Progress Update: May 10th

After a long and exhausting day, the truck is unloaded! A very tired crew is taking a day off to rest.
This is a really nice storage facility. It is in excellent condition, very clean. It is also climate controlled, so no outside units. Everything had to be loaded onto carts which added a few hours extra work but they saved excess stress on our already aching backs.

Progress Update: May 7th

After a 12 hour drive, Eric and Mary arrived at the ship just after midnight. The truck contents will be unloaded into a storage unit nearby and small loads will be brought aboard over the next 2 months or so. Eric will take about a week to rest up from the move and the long drive and then fly back to drive their personal truck and small box trailer. 

Thanks you so much to Robbie and Heather for their incredible help in loading the truck! Very much appreciated!!

Eric and Penny!

Once Eric returns and rests from the drive, he will start work on the crew quarters. Being on board full-time will definitely speed up the renovation process.

Progress Update: April 21st

Moving day is scheduled for the weekend of May 7th-8th! We have sold our small sailboat home and are tying up loose ends. We will be renting the truck for about 5 days which will give us plenty of time to load the truck and drive the 13 hour road trip. We will then transfer about 1/2 of the load to a new storage unit when upon arrival and put the other half onto the ship for sorting. After Eric rests, he will then fly back to Sanford to bring up the truck and small trailer. If we find a driver, we will take both vehicles in one shot. 

Eric has given two week notice at his job and will be doing a few small projects as we get ready for our move. Being aboard full-time will speed up the repair/renovation project. We will still need to spend some time in a ship yard before our departure. For the time being, the boat is staying in its current slip in Louisiana. 

We want to say a big thank you to Glen Knight and Remote Island Ministries! They donated a Loud Hailer needed by the ship. This allows us to meet international regulations for bell and signal requirements. Also will provide some intercom capabilities within the ship if we get the remotes.

Progress Update: April 8th

Early March saw a long week of hard work. We combined the three storage units into one and as much as possible was put into small storage bins, cataloged and stacked efficiently. This will make loading the moving truck much easier when moving day arrives. Still no definite date but hopefully soon. All that is needed is to find a buyer for our 30ft sailboat then Eric will give two weeks notice at his job. 

Special thanks to DJ and Mary Williams whose help was very much needed and appreciated! 

  A lot of work in progress with Penny supervising!

 

Once we make the permanent move, we will unload some of the bins onto the ship immediately while the rest will go into another storage unit near the ship. We will then slowly make trips back and forth as room is made aboard to store into lockers or use in refurbishing.

DJ returned to the ship after we finished with the storage units and continued working on the hydraulics. 

During the first week of April, DJ's cousin Amber joined him on board for 6 days and together they knocked out the last of the deep cleaning of the forward and aft crew cabins. Eric will sand, paint and install the overhead in both cabins. 

*Special big thanks to Amber for all her hard work!

Amber and DJ hard at work!

This is what the cabins looked like when DJ and Mary began the tear-out 1 year ago. What a difference!

Progress Update: Feb. 25th

More wiring in progress. DJ is back working on the boat and continues pulling old wire and running new, more simplified wiring arrangements. Most of these empty spaces underneath the floor boards will make great storage lockers.

Temporary wiring station set up in the main salon.

New 24v power feed box for the stateroom electric heads. 

Old power feed for the stateroom heads.

The end of March, DJ and Mary's sister-in-law will be in Sanford for a few days to help get the three storage units organized in readiness for the permanent move. Mary will be working the month of March packing and organizing the storage units as well. Eric and Mary will also be getting their small boat ready to put on the market. The move will hopefully take place in April.

 

Why God is leading us a different way than the status quo..

When God calls you to a specific work for His kingdom, He will first confirm it in such a strong way that you will start walking toward the call with all your heart. As you walk, the Lord will begin to tear down every thought, attitude and preconceived notion concerning how this call will come about.

 

The Lord is not interested in showing you every little detail and giving you all the answers up front. He is more concerned with growing your faith and trust in Him, as well as using it to grow the faith and trust of others. To know God and to trust Him in the realms of impossibility  means  that you must walk and take each step as He shines the light on the path in front of you. God does not want us relying on ourselves for anything, especially any of His work that bears His name.

 

It takes a very long time for God to mold and shape us into the kind of people we need to be so we will carry out His will and work, the way He wants it done. And this is only achieved through the building of our faith. What is faith but the understanding and living reality of "knowing who God is, knowing His character and trusting Him implicitly"!

For the past two years, we have watched God move in His own way and His own perfect timing. He has opened doors and He has closed doors, all the while providing and meeting our needs one step at a time. This has not only built our faith, but also the faith of others, as we trust in Him alone to provide for His work.

He will light each step. Be faithful in prayer, trust and waiting on Him. Don't do things for yourself or try to make things happen, That's not trusting in God, that's trusting in yourself. It may seem like God is leading you into blind darkness, but trust and believe that He knows where He is taking you.  His ultimate desire is that you learn to trust Him completely and not lean on your own understanding.   After all, He is the King of the universe,  is worthy to be trusted and is faithful to bring His works to completion!

To show how He has met our every need, at every step of the way thus far, we have put together a short list that we would like to share with you in order to encourage your faith also. 

