Plans

Our future plans were looking pretty set here: move to the restaurant and go from there, simple. As we began planning around that and continued doing market research, we came across a consultant who informed us that doing a restaurant in the area we are in would not, in fact, work. Many others had tried and all eventually shut their doors. The area just can’t support a restaurant. So we switched plans after verifying that info.

We are still going to move. That entails helping the homeowner with finishing renovation. Today, tile and concrete were delivered. The split cost and any labor will, in turn, be taken out in rent. So if we spend X dollars on whatever resource, then we won’t pay rent equal to X.

One other big project is building a guest house. In order to accomplish that, we have to be run through the bureaucratic tangling of paperwork. Which is close to being finished. Once done, we will begin with a wall to protect from criminals, then a well. After that, we will build the actual building. We will also plant many types of fruits that one day we can begin selling.

Another project I want to talk about is a store. We decided to switch to a store when realizing that the restaurant would not work. Our initial thought was right in our neighborhood, but as we flushed the idea out, we realized that it may be a better idea to get a space in nDam (I figured out how to spell nDam; I wasn’t that far off) because at the moment there is only one store there, and it’s several kilometers away from many people. If we were to do so, we would send Quintin and another (not sure who yet) there, and they would firstly develop the church body there and, as a means to live, and hopefully leading to other projects, run the store.

Finally, we are working toward getting Menno his driver’s license to run a taxi. He has taken to it very well and should graduate in the normal three months. After graduating, we are trying to figure out the best course of action as to acquiring a taxi. The best idea is to have me donate the fund, which would leave me with enough to return home but none in an emergency capacity. Then, while here, I would use the proceeds from the taxi to live on, because at the moment, I have no income and did not plan on being here for this long. When I return to the States, the proceeds would then be dumped into the mission for more projects (one far future hope being something like an orphanage). Another idea for paying for the taxi would be working jointly with Roesdale International, who have expressed their interest in working in this area. However, if another door opens, we are willing to see God as to if we should walk through that door.

Those are the business plans of ours, but thats not all that’s being done. On a more personal level we are further developing the future leaders. One way we are doing that is teaching how to healthily use, guard, and give money. So, I’ve started simply with a literal monthly allowance (thats how my parents taught me and it worked so I figure it might again) to the two “associate pastors”. (They are not yet ordained) By starting with them and teaching them financial literacy, the idea is they would then teach their disciples who in turn can teach their future disciples and so on and so forth. We are hoping for a ripple affect.

Lastly, I regularly go on visits to members of the church, specifically those who can’t make it to church on Sunday. Right now, I do one personal Bible study with a member and usually her friends/neighbors. She’s a young woman(15) who always has really good questions, like about speaking in tongues, women pastors, false prophets, and more.(Please pray that God would give me wisdom on those days.)

I realize this may not sound like a lot, or maybe it does not, I’m not sure, but it ends up being a lot when you spend whole days just trying to get paperwork done for a single facet of a much larger vision. Hopefully, this better explains what a day-to-day might look like for me. I didn’t quite share our “vision,” but that’s because I know how fast things can change here, so I don’t want to tell everyone something only for a week later to be singing a completely different tune.