September & October Update

Hello, from the sunny southern island of Grenada! September began with high anticipation of having some visitors at the end of the month. My parents came down to visit for 10 days. It was so much fun to have them here and show them what our life here in Grenada looks like. It was nice and warm for them but they didn't complain and we had a good time. One of the things on the agenda to get done while they were here was working in Natasha's bedroom. Dad loves to organize and sort things, so I put him to the task of organizing all the random nuts, bolts, and screws that were in the back room. He did a great job of getting them organized so that they are easily accessible when I need them. We also cleaned all the stuff out of it so we could wipe the walls down and start painting. We didn't have a good place to go with some of the stuff so it's sitting in the uncompleted school room till we find a good home for it. We wanted to get Natasha's bedroom completed first. With everything cleaned out and some fresh paint on the walls and ceiling it's starting to feel like a bedroom now. One of the things in the back room was a work bench. The legs of the bench weren't in good condition but the top of it was, so we removed the legs and put the table top aside till I was able to take it apart and put the wood in storage somewhere. Before I was able to take it apart it became a basketball pole and backboard. It's fastened to our picnic table at this point, but plans are to make it more permanent sometime. It was hard to drop my parents off at the airport, but it was a refreshing time for us as a family.

October was full of little adventures. Jodi's birthday was on the 16th, so we went and did some hiking. There is a small island off the coast of Grenada called Hog Island. It's not far from shore and there is a bridge that connects them. You can't drive a bus across the bridge so we drove as far back the road as we could, then parked and hiked the rest of the way. We had packed a picnic lunch, so once we were on the small island we found a shaded spot and stopped to eat. We hiked across Hog Island to a small beach on the other side. It was about a 2 mile hike there and back. The children have learned to enjoy these adventures and they do well at hiking. That evening Jodi and I had the privilege to go out on a date for her birthday. It was an enjoyable evening with just the two of us.

October 25th was Thanksgiving Holiday in Grenada. As a church we went to the beach and cooked a big pot of pumpkin soup. It was an enjoyable time together. We did get some rain showers but we were able to shelter under some trees.

Later in the month we spent a Saturday in Carriacou. We went over there with the youth group to help with some cleanup from the hurricane. There is a mission over there with a school, church, and a radio station. The men worked at pulling sheet metal from the trees that were by the ocean. The mission had a shop that the roof had blown off of and the wind had blown the metal into the trees. It was amazing how the wind had twisted the metal around the trees. The ladies were kept busy cleaning windows, sweeping and mopping floors, and organizing some of the school things. We enjoyed a two hour boat ride over the Carriacou and back. All in all it went really well. The children even enjoyed the boat ride and the adventure of getting to the island of Carriacou.

Jodi stays busy with homeschooling, house work, and some ministry opportunities as well. Jaymison and Natasha are settled into the homeschool schedule and are normally done by noon. Quinton and Derrik are best friends one minute and throwing punches at each other the next minute. They love each other dearly but sometimes that love is overshadowed by the desire to have the toy the other one is playing with. They are very busy little boys and for the most part love life and love being brothers. For myself, the church and ministry responsibilities keep me pretty busy. I do several personal bible studies with people, preaching, teaching Sunday School, and getting out in the community to meet new people. I enjoy meeting new people and pray for opportunities to talk about God with the people I meet. As a family we do Bible Club on Thursday evening in a local village. The new teacher, Kurt, has been helping us with that as well. We are grateful for his help.

It's hard to imagine that 2024 is coming to a close soon. God has been so good, even through all the transition we have went through as a family. We are thankful for each one of you and your prayers for us. Continue to pray for us and the work here in Grenada. We are thankful to be part of a great mission organization. It's only because of them that we are able to be here furthering God's kingdom in Grenada. If you would like to help out financially, consider donating directly to OBMM. https://www.obmm.org/donate/

May God bless each one of you as your shine the light of Jesus to those around you!

Brian, for the Kauffmans