Construction Progress for 2012

Never a Slow Year

We planned to have a slow construction year in 2012, but now that we're standing at the end of the year and look at all we accomplished, we've discovered that it wasn't such a slow year for building after all.

In March we finished enough of the Furrow House for us Furrows to move in.  It was nice for us to start settling into our new place before our baby Eliana was born in August.

During dry season in the spring we struggled to consistantly provide enough water for everyone living here, so, our guys hand dug a well.   They found water only a few feet down, so we feel confident this well will help us in the future.  In 2013 we need to redo our water system and incorporate this well into the system, along with our spring water.

One of our biggest accomplishments for the year was doing finishing work on the community area of our property, where our Library and Activity Center are located.  We added a storage room onto our Library, built an Office and carport, and added sidewalks and bleachers to the Activity Center.  We still have some work to do to finish the Office, but we're almost there.  We couldn't have accomplished this all without help from groups, so we want to acknowledge them and say thanks.  The work we did improves so many areas of our ministry, by providing us with better suited facilities.

Our hardworking team of guys just finished building a corral and milking shed for our cows.  And none too soon, since our cows have started calving.  We're already enjoying our home-pasturized milk and are excited to have an abundance of milk that we can turn into other dairy products.

The last project for this year is building an apartment for Kelvin & Monica Johnson.   This fantastic couple volunteered with us last year and now have returned for another couple years here to be on our staff.  They and their daughter Kelly need a place of their own, so we're adding an apartment onto our Volunteer House for them.  This gives them some space for their family, while letting them still be a big part of life in the Volunteer House. 

At this point we plan to have a slow construction year in 2013, but we already have our doubts.  The projects are lining up: a duplex to house volunteer families, a commercial kitchen where we can cook for everyone, redoing our water system, adding fences, and fixing up a house to take in more kids!