It is hard to believe that it is already 2 months since Cyclone Pam ravaged the central and southern islands of Vanuatu. I wish I could tell you that things are back to normal, but that is not the case. For many people rebuilding has not even started. Families are still in makeshift shelters or roofs still covered in tarps. It has only been in very recent days that fresh vegetable stalls are reopening. The produce is limited to a couple fast-growing crops like green beans and Bok Choy cabbage. But it is encouraging to see that the farmers are beginning to have a small income and we have a few vegetable options.

At JBI, about 3 weeks after the cyclone, we were able to get several sheets of iron roofing to fix a couple of roofs with minor damages. As the weeks progressed, building materials got harder to find and the waiting list for lumber and roofing materials got longer. Nails, screws and other basic supplies disappeared from the hardware shelves. Many of these things, we have had to specially order now.

While we waited, the open roofs allowed rain to continue to pour in and cause more damage. It was a frustrating time as we only had enough tarp to cover one building and three others were left open to the elements.

A big thank you to Steve and Helen Blake for giving us enough roof canvas material donated by an Australian company, Wax Converters Textiles WCT, to cover up our remaining damaged buildings.

The JBI students have gone beyond the call of duty this term and worked so hard to cut up the fallen trees, cover campus roofs, relocate to smaller rooms, and distribute relief food.

After a month of waiting, on May 9th, we received the roofing to fix the girl’s dorm and the guy’s bathroom/workshop building. The cyclone roofing screws arrived a couple days later so the work could begin. So a small crew has been busy taking the remaining roof of the girl’s dorm off, replacing broken rafters and purling before putting on the new roof. We are very happy to have some unexpected help from Colton Cravatt from the USA.

Thank you to those of you who have sent in special offerings to help us repair the damage. We have received about 25% of what we need to rebuild. If you would like to give towards rebuilding: please label your gift Project #5619 and send to our AGWM account.

I did not expect to start any new construction projects this late in the year but several things including the soon arrival of a new baby made this project a bit more urgent. So we launched into a partial renovation of the old teacher’s house today. It is late at night and I (Lori) just found some more termite mud in my hair. The work crew took out some ceiling panels this morning and found…yes, unfortunately, it was termites…so I was up on the ladder poking my head through some tight purlings to evaluate the sad condition of things.

Anyway, this lovely family, Kiel and Faith Maimai, have a sweet little boy Harry Joshua and he is soon to have a baby brother or sister. They have been living in a guest apartment for several years and need a regular house. We are happy to have a campus house for them, but it has not been lived in for about 4 years because it needs repair. Pastor Kiel is the JBI Dean of Students and full-time teacher.

The house has obviously been added on to over the years but nothing was ever quite finished. I’ll spare you the photos but we ripped out the only bathroom today. The house will also need to be rewired as the electrical wires were a real rat’s nest in the attic.

Would you please consider a gift towards the renovation of this campus house. We have about 5 weeks of work ahead of us and I need about $5000. The JBI campus project number is 5619. Thank you.

Within a few days the married dorm building may stop for a while as we have run out of funds. I wanted to show you what has happened recently and how much progress has been made. Students arrive for classes March 8th and we really want to have this finished for 3 married couples. We have no other campus housing for married students.

All the interior and exterior walls are being plastered.

This is one of the studio rooms. Private bath through door on the left.

The sky was really this blue today!! Gorgeous! NEED MONEY FOR METAL ROOF!

Photo (left) is the front porch of the building and on the right is the rearview.

The married dorm sits behind the JBI Chapel. Pray with us that funds will come in to finish it quickly!

Thank you for making your tax deductible contribution here.

On November 5, 2012, Pastor Peter (‘07 JBI Grad) and David started working with me to make something useful out of a small half-finished room attached to a larger unfinished foundation. This building was started before we came to JBI in 2007 and had never been finished. The original purpose of the building had been debated but one thing was certain, it needed to be finished. The topsoil in the foundation area had even been used for a couple of years as a vegetable garden. I found this photo of Jeremy standing among the cabbages planted in the unfinished foundation in 2008!

One difficulty we have seen over and over again with our married JBI students, is a spouse having to come alone to Port Vila to study. This separation is especially hard on the wife and children left on outer islands having to subsist alone while the husband is away for 9 months at a time. But renting a room in the city or bunking in with relatives is rarely an option for our married students. On campus we provide dorms for both single men and women but no married accommodations.

A special offering of $5000 towards married housing earlier this year caused us to look for a solution and focus again on this unfinished building…the only one on campus. So recently a decision was made to finish this building and make 3 studio apartments for married couples before school starts again in 2013.

So the past month has made an amazing difference in transforming an unfinished foundation into three studio apartments!

We have spent the $5000 gift and now need more funds to finish the rest. The next costly item will be the purchasing of metal roofing. Then we will need money for bathroom fixtures, 3 double beds, tables, chairs and closets for each apartment.

This building is a continuation of Project 5619 construction at Joy Bible Institute. If you would like to make a donation towards this project you may do so here. Thank you so much for your continued support of the school!

A few years ago this unfinished building foundation was full of cabbages, peanuts and tomato plants. The guesthouse project started by our predecessor has remained unfinished for quite some time. We have desired to slightly alter the plans and make three studio apartments for married couples with it. Married couples’ accommodation is really what the school needs. Renting a room in town is rarely an option for our married students because they come to JBI without guaranteed funds. So often, wives have to remain back on home islands while husbands come to Bible school for three years of study.

This past Monday, November 5th, we hired a work crew and they cleaned out the weeds and cut down the papaya tree growing in the middle of the floor (photo above). Since then, the guys have continued working and I have been purchasing cement blocks, bags of cement, sand, coral and rebar. An unexpected offering has allowed us to begin the completion of this building but we have a long way to go.

As of today, Friday, November 9th, this photo shows our progress, plumbing pipes set, and additional foundation footings. Everything is ready for the floor to be poured on Monday! We are so excited to be on our way to providing rooms next year for three married couples. If you would like to help us with this building, please send all gifts to our account, labeled project 5619.

Thank you! We have the new roof installed on the student kitchen and paid for! Thank you so much to everyone who responded to our request for $7,400 on May 13th. Only a $1,000 more is needed to completely pay for this new kitchen.

Gary is standing on the hill above the kitchen which gives a good view of the new metal kitchen roof (and the rusty cafeteria roof in the background). The new cement floor was poured since the photo above right. The finishing touches on plumbing, electrical wiring and the chimney are the only things remaining to be done! Thank you so much to everyone who has given sacrificially over the months to complete this new kitchen for the Bible school students!