We have another mission !! We are going to the Dominican Republic, a new country for SLP :D We will be there from this Saturday till the 27th. I leave tomorrow as I have an overnight in Miami both ways. We will be working with an organization called Freedom International Ministries. They work in the sugarcane villages of the DR. Their focus is on church planting and running a Christian bilingual school near the city of Ramon Santana. We will be installing 4.5kW of solar power with a team from five different cities in three different countries. Should be an interesting and fun trip. Keep us in your prayers please! Also, if you would like to keep up with this mission you can visit FIM's Facebook page at the following link: www.facebook.com/Freedom.International.Ministries. They said they will upload pictures every day :)

So I am going back to Haiti for another SLP mission. We are returning to the Gressier area, west of Port-au-Prince, for several systems. We will be installing a large solar water pumping system for an orphanage, a regular sized system for a mission guest house, and expanding a system for a missionary home. In addition to that we will do several site surveys for future projects and investigate current issues. We'll be in Haiti from June 16th till the 26th, plus I'll have an overnight in Miami both ways. Please keep us in your prayers. We are going to have a very busy, and HOT, 11 days. Thank You !! :)

Back in Teguc and back to the grind. I am working on designs for two different systems in Haiti. I'm watching flight prices for a couple trips, one to the States in July and one to Columbia in late Summer. There are also several other potential missions on the calender (recently updated) and even some not yet listed. In addition to that, we are working an earth day event hosted by the US Embassy on Friday, our church has a family day tomorrow, and I've been asked to be a judge at the TCA science fair next Friday. Still on the to-do list is finishing my 2013 taxes (yes I applied for an extension), post photos for several missions (last years missions and Panama), and renew my NABCEP certification (it expires next month). At least I don't think I am traveling anywhere in May, neither with-in Honduras or beyond, so hopefully I can get Caught Up. :D

On the up-side, Craig did post some photos from the workshop this past weekend. I have included a few pics below, but you can also go here to see the full album.

I am almost ready for the next SLP mission. For the last week I've been going over equipment lists and making plans for the three different installs we will do. This will be a full SLP team with a group for fiesta activities. The fiesta team will interact with the children with games and fun activities that teach Biblical lessons, like a short VBS. The technical team will install a small solar system at a church and two medium sized systems, one at a school and one at a clinic. The install locations will be on an island in the province of Veraguas, Panama. We'll be staying in a small coastal town called Santa Catalina and taking a boat over to Isla Gobernadora each day. This will be my first trip to the country of Panama and it looks to be adventurous. :D Speaking of, please keep the team/mission in your prayers. We will be there from this Saturday (the 15th) until the Sunday of the following week (the 23rd). Thank ya much !!

My next mission trip is now booked. I am going back to Haiti, back to Alex's House Orphanage, for some much needed updates at the orphanage itself. Last time we installed a new system at the guest house across the street from the orphanage, the one with that STEEP roof. The roofs at the orphanage itself are much easier to work on :) I will be there from Feb 1st till Feb 8th (with another day before and after for travel). I will be working with some guys who will be down there doing some other projects for Alex's House. I'll be the only representative from SLP this time. This will also be my first mission from our new home base of Honduras. I'm looking forward to another successful solar installation. Pray that it might be so. And Thank You!

Tomorrow we fly back to the States. Once there, I will have 11 days to sell off any other major things (such as the car), donate the rest, and pack up what little we are keeping. My flight to Honduras is booked for Oct 12th !! Keep us in your prayers please !!!

Well, I am on the plane headed to Haiti. I didn't get a chance to do an update before leaving. But, I will be there for two weeks doing a solar installation for Alex's Orphanage in a town called Damien (just north of Port-au-Prince) and another for Hands and Feet Ministries in Jacmel. I will return to Houston on Oct 1st.

Also, I did book my flight for the move to Honduras. I will be flying down on Saturday Oct 12th :-D Yay God !!

So we have booked our Sept flights for Haiti. We will be there for two weeks from Sept 17th till Oct 1st. We are doing at least two installs. I will post another blog next week with more details.

What I've been mainly focused on since coming home is the move to Honduras. Sutton is doing well in Teguc, though he sorely misses me :) I am feverishly trying to sell off stuff and pack up what little we are keeping. So far we have sold the bedroom furniture, the lawn mower, the couches, all the old audio equipment and vinyl records. There are already arrangements for selling the futon, the large toolbox, and some musical instruments this week. Currently I have listed on Craigslist a coffee table, the kitchen table w/ chairs, the BBQ pit, a file cabinet, and a shelf/storage unit thingy. You can go to the Houston section and just search for my phone number (859 420 8538) to see what all I have listed. I will also be selling the car, though that isn't currently listed. Next Saturday I hope to have a garage sell and possibly another the Saturday after that. Right now I am planning on flying to Honduras on Oct 9th, a week after I return from Haiti. I will book that ticket in the next two weeks.

Keep praying for us please. Pray for Sutton as he is in Honduras teaching and trying to adjust. Pray for me as I am taking care of all the house stuff. Pray for the Haiti mission to go smoothly. And above all, pray that God's will be done and He receive all the glory!! Thank you Jesus for faithful prayer warriors :D

Ok, I have a little more packing to do, but my passport is here !! Yay God !! I had to mail it off last Friday to the Congolese Embassy in Washington D.C. for my entry visa with an express mail return envelope. I was a bit nervous about it getting back to me in time for my flight out this Friday (day after tomorrow). But the local post office says it is waiting for me at pick-up now, so I can breath :)

We leave Friday afternoon and arrive in Kinshasa (DRC) on Saturday. We have a layover in Chicago and another in Brussels, Belgium along with two flights at 8 hours ... but hey, that what it takes to go to the other side of the world :) Once we get to Kinshasa we will have to wait a bit to go to Mbuja-Mayi. Mbuja-Mayi is in diamond country and will require an additional visa that we have to get in-person in Kinshasa. The plan is to book a flight out to Mbuja-Mayi on Tuesday, as there are no decent roads that can get us there. We will then have 9 days to install the system and then get back to Kinshasa for our flight out on August 10th.

We are installing a 2.5kW solar electric system in the Kalala MEZEU medical clinic near Mbuja-Mayi. This clinic serves 50,000 people in the Cibombo Cinuanyi community. The solar power will run lights, microscopes, centrifuges, other lab equipment, and/or computers. At one point we were hoping to do a water pumping system as well, but the huge cost of drilling in Africa put that project on hold. We are hoping to make a future trip (or trips) to add the water pumping, some DC refrigeration, and possibly expand the solar system. We will see what God does :) Prayers in abundance please and thank you !!

I got back to the US late last night. The two weeks in Honduras were amazing!! I am ready to sell off everything and get back there permanently ! We had a few meetings with the pastors and leaders of Tsebaoth Ministries in Teguc and they have welcomed us with open arms. Sutton will be starting a teaching job at Tsebaoth's private school in a few weeks. I have a few more missions this year, but I may be teaching there next semester. There is also some potential to get solar work in country. We will see what God does :D

For right now, I have to get ready for the next mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I just mailed off my passport to the Congolese embassy in Washington DC for my visa. Praying everything will go smoothly and it will get back to me next week before my flight out ... on FRIDAY !! I will be gone from July 26th till August 11th. So Pray Pray Pray. And thank you so much for your support !!