Genesis Is Moving

The front yard needed a little trimming up.

Looking in from the front gate before we had keys to start working

  After working out of the current location now for 7+ years, Génesis is moving to a new place. The first week in January we were told that we had the opportunity to buy the current house we are working out of or we need to move out in the next six weeks as it was for sale. Since the price was out of our reach, we opted to look for a new location more seriously than we had been before. We knew this day was coming so we have been thinking about options and locations. Some things we did not want to give into included being out in the country so far that the kids could no longer come to us, even though the rent would be much cheaper there. Another thing was that we wanted to be closer to town so that we would get better “exposure” to the community that we are serving. A bigger building would be nicer but not a necessity. Internet would be a big plus as the teachers use programs on the internet to teach at times. Good reliable electric again would be a plus but not a necessity as we are only there during the daytime anyway so it if goes out for a few hours, we could deal with that since we have a battery backup system in place. A single story building would be a big plus since we have 3 in wheel chairs and 3 in walkers, a two story building would face certain challenges.

Utilizing one of our spring teams to start cleaning up.

Looking to the road from the house before the "big trim"

The front yard ready for new grass

      After focusing most of my attention on this for the better part of one week and driving many streets and knocking on many doors, we did locate a spot that would work great and had been empty for several years. It meet most of our criteria, all but one actually. It was a two story building. After thinking about that obstacle for some time, we decided that with a concrete ramp/sidewalk to the back side where there is a ground entrance to the second floor, this building would work out great. Since it had been empty for that long, there was much work to be done so it only seemed natural to me to start before we had actually officially secured the site. God is good though, and a week after the cleanup had started we had signed a 5 year contract with the first option for another 5 years. It is about a 5 minute walk to downtown and it is on a main road leading into town. One thing that we had not thought of is that it is right across the road from the local emergency room. That will also come in handy I am sure.

     Two weeks ago we had a couple from our area stay with us and I took advantage of that time to put him to work engineering a drain for the rain run off water and then pouring that concrete and also poured a new front approach to the driveway. Thanks Fritz Bontrager for the help that you provided. While we were working there, Fritz’s wife Kris was working at some of the other SI sites to see how one of the social work sites work and one of the pre-schools. (We did squeeze in time for some moto riding in the mountains though).

Frtiz Bontrager helping pour the new approach for the driveway

Getting ready for the concrete ramp/sidewalk

        As far as progress on the new site, we have been mainly cleaning up, reseeding the yard, tearing down the old concrete front wall, knocking a hole in one of the interior concrete block walls for a doorway, sealed some cracks in the roof where leaves were blowing in and replaced two windows. Things need done yet. We need to move about 75 banana trees from the back yard to the front yard. Put up a fence for a couple of goats in the back yard to keep the weeks down. Put up a new chain-link fence in the front yard with a gate, move the swing-set from the current site, put a divider wall up in one of the class-rooms, purchase a refrigerator and oven (we have been doing more in the kitchen with the students teaching them how to cook basic recipes), move the battery inverter to the new site, and one of the bigger projects is to pour the sidewalk/ramp to the second floor around the back of the house. Our home sending church will be sending a team of 8 men down to help with that project the second week in April. We are especially blessed to have our son Greg on that trip.
     In church this morning our closing song was "The Heart of Worship". Having sung that song many times in our home church in Indiana, I never noticed the words "I am sorry Lord for the things I made it when it's all about you, its all about you Jesus." I was really taken back a few steps thinking about Genesis, the new site, serving here in the DR and just everything in general. What have I tried to make it? I have to admit that too too many times it's hasn't been all about Jesus but rather I have made it more about "me." As I reflected on those words this morning, it brought a few tears of embarrassment and shame. Lord help me to keep You the main thing, and  help me to give You and You alone all  glory and everything else will fall into place the way that you want it too. Amen.   

The beginning of the ramp at the lower level

  



   I will try to have updates every couple of weeks as the progress continues. Thanks to all of you who have prayed for this over the last year as one of our duties when we arrived almost a year ago now was to find a different location for Génesis.