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| Home Improvement Ministry |
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Well Project
Estimated cost
Del Rio Drilling & Pump, Inc. (01/11/10): $97,450 for 1500 ft.
Discussion
Where we live, water has to be hauled. Some of the people in our community drive 20 to 30 miles one way to get their water in Page. We want to put in a commercial-grade community well so our people can get their water here.
The first estimate we got was $50 per foot, assuming the well would be 1000 ft. deep. This seemed a bit high and 1000 ft. seemed a bit deep, so we held off for a while. We were encouraged to talk to one driller who thought he could do the job for $15 per foot. That's quite a difference!
There are a couple of hitches though. The officials at Window Rock want us to go down 1600 ft. (not 1000, and not 1500). And now that we're getting actual bids, they're running higher than anticipated. This project is not going to be cheap, but we're starting to move ahead with it. Our people in the Coppermine area need the badly. And now they will soon have it.
If God is laying a burden on your heart to help on this community water project, please contact us. Total projected costs could be as much as $100,000, based on the bid we now have in hand from Del Rio Drilling.
Note: Another project that this one ties to is our need for solar panels. See Solar Panels on the project list above. Home Improvement Ministry
Estimated cost
$1000 to fix up one house.
Discussion
How much this costs depends on how many projects we do. Fixing up one small dwelling could run maybe $1000. But we'd like to do more than one house. So we could use a steady stream of supplies for this important ministry. Allen understands construction and knows what to do with materials when he gets them.
Some 80% of the folks in our area have substandard housing. Many live in houses with no insulation at all - just studs, drywall, and siding. It doesn't have to be this way. In the dead of winter these people will be heating with coal. These stoves will be hot enough that the metal frame glows a pale red. But the periphery of the room is still cold. Going in and out in freezing cold air, with these violent swings of temperature is a health hazard. If there's any weakness toward pulmonary problems, this makes the problem worse.
What we need is not for you to send building materials. What we need is for you to send money that will enable us to buy building materials locally. When we get these supplies we ask that they family contribute time and labor to the installation process. We want them to have ownership of the project when we get done.
Helping people patch up their homes in a cold area such as this (in winter it's bitterly cold) has the same effect on people's attitudes that Jesus' healing ministry had long ago. This is practical that people need and when it comes they deeply appreciate it. Church Planting
When we say church planting, what we're talking about is Page, Arizona, just a few miles up the road from where we are. There is no Seventh-day Adventist presence in Page and there needs to be. Whoever God sends to the area to do church planting will have to be a tent maker, by which I mean s/he will have to be able to make his/her own way financially. This is a pioneer project, not just a job. God has the person picked out already, but we don't know who it is yet. Perhaps you do. If so, please contact us.
Before pressing on let me share a few facts about Page. The town was founded very recently (1957) to house the construction workers putting up Glen Canyon Dam. The town is situated just north of the Colorado River at at elevation of 4300 feet. The population is mostly white (67%) and Native American (27%), or about two thirds white and one fourth Native American. The median household income is about $50,000 per year.Page is known primarily as the gateway to Glen Canyon National Recreation Center, which basically means Lake Powell.
Wikipedia gives no numbers on religious affiliation in Page, but all else being equal one could expect it to be heavily Mormon. For further information see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page,_Arizona.
The Church Planting project is closely related with the Literature Evangelist project (above). Furnishings for Community Center
We need furnishings rather than a community center itself, because the walls are already up, the roof is on, and the center itself is very recognizable - from the outside.
What we're asking is not that you ship in bulky items at great cost, but that you and others make funds available to purchase needed items locally.
Please contact us for a current list of needs as we move forward with this important part of the project. Tractor
What we're requesting here is a tractor. Not money to go out and buy one (that would be horribly expensive), but a used tractor itself. If there's one you know of that's being under- utilized, we'd like to hear about it. Old is something we can work with, out of order is not. When we do finally get a tractor, we need to be to use it.
