March Update

Greetings from the Kauffman household.  The month of March has come and gone very quickly for us.  We started off the month with Bible Conference at church.  It was a refreshing time of learning and growing.  The theme for the week was the Body of Christ.  We learned that Christ must be the head of the church and love is the building block that builds the church.  It was a good challenge for us individually and as a church.  For a family with young children, it can be a lot to have a week of meetings, but overall, it went well.  The week before Easter and the week after Easter there is no school.  The first week of Easter holiday (which was the last week of March) we had VBS.  A family that used to live in LaBorie came down to help.  We had an average of 55 children that came.  It was an enjoyable time of getting to know the children in the community.  We pray that the seeds that were planted will grow into fruit for the Kingdom of God. 

            We also started doing a Bible Club in Belle Plain.  There is a family from this area that comes to church.  The children are enjoying that and we are enjoying getting out into different areas and learning to know the people.  Several years ago, some of the staff had been doing a club there, but over time it had come to a stop.  The children were eager to come and participate again. 

            Natasha had a birthday in March and turned 6!  We went to the beach for her birthday and had a special birthday supper in the evening.  We are so thankful to have a daughter.  She is growing up so fast and we are so thankful for her and all she adds to our family.

            Life here as a family has been going well.  We enjoy the children that stop by and chat.  Some of the boys have been borrowing our football (soccer ball) some evenings to play in the pasture.  When they return the ball later in the evening, they normally need some water and like to sit outside and chat a bit.  Our desire is to build relationships and be a positive influence for Christ in their lives.

            We are in dry season so things are turning browner.  We still do have rain some just not as much.  During dry season they turn off the water during the day.  We do have a storage tank that we can use water from when it’s turned off.  Normally every couple days they turn the water back on and our tank gets refilled.  Last week we were having trouble with our tank not filling.  The water was turned on but no water was going into our tank.  After a couple days I was able to figure out why.  There was a pressure regulating valve in the water line that had malfunctioned and wasn’t allowing any water through.  I was able to bypass the valve temporarily and get our tank filled again.   

Sports Day was this month as well.  It was a big day filled with lots of events.  I enjoyed seeing the children put their all into the races and relays.  Did you know that a family of six people can drink over two gallons of liquid on a hot day? Well, I didn’t either but by afternoon we were out of water and had to walk down to a little shop and buy a couple bottles.  By the end of the last race, it was late in the afternoon, and we were ready to be back home.   

            Easter Sunday our church went to a point to have a sunrise service.  After spending time singing at the point, we went back to church and had breakfast.  We were blessed with a good message from Pastor Leonard about the resurrection.  Monday, we spent the afternoon as a church out on another point flying kites.  During dry season it is windy and its excellent weather for flying kites.  For supper we roasted hotdogs and had marshmallows for dessert.  The kite flying was a lot of fun.  I had two kites that I got up and they were flying great. Through the excitement the one got let go; I tried to quickly grab the string but I wasn’t fast enough and it went sailing off into the bush or the ocean.  Later, I was bringing the other kite in and about halfway in the string broke and the kite went diving into the bush.  I was disappointed but at least we were able to have fun flying them for awhile. 

    Thanks for your continued prayers for our family.  If God lays on your heart to give financially to the work here in Grenada check out the donate page and consider giving to Olive Branch and noting it for Brian and Jodi’s support.  God bless each one of you as you serve Him faithfully.

"He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved." Psalms 62:2

Brian for the Kauffmans