ja_koniga

May 5, 2011

Dear praying friends and family,

I tried to take four teens on mission trip sponsored by Arkansas Southern Baptists. This would have been the third time we did this annual trip that exposes youth to missions through blitzing a community with projects, prayer, and other outreaches. You may have gathered by “tried to” and “would have” that it didn’t happen. The problem: lack of a vehicle that would make the trip – we broke down about an hour and half into the trip. A parent was able to pick us up, then I went back with one of the older teens the next day (when part stores were open) and we fixed the problem and drove back. It was frustrating but made for some great memories and pictures.

The past few weeks a homeschool student has been coming out once week for two hours to learn woodworking. We have been building a dining room table and benches for someone who wants to support the ministry and get a much needed larger table. This has provided a great opportunity to teach several aspects of woodworking, and also has the promise of making a profit when the finished product is sold. We are praying that God would send more [paying] projects like this so that we can expand this training to more students, especially as summer begins and public school students enroll.

Some have asked if we have been affected by the flooding in the area. Because we are on such high ground and things run off quickly, these floods have been no worse than anything we have seen here before. As usual, the road has washed quite severely especially where the creek that lacks a low water bridge crosses it. Since the tractor is still broken down, this has meant much hand shoveling… mostly by Melissa! Thankfully, a neighbor used a tractor on it once and the county grader hit it once – unfortunately that was in the same day and a few days later it all washed out again! A few weeks ago we stopped at a company 60 miles from here that sells old railroad tanker cars. These would be used as culverts to handle the creek water and raise the roads above the creeks and at the same time reduce the grade of one steep hill. This option will cost about $100,000 not including the necessary dirt work, gravel, and other material. Obviously, the road continues to be a major hurdle requiring a major miracle. At the same time, “major” is a relative term – relative to our perspective.

One major praise is a family having asked to rent the camp this Fourth of July weekend for a family reunion! They discovered us via our website and came out to see what we had to offer. They had no idea that, “such a great facility existed here.” They live in the area and will have family coming from as far away as Michigan. Of the thirty to forty family members, several are pastors and youth pastors; they are excited to have a place like this where they can also worship together. We are excited to see the place used for that purpose!

There are a few projects that need to be completed in preparation for this group. They will be bringing some smaller campers (they could see that large campers would likely have difficulty getting in and out), so we either need to complete some of the camper hookup sites we have been working on or set up some temporary ones close to the Cary-Grove Center and the guest cabin. We would also like to put a shower in the Cary-Grove Center. We designed it with that in mind, but to cut costs did not install any showers. These are things that need to be done anyway, but now there is a deadline.

The flooding has affected us in terms of work groups. One team that was going to come last weekend could not because many of the roads out of their community were impassible. Another team has been diverted to help with flood cleanup – a very worthwhile ministry, with which we are also looking to connect our own mission trainees. I continue to recruit/ invite individuals and teams to be involved, but it is a slow process.

I finally saw a neurologist yesterday. She described my back as “very deteriorated for such a young man.” That wasn’t really what I was hoping for, but it was not surprising. She is trying to get me in for a dye test next Wednesday (5/11) so she can determine just how much surgery is appropriate. One disc is shot and she wants to fix it, and there is another disc she thinks might need work that the dye test will help determine. The “good” news is that she wants to get on with surgery soon after the test – if surgery can ever be good news. I have spent the past several weeks mainly lying on my back doing work on Pilgrimage things via the computer and some seminary, and it has resulted in no improvement. At least, now I finally have some exercises I can be doing to strengthen muscles that will hopefully prevent any new injuries, but I am definitely going to have to not only do things differently, but have to do different things (no more roofing, for instance). Thankfully, Pilgrimage has been able to pay us the last two months. However, the amount coming in is less than what is going out for salary, insurance, ministry, and other operational expenses; this is a matter of prayer more so than ever.

Thanks for your prayers and support,

-Philip & Melissa Pinto