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We have now been in our house for nearly two weeks. We praise God for all He has done, and for our own four walls, though things have been rough as well, with so much yet to be done, and some power problems. The work has stopped now since no money has come in to continue finishing the house. We still need $22,500 to get everything done, and the solar power system isn't paid off yet either.

The last two weeks in review:

February 1

Time to star packing up house. While much stuff had been in boxes already, it was time to empty the little storage room on the roof. The easiest way to get the furniture down was directly, as you can see on the picture; they are handing down a couch. After some time, the garden was quite full with all kinds of furniture.

Seybou then started driving it to the property - with the help of our neighbors, they piled it on.

Meanwhile, they had laid the tiles in one half of the house, and the electricity was up and running. However, there weren't any plugs in the house yet, so no way to plug any appliances in.

February 2

We didn't actually move much yesterday, but today Seybou went back and forth quite a few times, and I myself went the last time. We had to repair the car twice, and had one accident as a motorbike bumped into us from the back.

We kept packing up the house (left picture) and transporting stuff over, putting everything on the tiles on the side of the house where they were done (right picture).

They laid the tiles in the kitchen today (picture), and kept working on the tiles on the right side of the house.

February 3

Kossi put in a few plugs today, so we could plug in the sound system for our service. Power lasted exactly the two hours of the service, then the battery bank was empty.

February 4

Big moving day. We counted about 13 times going back and forth between property and old house, in between taking kids to school and picking them up. It was a LONG day.

Everything that was left was packed up, and put into the garden to be loaded onto the car. The rooms were emptying out more and more. Incredible how much trash was revealed in the kids' room, after the four bunk beds had moved out!

The very last thing - because most difficult - was my waterbed. It's hard to get the water out without a pump. Emmanuel came over to help (he did so last time I moved three and a half years ago). Together with Paul they did a great job. I'm gonna my waterbed, since there is no room for it in our new house. Many missionaries have waterbeds in Mali because of the intense heat - the water is so much cooler than a mattress.

At 10:30 pm we finally brought the last load over to the house. Only few things were left at the old place. I was exhausted and dirty. But there was no electricity, since there were some problems with our solar power system. So I stepped into the unfinished house that was filled with our stuff lying all over, trying to find my way into a little room that had enough space for a mattress. I put one on the floor, put a board in front of my door and window, so I could let my cat out of her box, and lay down to sleep. I was hot, dirty, surrounded by mosquitoes and uncomfortable. I couldn't help but think back to my very first night in Mali four and a half years ago, when I lay in the elementary school like that.

February 5

First day at home. I called the missionary who had installed the solar power, but he didn't know why the generator didn't give us the electricity we need. Stepping out of the house, I noticed that they had dropped a lot of our stuff OUTSIDE, rather than inside, since they couldn't find any more room to put stuff.

Fanta and Elisabeth were cooking in the shade next to the house - surrounded by furniture and tiles, with little Sarata and Hama playing in the dirt.

It was time to move our stuff into the house. Where to start? There was already so much inside the house, that it was an overwhelming job. I just started with one item and went from there. Unfortunately we couldn't move stuff into two rooms where they had only just finished laying the tiles. It was a long, tiring day. At one point I went to the old house with Seybou to take a shower and check my emails.

In the afternoon, the internet provider finally showed up to make the installation. They were pessimistic that it would work that far out, but it was a miracle that it did work. Praise God! The signal that is received via antennae was strong.

February 6

Two car repairs again. Some guys were working on the sceptic tank, and some on laying tiles on the kitchen (left) and bathroom walls (right).

I kept arranging my stuff all over the house, which is a huge job.

February 7

Tiles in the kitchen made much progress, and the doorposts put in. All workers left early for an important soccer match on TV.

February 8

Four days in our house. We keep cleaning everything, and it seems to just stay dirty. They finished the tiles in the kitchen on the other side of the room, and laid the tiles in my shower. In the evening I started unpacking my kitchen stuff and putting it in its place as much as possible.

The first few pictures of my office (left) and my living room (right).

February 9

The plumber connected the pipes in the house to the sceptic tank today.

This is the Malian toilet in a corner of our property - a hole in the ground behind the wall. To take a shower, you simply take a bucket of water with you. I can't wait to have my bathroom done!

February 10

After a few days with a beginning cold (virus), I'm finally hit full force. Service without me. Interpersonal challenges also abound. Start of our three weeks of praise and fasting.

February 11

Sick and unproductive. Our carpenter puts in all the doors - but they don't have handles or locks. That's expensive and we have no money left.

February 12

The generator runs every day from early morning till late at night to give us enough power, until our more powerful batteries come out of customs. That costs us over $40 a day. Plus the noise is deafening.

No worker shows up.

February 13

The generator is down, and 30 hours without electricity start. We get the generator repaired, but for some reason the electricity is not accepted by our power system.

My shower is installed, but they forget parts of the toilet, so it's postponed again.

February 14

Toilet and sink are installed in my bathroom. Not quite straight, but it's working, praise God!

The missionary who installed our solar power system came in the afternoon and simply changed a setting, and power was restored. He said our batteries should come out of customs tomorrow (which is today), and if they do, he'll install them Saturday. But nothing is certain in Mali!

WHAT'S NEXT

What we need is windows (to keep bugs and mosquitoes and dust out), but they are very expensive. Our doors need handles. The kitchen needs a tab, and the pipes there aren't connected yet. Our tab is outside the house. The bathroon on the kids' side of the house needs to be done.

We're praying for the remaining money to come in, so the house can be finished. In fact, I've already gone into debt to have some stuff done. Our trust is in Him.

Please pray whether God would have you invest into His kingdom in Mali, and help us get our house done.

MINISTRY-WISE

Tonight we go to the bus station again to feed street children and invite them to our Saturday program. Tomorrow will be our first program on our property. We will have to go back and forth between house and bus station a few times to bring them.

Last Sunday we started 3 weeks of praise and fasting. Every day we gather in the morning and evening to praise God. Last night we had a great meeting (more details on the BLOG).

Our village pastor Enoch has come to visit, and he's telling us all the great things going on in the villages. Their calling for us to come again is getting more and more insistent. I told him we'll come in March.

QUICK NEWS

•      School - We're picking up school again on Tuesday. Issa has finally finished his thesis and gotten his diploma. I've asked him to come by so we can talk to see whether he could come back to be our kids' teacher.

•      Fanta's Pregnancy - Fanta's (our cook) baby is due middle/end of May. Please pray it will be a healthy baby (her firstborn is handicapped), and pray everything turns out fine. Her due date is coinciding with a missions team that's coming from the US.

•      Girlfriends - Both my workers - Paul (19) and Firmin (21) - recently told me they have girlfriends. Please pray for protection and wisdom and God's will to be done in their lives.

•      Austria in April - I'm spending the month of April in Austria. If you'd like me to share or preach in your church, please contact me now. Details of my itinerary on the left and on my CALENDAR page.

Resting in HIM,

Claudia