What's New 2008

Serving the Lord with our Hearts and Hands

WHAT’S NEW 2008

Here on this page is some even older What’s New articles from 2008. We placed them here in case you might like to look back in time a bit further to see what type of projects the Lord has used us on. It is kind of like looking back at the good old days and we hope you enjoy traveling around the World and back through time with us to see where we served the Lord. Again, we could not have accomplished any of these projects without the Lord. So we continue to be indebted to our faithful prayer warriors for taking our concerns and needs to His throne. As with the WHAT’S NEW page, the more recent articles are on top of the older stuff, and we even have one older page from 2007.

Don & Christine Ames

N'Djamena, Chad, Africa

June 4, 2008

Don just returned to the US from serving our Lord for almost three weeks in Chad. In the background is a Google Earth view of the medical complex showing the guest house in the NE with the Clinic building in the SW corner. In between are the shipping containers full of medical supplies and some building supplies and tools. The project has been ongoing for a few years now and Don was supposed to help assemble the third structure of the medical complex. Unfortunately the container that we helped to load back in November at Tech Serve in Arkansas had not yet arrived on the project site by the time Don left for home. Don was however kept busy installing suspended ceilings and light fixtures in the clinic building which is almost complete, along with helping to supervise the local laborers as they prepared the foundation for the new Ward building. Don was also able to repair some problems with the two generators on site, including installation, and wiring. It is now a simple matter of throwing a transfer switch to change from one generator to the other in case of problems, or just to exercise the two generators equally. Don also made some recommendations for wiring improvements as there had not been any electrical engineering done for the complex.

Montoursville, PA

July 3, 2008

In addition to the To-do list at Cornerstone Bible Church, and driving the bus for several weeks of youth activities (more on that later), we are also helping I-TEC with the continuing renovation project on their warehouse. Don spent several days installing a new sub-panel, switches, receptacles, and lights in the section that has just been redone this last year. To date we could only spend a few days each week there and we will not be able to get back again until the middle of August. Once again we are praying that the Lord would send more workers into His harvest. Before we ran out of time Don was only able to hang half of the eight lights and then he only got two of them connected, so we are feeling bad that they are left hanging for five weeks while we do the children’s ministries.

We also accompanied I-TEC’s director, Tom, and his wife, Linda, to Teen Challenge in Rehrersburg, PA to do a site survey for the installation of three emergency generators.

Nescopeck, PA

August 8, 2008

We just finished helping with our fifth week in a row of children’s ministry. The Lord used us in a variety of jobs from being the camp missionaries, group leaders, driving the bus, and working in the tech booth.

Text Box: Four of the weeks were spent with the ministry of Child Evangelism Fellowship and the fifth was Cornerstone’s Vacation Bible School. We are leaving for a short vacation and then it will be back to PA for more construction projects with Cornerstone, I-TEC, and the Berwick Youth Center.

Hurricane Ravaged TX

September 24, 2008

Don spent two weeks in Texas and Louisiana helping with the recovery efforts sponsored by Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, and Evangelical Free Churches of America (EFCA) Crisis Response Teams. Don was part of a five man crew from I-TEC that traveled in two tractor-trailers and a pickup installing generators to help support the feeding and recovery teams pouring into the area from all over the country. We also spent some time with chainsaws clearing downed trees from some individual homes. The I-TEC team had a skid-steer loader that was used to clear debris and unload truck loads of relief supplies. To organize your own church team, you can check out the EFCA website at www.efca.org , then click on “Hurricane Relief”. You can find more pictures at www.itec.org

Text Box: Don is also trying to work out some problems with the steel that will be erected to support the second floor, and help with the design of the new electrical system. The existing electrical service is still in the middle of the demolition area (as seen in the photo) and needs to be replaced before we can go much further. We are currently negotiating the electrical design and requirements with the electrical inspector.

Madison, GA

October 26, 2008

We arrived at Source of Light Ministries (SLM) late Saturday night October 4th. Our first week was spent working with a team from Grace Bible Church from Hollidaysburg, PA. The team did a great job in furthering the demolition process. Don ended up working very late one night moving phone lines and reconnecting them so that the original phone termination room could be torn down.

Here is an updated picture of the demolition area of the office building for SLM. Seen here is a prayer circle held during SLM’s Morning of Prayer and Thanksgiving on November 26th.

Madison, GA

November 26, 2008

You might notice that all of the office space in the original 6400 square foot building is now removed with the exception of the electrical equipment room. We now have a design for the electrical service and will be applying for the permit and ordering equipment the week after Thanksgiving. The company doing the steel erection will be here the second week in December to locate the columns so we can begin cutting the floor for the new footings. Pray as we continue to pound away here.

