Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Our Beautiful New Building

What a day of rejoicing it was when we were able to dedicate our brand new building to the Lord!   Many months (actually 6 years ago beginning in 2005), Child Evangelism Fellowship of Fiji began its journey of faith asking God to provide a national office and training center.  In August of 2011, that new building was dedicated to the glory of the Lord.  Let these pictures cause you to rejoice with us!  If you do not see 16 pictures below, then there may be a GRAY-colored "Read More..." just below this paragraph.  If so, then double-click there to SEE what God has given to us!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Unfortunate Building Repairs

Fiji experienced back-to-back tropical storms in January '12 which resulted in a tremendous amount of rain. You may have heard about the extenisve flooding on our side of the main island. We did NOT have any problems with the floods, BUT we did have problems with the rain which revealed many LEAKS in the UPPER roof. We also discovered extensive problems with the VERANDA roof which lacks the proper SLOPE. The leaks caused by the lack of a fall in the rooftop have ruined the ceiling of the veranda on three sides of the building. Our original contractor has already made the repairs that he is willing to make. Those repairs stopped some of the leaks, but did not solve the root of the problems. 
Wet cement blocks in the attic

Obviously, roof repairs need to be done during Fiji dry season:
June to October.
Water- damaged rafters
The following figures are an average of estimates given by 3 Fiji "roofers" paying local workmen :

Phase 1
Sealing of Upper Roof 
USD$20,000.00  
NEWSFLASH: There is a volunteer missions construction team from New Zealand offering free labor if we can provide USD$1,000.00 IMMEDIATELY for the purchase of materials. This is an urgent need.

Phase 2
Veranda slope repair and new ceiling
USD $12,000 to 20,000.00??????

City Council still insists that we install a parking lot to cater for 18 cars.

Phase 3
Required Parking lot
USD $25,000.00 to $35,000.00?????

Unfinished walls at the peak of the roof
allows wind to blow rain inside.
We are sick at heart to report that if these given estimates are "in the ballpark",  we need somewhere  close to
USD $70,000.00 to fix it all.  Only God knows the actual cost of it all.  Therefore, we ask that you lift this need up to the Lord who is Jehovah-Jireh.

Due to Kent needing hip and knee replacements during the construction time, the construction crew may have taken advantage of the fact that Kent couldn't inspect the roof during construction.