This past week I was in Villavo for our first week of deaf camp. Too many deaf wanted to go and so we could not fit all into one week. As a result, we decided to have a mini-camp for the four days preceding the big week. We took the American work crew and a group of the deaf to Villavo to see our camp project and the current facilities. The time was one of rich fellowship and great fun as we tried to understand one another as we worked and played together. We all enjoyed the time very much. We arrived back from Villavicencio yesterday and today we head out to Chinauta for big week of camp. Our facilities in Villavo could not handle this large of a group; at least not this year. Hopefully by next year we will have enough additional construction done on the camp addition to host the deaf camp and our own annual youth retreat, where in each case attendance is well over one hundred.
While in Villavo I worked on the additional infrastructure improvements. After two full months of paperwork, our request for additional electrical service was approved. Praise the Lord! This is no easy task in Colombia and a person can easily take years to gain such approval. In many cases it is denied and there is no hope for ever gaining access to electricity. In this case a good family friend from long ago stepped in and helped us out. He is an electrical engineer and has worked in the installation of the electrical grid and is well connected. He accomplished in a couple of months what would have taken us years and huge amounts of money to accomplish. But with the success, we have one challenge now we must meet. We have six weeks to make the connections or our license will become invalid and will have to be renewed.
For this addition we must run about 100 yards of high tension line, hang a transformer on the post, and then drop the residential service down to the first cabin. The total cost for this project is about $7,500 US dollars. Needless to say, we need to get moving on this project or we may well lose the opportunity to install electricity to the camp expansion. The current camp has already maxed its service rating and transformer capacity. The only way to get electricity to our expansion is to install this upgraded service with new lines and a new transformer. We now ask you to help us meet this challenge and move forward expeditiously to take advantage of this opportunity. We need to raise the $7,500 in a very short time frame if we are move forward. Please pray with us that God provide and consult with your church or Sunday school class to see if God can use you to provide for this huge step forward. Send any special love offerings as a designated gift for the electrical installation at the camp expansion project. God will bless you and hundreds of campers through your generosity!
Camp Progress With Electrical Service Approved!