Jim Jullie's Blogspot: The Great White North

Hello All,

The progress at Bethany Kids is going slow but we are definitely seeing some good changes. They are using lime in the plaster for the walls and they are white. It is neat to see it all taking such great shape. The roof material is all here and we are looking at a month or so before it is up. Here are some pictures:

This is the light shaft that goes down to the basement

It actually looks like a building!

Looks like the new programme has mid July finish date. We will wait and see!

Well, Trevor pulled the trigger for Michigan Technical University this week! We are very excited for him, but he has a total apathy about the hole thing - it is funny. We finally got their financial package on Wed. night. It was right where we needed it to be so we were very happy. And, last night he was figuring up how his AP classes will figure in. He took 3 last year and 3 this year. Exams are this week. If he does as well as he did last year, he will get about 25 credits for them all! That is about 1.5 semesters. He is happy about that at least! But now, we will have to get him outfitted to live in the great white north (Houghton, Michigan is at the north western tip of the Upper Peninsula, Michigan)! That will be a big change from our constant 70's here.

The RVA Art Center is a challenge right now. We are still at an all stop. We are trying to figure out how to get started again (who to use and what the cost will be). But, we are confident that it will work out in time and we will see action on the site again.

I have a water expert coming in about 3 weeks to help me sort out the supply water situation up at RVA. I am very excited about that! EMI put me in touch with a "water guy" I have been sending a lot of questions to. He is in Oregon. He volunteered to come and I (and RVA) are very grateful. People were asking me what he does and I would reply, "He's the 'water guy'." So, I asked him about it and he sent me a write up on what he does. Now I call him my "water guy extraordinaire!"

Phil 2:12-13 ".....continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort - for the sake of his good pleasure - is God." I like how this is a continuing story. It is encouraging Christians to continue to work on themselves for Him. And, God puts the desire in us to do so. I find this to be very true. It is a never ending story. There is so much to learn. And, the more I learn the more I want to learn. It goes back to what I said a few weeks ago about the cup (us) being filled by the pitcher (God). I hope you are filled with His love so that you can send that out this week!

We finally got the CT scanner parts a week and a half ago and the team got them in and it was functioning! It has been down since September. They had to install a new tube and another part that cost about $20,000, then shipping at $600 and customs at $6,000! This is more than the original donated CT scanner! There is an issue outstanding with being able to print. They will hopefully have that solved soon because the que lining up to get images is very long! You can pray that it will be up and running so that these patients do not have to go to Nairobi to get scans done.

We drove back from Naivasha last week and stopped to get some sugar cane. The kids really like it. I don't like sucking on straight sugar cane, but where can you get 2 big canes for 20 shillings each (about 25 cents)? Trevor was buying. Just before I took this picture, a young boy came up to him to shake his hand. He was so excited to see the white man buying sugar cane - don't ask me why except for the fact that they see so few whites in Naivasha. It was so funny!

The kids started school this week. The first of 12 weeks is down! It already feels like it has been several weeks already. We have a lot going on but without Senior Store duties, it will be much easier. We have to finish planning the Senior Safari (June), but the place is picked and the transportation is determined, just details to work out.

Yvonne had a birthday this week! She turned 9 on April 30 and didn't even remember until another relative called to wish her a happy birthday! She is Rose's (our house-help) granddaughter, whom she is raising because her mother died 4 years ago. She is doing well in the school we have her in. She is always the top of her class and is even taking computer classes (even the high school kids don't normally have computer class). We love her and are so glad she is flourishing.

Sallie, Yvonne and Em

Please pray for us as we continue to try and "leave well" from here. Transitions can be tough and with so much to do during this time, we won't even have time to process it all before going.

He is good and we will continue to be driven by Him to do the work He has for us.

In His Hands,
Jullie T

PS - A few more pictures Mom: