There’s been lots going on the past couple of months. I’m supposed to be on light duty, doing PT with exercises, etc., and resting so that my back, hip, thigh, and knees can get good enough to be somewhat back to normal. I do my best, but life happens and there’s always something going on that I need to do. Sometimes I can do things in small chunks, sometimes I’m forced to do what I need to do when I need to do it, and sometimes I have to just pay someone. It is what it is!
We had a good trip visiting several churches and friends and got to spend some time with my mom and our kids and grandkids. Took the grandkids camping for a week and had a blast!
While on the road we had a few issues with the diesel that I had to take care of. One of them involves the fuel system that has not been fixed yet, but parts are on order and we were still able to use it to move our camp. I’m fixing it mostly myself and the parts came to $2500! V10 had to have $2k worth of suspension work done to it and it needs shocks, which I’ll do myself. MJs van is another story and this one is mostly too hard for me to work on at this point. Had a squeal up front that I couldn’t identify and it turned out it was just a belt. Had several “minor” things and the AC wasn’t running correctly. It had a leak in the condenser and another part had to be replaced so we went ahead and had that done. Got it hooked back up and the compressor quit working! At that point, had to finish the job. Total, $4k for the van! Still cheaper than buying new ones and only paid $2200 total for all three of these, so Praise The LORD, He Provides!
When we first started out full-time, we had a few great responses with volunteers helping throughout the whole time we were deployed. In more recent years it seems that once the storm is out of the news, the help dries up. This not only includes out of town help, but locals, including some churches and family. It’s been very sad to watch over the past years.
Just this past fall we had over 100 volunteers cancel, and the local help was mostly non-existent after the first month. When people commit to us, we take it seriously and line up work for them to do as well as supplies to take care of them, which in itself is a lot of work. Unfortunately, this ends up with me doing a lot on my own and having to talk to folks and apologize for not being able to do all we thought we could. I do tell folks up front that this does happen, so I’m just letting them know it did, but it still isn’t easy. The ones I’ve committed to do work and usually already started, end up being done a lot by myself. This is how I’ve hurt myself over the years and why I’m on light duty. For the past few years we’ve been praying about what The LORD would want us to do moving forward within our physical limitations.
Two things to say up front. First, we are still GOING to be doing disaster relief, just a little different and we’re not sure how it will all work out. Recently we’ve been able to help with some consulting and financial support for the fires in Maui and the hurricane flooding in FL. Secondly, this is not a paid position, and we are still full-time missionaries just like we’ve been. We still need your prayers and support, both physically and financially. There will be many opportunities to serve alongside of us where we’re at and with disaster relief, so stay tuned!
We’ve relocated our base camp to Cedar Ranch Retreat Center/CC Crossroads in Culpeper, VA. We haven’t really had a home base for 11 years now and it will be great for us to plug back into a church and family and have a place to call home!
We moved all our gear up here last week and have begun setting things up to make this our new home. Here’s the link to the camp, https://cedarranch.org/
We're going to go back to shorter responses for disaster relief like we did for several years when we first started. We'll leave our 5th wheel set up as home at the Camp and deploy with the bunkhouse and tool trailer. The trips will be shorter, probably a couple weeks or so, and we'll probably do multiple trips a year, possibly even to the same location. I’m going to see if we can gather folks we’ve come to know over the years and form somewhat of a team that wants to deploy when something comes up and we are led to respond to it. It’s going to be exciting to see what The LORD does! If you’re interested in joining our team or responders, please contact me.
I'll be the facility pastor at the church/ranch so whether in VA or away I can keep that going.
I'll also have opportunities to teach from the pulpit from time to time and will be heavily involved in discipleship.
A few of the folks in leadership also have done disaster relief so Mike, the pastor here, thinks the church will get more involved in it now that we are here.
The church and camp are on the same property. They have several RV spots and we'll eventually set up something more permanent away from the other spots. For now we’re right next to the main house.
Not exactly sure what MJ will end up doing but I know she really gets involved with discipling women and works well with kids and of course she knows how to cook for large teams so we're sure she'll fit in well! And don’t forget it’s pretty much a full-time job just taking care of me!
They have a Jr Olympic size swimming pool, and she needs to do lap swimming for her back issues. She used to swim competitively from a kid through college, coached swimming, taught swim lessons, and was a lifeguard!
Honestly, nothing much is changing for us. We’re still missionaries and we'll see what The LORD does as He always provides. We're pretty excited as it's what we've been praying about for a couple years and even more so since I hurt myself at the end of last year.
Nothing is changing as far as where to donate to our ministry or how our 501c3 works and you can find more info about that by clicking on the link below.
Please keep us in your prayers as I know you do and let us know if there’s anything that we can pray for you about!
If you’re interested in growing in The LORD as you selflessly serve others alongside of Calvary Relief during a disaster response or at Cedar Ranch, please let us know! For more info on joining us, click here.
If you’re interested in helping with any of the expenses with Calvary Relief, please click here.
If there’s ever anything you need prayer about or just need to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us and let us know!
Here to serve and disciple until He calls us home,
Curt & Mary Jo