Cocoa, FL

December 9, 2007

We packed everything up on the 20th of November, got three more new tires installed on the trailer and set out for Cocoa, FL. It turned out that the tire manufacturer, Denman Tire, gave us full credit on the two tires we blew between PA and AR. We found that one of the three remaining tires was also defective so it was good to replace them. We are now praying for full credit on the remaining three tires.

Since we have been in FL, we have been keeping busy. Christine has been working in the office for LA Mission, helping the ministry of GlobeServ, and sorting through stuff at home in another effort to lighten our trailer. Don has been doing the annual maintenance on the Freightliner, repairing some of the damage on the trailer, doing some electrical work at Treasure Coast Baptist Church (TCBC), and working a couple days on the towers to help pay our fuel bill. Pray for us as we prepare to head North for the Christmas season and drive the youth to a rally in Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls, NY

December 27-30, 2007

Don drove the bus and we helped chaperone these twelve teens from Cornerstone Bible Church as they attended a four day youth conference sponsored by Joshua Revolution.

The youth leaders, Elizabeth & Brian, (at left) from Cornerstone. The teens were a lot of fun and we all learned from and enjoyed the conference speakers and musicians.

Madison, GA

May 1, 2008

As you can see from these before and after shots, the two work teams and Maintenance Department along with Don’s help were able to make a substantial difference in the appearance and functionality of the Hill house. Ernie and Peggy Hill are new on staff with SLM and were so impressed that so many people would work so hard for them. We are thankful they are encouraged, as we are by their commitment of service.

Madison, GA

January 8, 2008

We made a quick stop at Source of Light Ministries in order to help remove the engine from the director’s bus. There is a volunteer coming in the week of January 14th to rebuild it and so he needed it in the shop where he could work on it a little easier. Don was assisted by the maintenance department and another volunteer from PA. We are thankful for prayers as it came out smoothly with a little over eight hours of labor.

Port Saint Lucie, FL

March 25, 2008

We are just finishing up the winter at Treasure Coast Baptist Church and getting ready to head north to Source of Light Ministries in Madison GA.

Our largest single project here at TCBC was to rebuild the playground for the preschool. The old fence was in pretty rough shape and had been patched together several times. We not only replaced the entire fence, but we enlarged the area by almost 700 square feet. Don received help from at least ten other men on Saturday and a neighbor worked with Don a few more days.

Some of the other projects included repairing the chairs in the worship hall, cleaning and repairing the guttering, rebuilding several picnic tables, running 340 feet of computer network cabling, and a few smaller electrical projects.

Don was also able to spend several days remodeling a house so the current owners can sell it to go full time in ministry with SLM. Please pray that the Winder’s will be able to do some more cleaning and painting, and then for the Lord to sell this house quickly. The housing market in FL is fairly tough right now as insurance has gone up and mortgages are hard to get. This house should be well suited as a starter home for a young couple or for empty nesters.

Cocoa, FL

February 17, 2008

We spent another month in Cocoa with Don working on the towers and doing more maintenance on the vehicles. This included new brakes on the Freightliner, new timing belt, water pump, gaskets and seals on the car and a new shift solenoid in the transmission of the car so the check engine light is now reset. We are praising the Lord for renewed transportation and the supply of the money to pay for it all. Thanks again for all your prayers.

Don at 300 feet, helping to change a large antenna. See inset

Madison, GA

April 8, 2008

We arrived safely here at Source of Light Ministries (SLM) on Wednesday evening, March 25th. The trip however was not without incident. We had a minor traffic accident on our way out of FL that caused considerable cosmetic damage to the fiberglass hood of our Freightliner. We are praising the Lord however that we were able to duct tape it together and continue the trip. We are now praying that God would glorify himself through this incident. We can already testify to His provision of safety, and also that even though the radiator was hit, it does not leak, the radiator support rods were bent back but not enough to allow the radiator to hit the fan blades. The Intercooler was broken, but not in a critical area and only cost $15 to welded it back together. The grill was bent and the fiberglass was shattered, but God has supplied Chuck, who volunteered to repair the fiberglass and help with the other repairs. Even a used “repairable” hood is $2000.00.

Last weeks work team was very fruitful and Don is continuing with about three projects along with the truck repairs. We will have more pictures and commentary on the project later.

Madison, GA

May 8, 2008

Praise the Lord, Chuck was able to repair and paint the hood saving us thousands of dollars. Now we need to paint the rest of the cab to match as the hood now looks so much better than the rest of the truck. Chuck finished painting on Tuesday and by Thursday Don had it back on the truck and ready to drive. We left SLM on Friday to head to PA with stops in TN and VA. Pray for Don as he leaves for Chad, Africa on Friday, 16 May 2008.