First week of November

Dear Readers,
This is a recap of our first week of November here in Armenia. Once again, we headed back to Vanadzor to do some more work on the homes. I did drywall work all week long. Also, we did work with setting up the Styrofoam bricks on another home. On Thursday, we poured the walls of that home. We got a unique experience after working there, we actually got to see the containers that earthquake refugees have actually been living in the past 20 years. I will show you some pictures first and that says a lot in itself.

The trailer we are walking into is the home of one of the workers there, David, who will be moving in there with his parents after living in this little trailer for 20 years. The homes that we are building are only for a small percentage of the people still displaced by the earthquake but David was very blessed and thankful to be getting a home. David was a really neat guy. He is working on these homes and eventually, in a little while, will be living in one. By the way he has to work free of charge on the home since he is getting one. His family had been living in this trailer for 20 years, the trailer has gone through 2 fires and all they said was God is good. Most of us, including myself, would complain about living in a trailer for 20 years. But, they just prayed and believed that God would provide them a way out and were just thankful to have a roof over their head. You think a lot of times in those situations that you would maybe just have pity for them. But after you go into their homes, they offer everyone tea and coffee, then all they can say is that God has been so good to them, you begin to realize how inspiring they are to you. Now, the guys at the work site are a different type of crew than we have worked with this whole trip. Many lead some pretty rough lives and you can see it by just looking at their faces. One of our guys had been offered alcohol, cigarettes and even some drugs while at the work site. When we first started working there they were a little standoffish towards us, but by the end of the week we had really built relationships with them. Both sides were sad to see each other go. We never preached to them or talked about God to them but hopefully our actions toward them spoke more volumes than any words can be said. God has a great plan for all of us no matter what we have done or where we are at in our lives. Hopefully this opens up a chance for David to speak to these guys and help bring them closer to the hope that is in Christ. All I know is how Christ has changed my life and how it can change theirs. Who knows what could happen. So, over the weekend we just got to hang out in Yerevan and get some well needed rest. We went out for a nice meal on Saturday and just hung out at the house on Sunday. This week we will be heading into a Kurdish village to teach our Community Health program and to also construct water filters. We will be up at about 7000 feet and it is starting to get really cold. But that is alright, because I now have a very thick beard and it adds about 10 degrees. I also have not ripped my jeans in the past 3 weeks so that is also some good news. I haven’t been able to check how the Chiefs are doing lately, but from the last time I checked it might be a good thing that I am missing this whole season. It is crazy to think that I only have about a month left. This is our last week in Armenia and then we will be in Georgia the rest of the time. Before you know it I will be back home and getting a chance to catch up with everyone. Until next time. . . . . . . .. . . . .

Chris

Hebrews 12:12-13