange.

 One of the staff houses had had a new window installed a while back but the space around the cutout had never been filled.  I took a little time one afternoon to plaster it in to seal out the South Dakota winter.

 Painting (as you may remember is my "favorite" sport) can be a covering experience.  Even with a good respirator it can still get into the nose.

 After priming and painting the basement in the remodeled staff house the process of hanging the drop ceiling began.  The new laser toy was a very good addition as it made the wall angle installation much faster and easier.

 Of course where the angle was installed on the poured outside walls, it was a lot of fun trying to find the anchor points in the foam forms.

Soon I was hanging the T's and making ready for the tile.

 Before we left a doe and a pheasant walked by our house to tell us good-bye.

 On our way down I-29 we stopped at the big city of Little Sioux and had lunch with Gaylon and Ruthie.  They were at SBA in July and it was good to get together with them.

 When we got to the farm it was amazing to see the bluestem  had grown to such heights.

 The grass was luscious looking and still very green.

 Then we moved on to Camp Barnabas and were welcomed by a few of the locals---

 ---who were lounging around our campsite.

 There were also a few hibiscus in bloom around the Fish house and Well House. 

 But when night fell we soon found that there was not a yard light in the campground which left the area very dark indeed.

But, here we are all set up for the next two months and excited to see what God has got for us to do here.

Good time at Sunshine Bible Academy in July

We had a very good group at SBA in July.  There was a lot of work and laughing but the month is over and all but Billie and I have moved on to some other project.

When we first got here we needed to clean the roof and apply another coat of protective and reflective paint.

Then the crew for July came in and we started with our opening meeting to get acquainted and to get ready for the months tasks.

Meet the cleaning and painting crew.  Left to right we have Patty, Karen, Ruthie and Billie.

                                  

The painting started in the boys dorm---

---where they're getting ready for a new dorm supervisor---

---and the students.

Then the painting crew turned into a cleaning crew---

---and one of the first things to clean was the windows on the boys dorm---

---so clean they did---

---and did outside--

---and inside.

Then they moved to covering the new books which came in in the last month.

Meanwhile, the men started the work of hanging sheet rock in one of the staff houses.

Some of the spaces were more challenging than the others.  This one was a really tough area.

 Some of the house had been sprayed with foam for insulation but we didn't have a skiving tool to remove the excess---

---and remove it we did.

Hanging and finishing the rock in this stairway was definitely a challenge.

One of the tasks which has needed to be done for several years was to clean and arrange the storage buildings.  This month we had the perfect guys to get it done.

 Of course we did spend a good time each morning at devotions where we took turns expressing our appreciation for what God has dome for each one of us. 

 Another project this month was to install a new lighted sign for the entry.  We started by laying brick to use to mount the new sign.

  The brickwork went up---

 The wiring was completed---

---and then the sign was hung and lit.

 Big change from the sign picture from two years ago!

 Last night God left us with another of His wonders---

---and to finish out the project we bought another pickup so we will be able to take others on adventures with us.