A day Building...moving mountains

Today is the last work day for the week. Three of the team drive to Bagabag on Sunday, and Bob and Linda fly out on Monday. Only Daryl, Kyle, and Robinson will return to Natonin and they will finish the building.

Andrew working on the ceiling grid work in the bathroom.

The bathroom door is the first to be hung.

Packing up for the final time before Andrew and Bob and Linda leave. Now Team 3 is down to only 3 members- Daryl, Kyle, and Robinson. Pray for them as they continue the building process.

Andrew, Linda, and Bob ready to leave the job site for the last time. (2 views- from front entrance and side view showing the windows)

Here I (Linda) am with Grace and Joanne for one final shot near the front entrance. You can see the security bars are being painted. They were ordered locally, as was the kitchen cabinet from another man.

You can also see the building from the helipad as they waited for us to leave.
It is hard to believe it was just a hill not long ago.

The clouds were not cooperating- for awhile Bob didn't think we'd be able to fly out! Brad had to fly way around the valley skirting the clouds to get in. He needed some fuel, but he didn't want to take too long due to the weather.

We were able to lift off directly from the helipad, fly through the valley and onto Tuguegarao, all in only 30 minutes! It was a beautiful flight! We had lunch with the New Tribes pilot and his family at one of their favorite restaurants and then went to the airport to wait for our flight to Manila. We arrived by taxi at the Manila Guest House about 5:45 pm.

Yes that's Linda in the back and NO Bob is not flying just taking pictures

A day Building...Not much sun but much work.

Remember these are Philippine times not United States times and date.

It's been cloudy with mist most of today. The typhoon passed us by last night and is already in Japan. At 4:00 you can see the clouds hanging over the building site. Unfortunately with 100% humidity our clothes did not get dry today!

Kyle has persistence; give him a job and he sees it through to the end! This morning he continued putting plywood on the end of the building. In the afternoon he was putting vertical corrugated roofing iron on it. They still need to put a fascia board all around the edges plus gutters and down spouts.

 Robinson puts an undercoat on the 1/4" plywood before it goes up.

The first ceiling panel is up!

Bob and Andrew work as a team to make sure they have the right measurements for
the next piece. Along the outside walls each piece must be trimmed to fit.

The workers have come a long way in excavating the bank.
A stone wall will be going up to keep the dirt from eroding.

Who can put the most screws in?

Working on the grid work near the circuit breaker box.

We are thankful that the typhoon passed to the east.  Even though we saw some clouds and rain it was better then what could have been.  We are thankful for more progress and can see the end of the building project.  But we know there is much more work to be done in this building.  Pray with thanks for the building, pray for the translators (Ignacio, Robyn, Joanne, Grace and others) for their minds to be clear and for their health and safety of them self and family. 

A day Building...Working and Watching

This morning Daryl and Kyle continued working on the porch roof, putting galvanized roofing iron on it.

Some of the Balangao men worked some more on removing the bank. They are using the dirt as land fill.

Bob and Andrew worked on the ceiling grid. Trying to square things up was a real challenge! The hardware store is all out of 1/4" plywood, so we hope it will be in tomorrow so the ceiling can go up.

Bob standing by the electrical circuit box.

There are always children around to watch and add variety to the work day.



Time to close in the ends of the building with plywood. Later Kyle will put roofing iron over it to seal the building.

It's late afternoon and Bob is still putting the stringers up for the ceiling panels.

The wind is really kicking up this afternoon (4 pm) as the typhoon moves this way. It is predicted that it will pass by east of us on Friday (tomorrow). Pray that we will not experience too much rain and winds from the storm. Daryl, Kyle, and Andrew will be driving out on Sunday to Solano and the dirt road is prone to landslides and washouts.

The typhoon is a Category 4 now so is very powerful.  Pray is stays to the east and doesn't bring to much rain to the area.  If you want to track it go to Typhoon2000.com and you can see a animation of radar of the past 24 hours and other information.

A day Building...Cleaning the inside

First thing this morning we hosed out the inside. There were lots of "drippings" from plastering the walls that needed to be cleaned up. It was good to have all the tools out of the way, too, before we could start the next phase inside- the grid work for the ceiling.

Daryl and Kyle worked on cutting up the lumber for the ceiling grid work.

They are using 4 inch strips of 3/4 inch plywood for this.

Andrew and Robinson mounted the strips on the outside walls and trusses.

Kyle finished up painting the porch trusses.

Balangao workers continued plastering the exterior of the office building.

Others started excavating the bank. A retaining wall of rocks
will be built from the highest point down to ground level,
and a french drain will go next to the building to deter erosion.

We heard this afternoon that the typhoon is supposed to come through this area on Friday. We are still getting late afternoon storms almost daily. It's good that we can now work inside out of the elements.

Pray for safety as they work off the ground and for the storm to not be more then some cool wind for relief from the heat and stay east of them.  It is a Category 3 storm right now and might build in strength.  I am not a weather person but it looks like the main storm might miss them but the outer bands can still have heavy rains and winds.   Thanks for reading the blog and praying for this project, have a blessed day and thank God for the workers that he has provided.

A day Building...a early hike and a porch

As of 4:00 today it's very dark and cloudy, but no rain has fallen yet. There is another typhoon headed for the Philippines that should make landfall on Thursday. Pray that we will be spared the worst of the storm and that the work will continue.

This morning at 6:00 Andrew, Bob, and Linda set out for the lookout tower. We drove along the road as far as we could and then descended some stairs to the rice paddies. There is a path between the paddies, sometimes a sidewalk that you must stay on, about 18" wide with steps along the way. Then we had to climb quite a ways up to get to the tower, stopping along the way to catch our breath. The view from the top was worth it!

More breathtaking views from the top of the lookout tower. If you look closely you can just make out our new building with the shiny roof.

On our way back we stopped at the Catholic Church.  We'd heard that remains of the helicopter that had crashed many years ago with translator Jo Shelter aboard were at that site. Sure enough you can see all that is left of it. It was a good morning before our work day began.

The first porch truss has been set and the other two are waiting

Kyle had to trim the post before continuing.

Watch the progress on the porch

Kyle is hard at work

Meanwhile Bob and Andrew continue with the electrical wiring.

Some of the outlets and switches are in place.

The Balangao workers continue plastering the walls inside and out.

Robinson sharing some popcorn with the workers.