Books for Our Community Library
We need books for our community library, but have no desire merely to multiple titles. What we would want is books that have some potential benefit for the People. That means no novels or things that would ultimately detract from the work we're trying to accomplish.
On the other hand, these books would not need to be specifically religious. They only need to be consistent with what we're trying to teach. Example topics would be travel (not restaurant guides), home improvements, history, arts and crafts, cooking and nutrition, mission stories from other parts of the world . . . you get the picture. We want books that people can simultaneously enjoy reading and benefit from.
Solar Panels
Estimated cost
$12,000.
Discussion
Here where we are solar panels are not a social statement, they're a survival strategy. We put in our request for electricity, but many others have gotten in line before us. Some have been waiting for years and they still don't have electricity.
Recently our chapter president came over to see us. He said he sympathized with our situation, but that it would create a lot of really bad will in the community if we cut to the front and got our electricity before the others. We don't really need bad will just now. But we do need electricity.
Actually, this need cuts two ways. If we got tribal electricity, how reliable would it be? If the grid went down, how soon would it come back up? If we were on solar, on the other hand, we wouldn't be subject to these fluctuations.
Street prices vary, but what we're looking at is 216 watt/24 volt panels. A pallet of 15 panels with this rating can be purchased at a street price of about $12,000.
Note: One really big reason why we need solar panels is the well we're putting in. Without electricity you don't pump much water. See Well Project under Projects (above). Bible Worker
This is pioneer missionary ground. We need a dedicated Seventh-day Adventist worker who knows his/her Bible and can work in a tent maker capacity in the Page, UT, area. The task would be two-fold: (1) support yourself while being a loving and lovable Christian, and (2) raise up a new church in Page.
A student asked H. M. S. Richards once if he should become a pastor and the answer was, No! Not if you can do anything else. If you can't do anything other than pastoring, that means you're called. If you are aren't called, do something else. If you are called, we would like to talk to you. Use the dialog box on the Contact Us page.
Note: The picture on the Bible Worker link is not of a meeting conducted by the Bible worker we don't have yet. It's a birthday party. But the fact is people will come out when there's something's to come for that they're interested in. Why shouldn't we be able to generate this level of interest in Jesus? We think it's possible to do that. If you think so too, we'd be interested in hearing from you. Literature Evangelist
The field for literature ministry would be primarily in and around Page. Page is in Mormon territory. It would be hard to sell Adventist books there. If you like easy assignments, thank you for checking out our web site. If you want to work where work is needed, this is a place you might want to think about serving.
The Literature Evangelist project is closely connected with the Church Planting project (above).
.jpg) Seminars
Last summer we had a very successful Vacation Bible School, right here at our facility - even though it wasn't completely finished. Our helpers in this picture (wearing matching T-shirts) are from Holbrook Indian School.
We'd like to do something for the parents as well. An ideal topic for such adult oriented seminars would be health, and especially preventive measures that people can do to stay well. This is vastly better than waiting until sickness comes and trying to get well.
If you know something that God has equipped to give such seminars, please contact us. We'd love to hear from you.
Wood Stoves
Estimated cost
We'd be happy to get stoves instead of money to buy stoves.
Discussion
The reason why we need a large wood burning space heater/stove is to make the community center comfortable in winter when we have public gatherings there. The total area of the community center is 76x32 (=2432 sq. ft.). This space is divided in two (36x32 for church services, 40x32 for community functions).
Our current stove doesn't begin to heat either area. So what we're asking for is two wood burning stoves, both of which would be able to heat about 1200 sq. ft. Kitchen
Estimated cost
We'd be happy to get the units themselves (below) rather than money to buy them.
Discussion
When the community center is used for meals we could easily find ourselves feeding more than 100 people. We already had 150 eating here last Christmas. To accommodate crowds this large we'll need a large refrigerator and two cook stoves. All three of these appliances should be electric, even though we're heating the main hall with wood. (See Wood Stove project.) |
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