Day 1 down....

We woke up this morning and had our "debriefing" meeting and then headed out to see some of the places that were destroyed by the tsunami.  For my brothers and sisters at Morristown Christian Fellowship, we drove right over the bridge that the video showed was destroyed.  Pretty humbling to see brown tents that look like what we might use for camping or at a sporting event and realize someone is living there.  After looking at the damage, I am amazed at how little appeared to be done.  There are a lot of hoops to jump through to get the littlest thing done.  We are praying that those hurdles are taken down and that we will be able to be very productive with are time here.

I have uploaded a few pictures of the grounds in which we are staying.  We are in a mission house that is located on the grounds of Happy Valley Baptist Church and School.  There is plenty of room and the pastor has been such a blessing with getting us situated.  Part of our mission here is to do some repairs on the mission house in order that more missionaries can come and stay and serve the Lord.  We were able to repair the electrical panel and one of the storm doors today.  The kitchen floor and cabinets need to be completely replaced due to termite damage.  There is a crew that will begin on that repair tomorrow.

I need to take a moment and say thank you to my brother Don for the gold $1 coins.  It provided a great opportunity today while in a shoe store to be able to speak openly with  three of the people working there.  I was able to give them each a coin and the expression on their faces was priceless.  I know this might seem like a little thing, but they knew who we were and why we were there.  I just pray that God uses this experience to touch them and lead them to a relationship with Christ.  That after all is what this trip is about.

Today was about getting ourselves situated with the area and get the information we needed to start the jobs waiting.  We are still waiting for some permits and materials, but there are a few jobs that we will start tomorrow.  It looks like at this point, me and another team member Kendal will be going to a home that is in need of electrical, masonry and carpentry work.  In the villages of American Samoa, the High Chiefs are the ones that make the decisions.  You can not even build a home on your own property unless the High Chief approves it.  This home is the home of the High Chief.  So, we feel that if we do a good job for him, it would open the doors for future work.  Your prayers regarding this home and the hurdles would be greatly appreciated.

To all of you that have left messages and read the blog, thank you for your prayers and support.  I appreciate it beyond words.

Well, my hope is to have some pictures of the home we are supposed to be working on and to give you some idea of the damage that was done.  Thank you all again and I look forward to be able to post again.

Blessings.... Billy

(This is called a Fali, which means guest house.  You see these all over the island in front of the homes  They are used for family meeting times, prayer times, and a place for your guest to stay.  I am sure you noticed that there are no walls.  A lot of the homes are open this way due to the fact that the temperature only fluctuates approximately 10 degrees all year and most buildings do not have any type of air conditioning.  A lot of the victims have everything they own setup in a Fali. )

(This is one of the areas the missionaries stay)