1. We filed for non-profit status after the Lord confirmed this to be His will through several faithful believers. Filing and getting your status can take up to a year and a half and there is often extra steps of filing additional paperwork during the process. We had our non-profit status from start to finish in 7 months with no extra filings needed. This is the government we are talking about, where we know nothing happens that flawlessly.  Filing is also expensive and the Lord provided the funds right before we began filing.
2. We had our paperwork in September and the missions vessel was donated 3 months later. This was an incredible blessing and it was definitely God who worked it out!
3. A month before the vessel was donated we received enough donations to allow us to begin work on the vessel for the next 7 months.
4. We then needed to build the on-board workshop from the ground up (this was essential to get the shop finished before we could work on the other damaged areas). We received more unexpected donations that were used to make the shop operational and to start renovating two other cabins.
5. The areas and many of the items that were heavily smoke damaged were salvaged through deep cleanings and did not have to be replaced. In addition, the three of us have been doing all this work ourselves and have been able to save the ministry thousands of dollars.  For years, God has led Eric and DJ from one experience-building job to the next and all that is now being used for His kingdom work.
   
6. After a year of struggling through red tape trying to straighten out the vessels registry which was looking to cost thousands of dollars, we just got everything straightened out for the princely sum of $19.
   
7. During the few days it took to compose this blog post, our next goal of needing funds for the u-haul and moving expenses (Listed at the bottom of this post) were met in full. Thank you Lord!
   

We would like to encourage those of you who have considered donating to our boat ministry.  It does not take large sums of money in order to make a difference.  A donation of even $20 is very helpful and is gratefully received. There are many small projects that can be accomplished with small donations and we are sure that God will continue to supply for every need as it comes up.  Thank you all so much for your prayers and support and God bless you all!

*Our next goals:

• The funds for renting a u-haul to move everything out of the storage units to the boat and overall moving expenses. (This goal is now met!)
• The funds for completing the wiring and completing the re-furbishing of the damaged cabins and hallway.

*Prayer goals:

• We need a buyer for our 30ft sailboat (where we are living right now)

• A new place to dock the boat that is either donated (tax write-off) or $500 month or less. Needs to be 120Ft of dock space and 7ft at low tide.

Progress Update: January 21st

The shop is now operational! We still need to install the overhead, trim around ports, wiring, a few upper cabinets and shelving but will wait until the rest of our tools and shop equipment are brought from the storage units to the boat. 

Eric in our operational shop!By the way, all this new stuff is removable for access to hydraulic lines, electrical, etc.

The laundry room is almost finished as well! The overhead has been installed and floors and walls are painted. A really nice chest freezer was donated about a month ago and will stay in this room. 

A support wall will be placed next to the washer and dryer stack for stability and they will also be securely tied down. Shelving and lots of cubby-hole storage will also be added.
 

The laundry room overhead. These were cut, temporarily fitted and then removed for painting before the final install. There is access through panels to the ships inverters, wiring and a soft patch through to the deck above for removing and replacing the washer, dryer and freezer.

New flooring and small access hatches. The flooring was only replaced in the back half of the room where the washer and dryer will be stacked.

Eric sanding the old flooring

 Lots of new paint

Eric and DJ had an entertaining time figuring out how to get the freezer into the laundry room. They ended up cutting an opening in the floor above and will be installing a hatch and storage locker with removable flooring. This enabled them to lower the freezer and will serve as an access hatch to replace the washer, dryer and freezer when they need it. A win-win all the way around!

Mary finished cleaning the forward stateroom and has begun working in the forward crew quarters. 

This crew quarters is the next room back from the shop.

Orange cleaner is doing a fantastic job on the wall paper paste.

DJ continues to work on the wiring and electronics throughout the ship and in the engine room. *Eric added a few notes below

*"Sorry for the picture quality. We have no lighting on the lower bridge currently and the cell phone camera doesn't do total darkness well.
 
This is my son's major project right now. Since we have the new 24 volt system run here it's time to hook up systems. First of our 72 mile radars is back on line now. Getting navigation light wiring upgraded to 24 volts currently. A ways to go yet but shortly we'll be able to run.

Still have 2 VHF's, an SSB, ham receiver, second radar, GPS, lighting, AIS, etc. To go. Then there's the leak we found in the hydraulic steering, new steering cross-arm, upper bridge systems, and so much more...."

 "Some old stuff that DJ is removing from the engine room. Some is really old like that transformer and rheostat that was part of the 32 volt AC system that is now gone. Yup, 32 volts AC. First time I've seen one of those on the water!"

Mary's sister-in-law stayed a couple days with us and helped prep some copper wire for recycling and is also providing transportation for DJ to and from North Carolina. He will be doing the wiring on a smaller missions vessel that is headed to Papua New Guinea. The job may take two to three weeks and then he will be returning to continue work here. 

 Mary's sister-in-law and Penny!

 Mary and DJ

Prepping aluminum ducting for recycling

Eric and Mary are now back in Florida. They are getting closer to moving and being able to work on the boat full-time. As soon as enough funding comes in, they will rent a U-Haul to transport everything in the storage units. They will then get their small boat ready to sell and tie-up some loose ends. 

*Our prayer request still stands for a new place to dock the boat. The owner of the dock is getting a new vessel and needed his slip but his current deal fell through, which buys us a little more time. We are needing a very inexpensive ($500.00 a month) or donated slip (which would be tax-deductible) of 120 ft. which has at least 7 feet of water at low tide.