July & August 2024

Time really does fly when you are having fun! July was a really busy month for us, but it was a lot of fun! We had four W.A.T.E.R. students down here from SMBI for the month. We were in charge of planning out their schedule. It can be a little complicated to plan a month worth of activities or work projects and have everything work out. There were times we had to be flexible with the schedule, but overall, it went well.

The month started off with Hurricane Berly headed our way. Sunday, June 30th was the day before the hurricane hit the island. I spent the afternoon helping board up a couple windows on the teacher’s house as well as some of our own windows. It was a beautiful day and it was hard to imagine a hurricane was headed our way. On Monday morning it was raining when we woke up but it wasn't too windy yet. The worst was supposed to be between 11-2. The electricity went off mid-morning, and we passed the time by playing games and other indoor activities. The children played with Legos and listened to an audio book that I had downloaded before the electricity went off. Throughout the day the wind and rain came and went. It never got really bad on the lower part of the island, but it definitely wasn't something you would want to be outside in. By 3:30 the storm was over, and we were able to go out and look around. We had a lot of leaves, branches, and mangoes down in our yard but that was it. We gathered the mangoes up hoping some might ripen but we ended up having to throw most of them away. As we walked around the neighborhood there were some trees down here and there. We are thankful that there wasn't a lot of damage locally. Father up the island there was more damage. The island of Carriacou (which is part of Grenada) was about totally flattened. While there weren't a lot of lives lost in the storm there are a lot of damaged buildings in Carriacou. We are thankful for all your prayers for protection during the storm.

The hurricane was July 1st, and the W.A.T.E.R. students from SMBI were scheduled to come in on July 2nd. We were unsure if they would still be able to fly in or not, but flights were up and going again on Tuesday. For the first week we had planned for the WATER students to be at school some and help in the different activities that were planned for the last week. The hurricane changed those plans, and we ended up having to totally change the schedule. Thankfully it all worked out okay. We went up to Y.W.A.M. at the top of the island to help with clean up. They had a lot of brush to clean up and the roof had blown off of the one building, so we helped put a tarp on that. It was a day of hard work, but it was a blessing to be able to help someone out like that. We also had them help clean up around our house, as well as assemble a playhouse that I had gotten for free. I had to take it apart to get it to our place. They helped carry it to the back yard and reassemble it. The children have had fun playing in it.

The rest of the month was busy but went pretty well. We had a lot of activities planned for the students, which included ministry opportunities as well as work projects. We also had the opportunity to host them at our house numerous times throughout the month. It was a blessing to have them here! They were a great team and brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Although they stayed here in LaBorie, the schedule of projects was split between Limes and LaBorie.

We continued to do Bible Club through July to the end of the month. The students helped out with that. Towards the end of the month, we had a reward trip for the children that had good attendance. We took them to a beach and had a hotdog roast. After supper we played some games with them. Bible Club will start back up again in September.

July 14th was our 12th wedding anniversary. We spent the day together as a family. We went to Concord falls. A lot of tourists visit this waterfall during tourist season. We hiked back to another water fall behind Concord falls. The hurricane had blown a lot of trees down on the path, so it was an interesting hike. Once we got back to the waterfall, we played around in the water some. The pool at the bottom of the waterfall was full of trees so we couldn't really swim, but it was a good time together as a family. On the way home we stopped and had supper by the ocean.

August was a fairly slow and laid-back month. We were the only staff in LaBorie for the first week and a half. Leonards arrived back the second week in August, and it has been very good to have them back again. The second week in August we had church camp. Carnival holiday is over that time and a lot of sin and wickedness happens on the island. As a church we plan something to go away for a couple nights. There were not many from LaBorie church that attended this year and so we joined the Limes and camped by the river in Beausejour. There ended up being a Tropical Storm over that time and we had a lot of rain. It was hard to keep everyone (and our things) dry, but thankfully it was so hot that no one felt cold when they were wet. The water was also turned off for most of the time, so we collected rainwater for washing dishes and got water from the river to flush the toilets. After a couple days of roughing it, it was good to go back home. But we had a good time!

I (Brian) got dengue fever the week after church camp. I ran a fever for about a week and was pretty exhausted for a couple weeks. It was a discouraging time, but I am thankful to be feeling better now. The week that I was running a fever we had planned to go away a couple of nights as a family. We already had the Airbnb booked so we decided to go anyway. I was disappointed that I was not feeling better, but the rest of the family still had a good time. Some highlights were: playing lots of games, air conditioning, swimming, a bathtub, lots of space in the house, special snacks, and quality time together as a family. It was a blessing to have the opportunity to do this as a family.

When we got back from being away a couple days there was a lot of construction going on in the backroom. They have cut through the wall coming into the house, put plaster on the walls, and ceiling, added steps for us to go up into those rooms, and put in two windows. It is exciting to see it getting closer to being completed and Natasha is very excited to have a room that she doesn't have to share with her brothers. We are now waiting for the electricity to be put in, paint on the walls, and tile on the floors. We are very blessed to be able to have this extra space.

The end of the month Alana came back, and we also have a new teacher, Kurt. It has been so good to have almost all the staff back in LaBorie and we are so grateful for each of them! Pray that this next school year will go well and be a blessing to the students and teachers.

Thank you for your interest in our lives here in Grenada! May God bless each one of you as you serve Him where He has called you.

Brian, for the Kauffmans