Update from Emma; Cesar sick

Hello Darien and Rich,

Finally a note from us. Cesar has not been feeling well lately. We are taking him to the doctor today - he has fever and around 4 this morning he had like a black out on his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He does not want to go to the doctor, but he has no choice even if we have to wrestle him to the ground, bind him up and drag him there.

Things keep happening here. We are having a very busy February with the normal activities, and preparing for March with extra activities. We have been to Siloam to hand Herman your donation and he was very happy. I'm sure he mailed you about it (Lisa even took a picture of me handing the envelope to Herman - we will send it later).

There is some good news and some bad news. Let's start with the..... OK bad one. The van is dead. I mean really dead. The garage people told Cesar that the expenses to get it running again are around 7000 guilders and it is not worth the effort. The van is too old. So, Cesar is now trying to sell it off. Those horrible garage people offered 2000 guilders, which Cesar refused. We will wait for a better offer. With the money we will try to buy a secondhand (or third or fourth hand) car, so we won't have the difficult situation we are in now. The KIA that is standing in our yard, we will sell to. But that money will have to go to the bank to cover the amount we owe on that car.

Now for the good new: the VBS material is on its way to us. Gene and Sue Lanier will send it by FedEx today! We are so excited and will start translating immediately. Also all the paper work for the VBS expenses are done and have been approved - not the amount yet, but at least the request is on its way to Holland. We will hear in April about that.

Pray for us, guys. For Cesar's health especially, and for all the other things going on. We pray daily for you as you prepare to come here.

Have a wonderful day.

Emma

Siloam expands to Siloam Village

This newsletter is from Herman and Bep who coordinate a number of compassion ministries across Curacao. Here is a clip from their latest newsletter:

Siloam expands to Siloam Village Slowly but surely

In our previous newsletter we mentioned that initial construction activities have started. More details follow below.

Of course we also have an update on the Siloam children.

On page 2 you will find information regarding our new website.

Plenty of news.

Construction has started

Siloam village is a small community with space for care and treatment of (terminal) ill children (presently in residing in a private home, but later on in the new children's clinic), where the children can be supervised and coached individually (homework, therapy & lessons), a central kitchen with refrigeration & deep freeze storage, as well as multi-functional rooms (for office activities, studies & trainings). Furthermore, a workshop for maintenance activities on buildings & movables.

Construction of the initial expansion is in full progress; hard work is being performed to finish the first two homes for the volunteers. We pray that expansion may continue by constructing the new pavilion. Our aim is to first accommodate the new volunteers followed by further expansion, probably the children care-center. We thank God and furthermore all people who help us in making this expansion possible.

Roofing completed

Fairly soon the first home for the volunteers will be completed with windows and doors.

To read the entire newsletter, go here.

Collections for Feb, Mar & Apr

February--we'll continue to take love offerings this love-month to purchase items too large or heavy for us to transport with us. We took pots and pans down last week. We can also fill additional needs for our hygiene kits. (see March below)

March--toothbrush, tooth paste, body soap, deodorant, antiperspirant, baby powder, talcum powder, body lotion, feminine napkins, disposable razors, q-tips, and gallon zip lock bags to put the products in. We'll use these items to produce hundreds of hygiene kits.

April--balloons and craft beads, all sizes, colors, and shapes. These are very expensive in Curacao and will help with VBS.

Fix the van

Thanks to the generosity of others, we're able to pay for a much needed van repair for Cesar and Emma. They're vans (they have 2) function more like church vans than minivans (they seat 12 each). So when one's down it's a big deal.

Cesar spent dozens of hours trying to repair it himself. But this one is beyond his ability or resources. We saw this as an opportunity for us to help. We watched it being towed away today to the shop. They've been without it for a month. Thanks to all who helped!

Pre-trip: Day 4

Bon Dia!

It's been a good 2-1/2 days here in Curacao. Cesar and Emma have been great hosts and we've made a lot of new connections.

We also were able to get a handle on what we will do here related to VBS (vacation bible school). We'll also do a ladies mini-conference (2 hours) one day.

We'd like to do work at the children's hospice (pics coming) but we need more people to go before we can tackle that.

We did learn that our normal lodging option is not available this time. Camp Brakkeput is out. But that may be a blessing in disguise as other nicer options may emerge. We have a backup plan but it's not nearly as cheap. So we're praying for a more economical option. Right now we're at 14 going plus several still thinking about it so pray for our lodging situation.

I did get about an hour of snorkling in around the "Tugboat" dive site yesterday afternoon. We fed the fish and swam among them. Beautiful!

We also were able to go to their Wed. night worship service. We were able to participate as Caroline translated for us. It was a challenging.

We also have a list of items we can begin collecting for our next trip down. They are mostly hygiene products but we'll put up a list here soon.

Rich and I will be flying out later today. Pray for a safe trip. We'll arrive in Savannah around 10 PM if all goes as planned.

Pre-trip: Day 2

Monday we spent in the Savannah and Miami airports (mostly waiting). We left Savannah at 8 AM and arrived in Curacao at 8 PM local time (7 PM EST).

Our first flight was delayed 2 hours due to fog. But our connection was unaffected.Flights were fine and uneventful.We ended up paying a little tax on the pots and pans we brought. But it was worth seeing the look on Emma's face when she opened up the two suitcases of linens, school supplies, brand new underclothes and socks, and kitchen supplies. Thanks to all at Grace who helped with such a generous offering.

We made it with few problems arriving about 8 PM (7 PM your time). We had to pay extra tax for the pots and pans ($36) but that was okay. We were delayed in Savannah 2 hours because of fog too. But that just meant we didn't have to spend as much time waiting in Miami. Savannah is a much nicer airport.

The neighborhood they live in is called Fuik (pronounced Fike). We got a tour today (Tue) even seeing the land they are praying to buy to build a community center for this neighborhood they are reaching out to.

Today we are trying to make sure we have a place to stay when we come this summer. We'll be going to Camp Braakeput soon. We found some alternate lodging options which are nice but pricey. I'm praying for Braakeput to work out.

We've met a few people here from the church in Alabama. They are building concrete a patio and wall.

Camp Braakeput

Dining hall looking at the kitchen serving counter

This is an open-air gathering spot adjacent to the bathhouse, bunk house & dining hall.

This is the brochure.