Water covered field that we encountered on Monday. All of the seed has been lost
I know that I am outdoing myself with posting blogs of late; however I want to bring you up to date again quickly with what is going on around here after the cyclones and tropical storms that we have had over the past weeks.
I will begin my story back in the end of August only days after my triumphant August 24 entry stating that we were so thrilled to have the last of the sugarcane planted and ready for the rainy season so that it could grow with the gentle rains which we hoped would fall.
Well, rains did indeed fall. Only days after we topped the furrows we got hit with our first days-long torrential rain and flooding. When we could get back out to the land we found that much of the recently planted sugarcane had been eroded away and needed to be covered again. So, Javier and I took our azadónes and began the backbreaking labor of covering the rows again with the heavy, water laden muck, some of it still under standing water. We finished this off with the assurance that now, finally, we would see the crop grow.
And then the rains began again…
If you have been watching the news at all I’m sure that you saw the flooding and
This is the bridge at our house
devastation that has taken place in many areas of the country.
In my last blog I spoke about the flooding that occurred on the night that I arrived back in Cd. Valles. That ended up being a pipsqueak as to what would follow one week later.
On Saturday morning we woke up to water rushing down our street, the flooding coming to within feet of our doorstep. The bridge just down the road from us was a cascade of rushing water over the tops of the guard rails, and the little street just down the road was a river.
Seed sugarcane can stand some time under water. However, there has been little respite since we planted it a month ago. When we finally did get to look at the farm two days ago we found a mess. Thankfully, the standing sugarcane is thriving with all of the moisture. However, almost all of the newly planted sugarcane is ruined and will need to be replanted.
The street on Saturday morning just one house down from our door
Today Javier and I once again loaded our machetes and headed out to the farm. This time to replant what has been destroyed by the standing water in the field. At the end of the day both Javier and I could barely walk from weariness. We got maybe 1/5 of the field done. We will keep plugging away, and trust that this time, finally, we will get germination, and that the crop will not be lost again.
But we still have so very much to be thankful for. We should not have water shortages this year. We have a lovely full pond of water. Our standing sugarcane is doing well. We now have a disc that we have been trying to get for almost a year. We can finally begin to use it. I am cleaning and regreasing all of the bearings so that I can reassembly it.
On Saturday evening Theresa and I were part of a team which went to a little town called
Javier replanting stocks of sugarcane into the muck. He is doing this by pushing the stocks into the mud and cutting them off
Pujal, about half an hour south of Cd. Valles. There we showed the film “Fire Proof” and were able to be part of a time of blessings for couples from that village. We have been asked to come back on the 5th of October in order to help with a youth program there.
A team from Listowel Community Church is planning to come to Cd. Valles very soon in order to build a much need staff house on the land site. This will allow us to have a staff couple living at the Training Center, and missionary training can begin.
We have been crunching numbers to see how much the building will cost. As closely as we can figure we will need about seven thousand dollars. The hopes are that we will be able to complete all of the foundation and floor work before the team arrives. In order to do this we will need $3,000 dollars to begin. The rest of the money will need to be available when they arrive in order to finish the actual building.
All of the pieces of the disc. The bearings need to be cleaned and regreased. Then I need to see if I remember how to put it all together again
The need for a staff house on the farm is critical. I believe that we need to build it. But we do not have enough money to do so yet. If you feel that you would like to give specifically to this project then please send your check to either the Canadian or U.S. side of the ministry. Gifts will be tax receipted.
Well, tomorrow is another early morning of planting on the farm. I suppose I should wind this down.
Please remember to be praying for the ministry. We desire your prayers. It is not necessarily easy doing what Theresa and I are doing. We appreciate your love and friendship.
Blessings,
Steven and Theresa
