Wow! These two months have been non-stop. First, we packed up our house and got everything into storage. Storage means taking many one-hour trips up the mountain to store things in a big room we have at the radio-tower site, packing a 20-foot container we own and having a truck take that up the mountain, and also having our minivan towed up the mountain (we pray we can get a new engine for it while on furlough). It would have been nice to keep renting this house, but the rent saved on furlough is enough to pay for all of our plane tickets!
Then we also took a trip to Uganda to see friends and get some batteries. With my tax return, I was able to get 8 big batteries that weighed 110 pounds each. I wanted to get more, but the owner of the truck I was borrowing watched his truck getting lower and lower and said, “That is enough!” We got these installed at the radio and now have a good battery backup system again.
We were also able to install some security cameras at the studio. We have not had a problem of anything “walking,” but I want to do things right and protect God’s radio the best I can. Then at the second tower location, we installed a new battery backup system, redid some of the wiring to make it easier for the guard to switch electricity phases if necessary, installed and field-tuned a new radio antenna we got in the country, installed a new silence sensor, and finally worked on the computer that is currently broadcasting the signal. But we still need an STL to link this second tower to the first tower. It will cost about $7,000 for this.
We also added three rooms on to the guard house on the mountain, which we started years ago. That involved getting block, cement, and sand hauled up the mountain; hiring workers to build; going back to check on the progress; having them tear down everything they did for three workdays because of a bad cement mixture; starting again from scratch; teaching the “professionals” how to mix cement; and then finally having it built right.
And in the middle of all this, I was able to take a couple days of “rest” and get some gallstones passed (not by choice). We also had a few cases of food poisoning, which knocked Caleb, Timothy, and me down for a few more days—just part of the ministry here most people never think of. Praise the Lord for olive oil, raw garlic, and a great, caring wife!
Thank you again for your regular prayers and support. With everything happening here, remember your prayers are more valuable than you think! In March and April, we saw 15 people trust Christ and 123 saved through the radio.
In His service,
Gregg, Angela, Caleb, Hannah, Timothy, Virginia, Micah, and Zachery Schoof
