Update 6-20 AR/OK
We’ve been progressing well at Ms Reba’s since our last update. Chris had a medical issue that should be resolved this week so he was out, but Jeff and I continue to press on every day. Gery is still serving three days a week, and we also had a couple of brothers, Shay and Gray, who have come out and helped when they could. Cristy also finished up the insulation around the windows and doors and helped Mary Jo with some medical issues.
All of the plywood has been installed. Ms Reba stained and sealed them herself and has completed that. The crown board is up and I’ve been working on boxing and trimming all the windows. It’s really looking good. Despite many hassles due to factories shut down and lack of supplies, we were able to get the flooring and kitchen cabinets delivered, so we’ll be starting on that this week. We’ll also be making some purchases for plumbing, electrical, kitchen, and bath fixtures this week so we can make sure we have all we need to finish up her home. We’re still hoping we finish up by the end of June. Rob from CC Festus, MO is coming the following week to help so we’re hoping it will be a huge week to really get a lot done!
There seems to always be a lot of wind and rain along with the occasional tornado watch and we actually have had a couple of warnings. One of the storms dropped a branch on the trailer we were able to get for Ms Reba to live in while we work on her home. It put a hole through the roof so we had to fix that and also relevel the trailer as it is constantly sinking because of all the rain. We’ve had over 32” of rain so far this year and the rivers are pretty high. Depending on what happens up river it’s possible that we’ll see more flooding so pray about that. Also it looks like the heat is going to be here later this week. Temps will probably be over 100 with heat indexes at least 10 degrees higher. It’s going to be hot to finish all this up!
We continue to work on what we can back at Camp Calvary to begin the process of moving, though we don’t know for sure when we’ll leave or where we’ll be going so please keep all of that in your prayers. Of course we’ve always got maintenance to do on many things!
We were able to visit with Leo. He is home, but not doing well. He said he doesn’t want to go back to the hospital. With the current injustices being done to us because of the virus, Leo’s wife Edna is not allowed to be with him at the hospital. After being married for over sixty years, the separation really tears her up. Please continue to lift them up in your prayers. They both have told us several times how nice their home is since we rebuilt it and how thankful they are for all the help we were able to give them. We let them know that we were able to help them because God loves them and hasn’t forgotten them.
The most important thing that we do in our ministry is discipleship. This should be true of every ministry, church, Christian, etc. We are all called to be disciples and to be disciplers! One of the things that we look for whenever we’re in an area is the opportunity to disciple others as we are plugging in to a local church body. We have truly been blessed here with a great local church including many from this small congregation who have helped us out in the field. We have the opportunity to attend verse by verse teaching at least three times a week and a lot of great fellowship. We also have been blessed to be part of the discipling others with a few locals attending our morning team devotions and I’ve been given the chance to teach a few times at church. Of course all of those who come from out of town have also been participating! We’ve definitely grown a lot ourselves and have seen a lot of growth in those around us who want to allow The LORD to work in their lives. We love seeing Jesus use us as He works among what we’re doing!
Our white truck was having ignition issues so I spent last Saturday changing out all the coil packs and sparkplugs, which was no easy task. Shops wanted about $2000 to do it but I was able to get it done with just buying the parts for about $600. We also had another fuel leak on the diesel truck and I was also able to fix that relatively easily and only spent about $100. Our auxiliary tank’s fuel transfer pump went out so I’ve got another one on order, should be here any day so I’ll need to get that installed so we can get the gasoline out of it that we set aside a couple months ago in case the crazies got crazier! Going to take the van in soon for an oil change and it looks as if we’re going to need tires for that soon. We have a hole in the skylight on our 5th wheel that I tried to fix but only made it worse. So I’ve ordered a replacement and will be doing that repair later this week when it arrives. Pray I won’t cause any damage to the roof membrane while I’m attempting that! It’s getting warmer so that means our refrigerator is beginning to struggle. RV refrigerators were not made for people like us that live full time in an RV, especially in warmer temps. Would like to get the refrigerant system changed to something more reliable, but that would cost about $800 if I do the replacement myself. There are always so many things to spend time and money on just to exist- and that is on top of all that is already on my plate!
Physically both of our backs are doing OK as long as we keep up with our stretches and muscle targeting with our torture stick! We also have to try to watch what we do and how we do it, but things have to be done so we do our best. Neither of us has had to go to the doc for our backs since December so that’s good as that isn’t cheap, but well worth it when we need it! We may each schedule one more appointment before we leave as the doctor here is one of the best we’ve ever found!
Mary Jo has also had a lump/spot in her eyebrow area. She’s been trying some natural things to get rid of it and while the size went way down, it didn’t go away like all the others she’s had. Cristy got her into see her doctor who had removed similar things for her. That doctor said that Mary Jo needed to go and see a specialist as it was rather suspicious and in a delicate place. The doctor made a phone call to a good friend of hers who is one of the best dermatologists in the area and even though they were booked through September, they got Mary Jo in the next morning. They biopsied it and we are waiting to hear the results. Please keep this is prayer. Obviously we are hoping it turns out to be non-cancerous. Since it all happened so fast we have no idea what this will cost so please keep all of this in your prayers as well.
There’s a lot of injustice in today’s world and it continues to be more widespread. While I know that this world is not my home, it still pains me to see us tear each other apart. We know that The LORD is in control and that those who trust in and follow Him have a future with Him forever in heaven. We pray that we would look to Jesus and God’s Word for the answers to ALL of life’s problems and that we would lean not on our own understanding but in all our ways acknowledge Him as He gives us a peace that passes all understanding and uses ALL that we go through to make us more like Christ!
Our renters have moved out and left our home in good condition so we don’t have to run home and fix anything. Please pray that the Lord would direct our steps and provide a renter or show us what to do with the house.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers. If you feel led to help us with our expenses, please click the link below and don’t forget to also give to your local body!
Lord Bless,
Curt & Mary Jo
