February 2, 2015
Dearest Friends and family
MORRISON FELIX GOES HOME
Many of you know of Morrison Felix through our newsletter. He was the father
of Stephen Felix and the husband of Rebecca Felix. We have known him and called
him a Brother and friend since 1989.
He has had some health problems and the past three years has been wheelchair bound due to amputation of his left leg just under the knee because of an infection the local hospital did not treat properly at the time. From the middle of December I had noticed that he slept a lot, he was having a hard time waking up and when he did he was disoriented and with slurred speech. I went over at least once a day and would sit down and jabber at him. Usually in the evening after I had been at the school all day building and had watered my garden I brought over papaya and tomatoes. I took his blood pressure one night and it was fine but his pulse was very high for someone who had just woken up. Then the last day of the year we were having our Wednesday night singing and his left arm was really swollen and his talk was slurred somewhat. I told him he needed to see a doctor and find out what was going on. I suspected he had had a stroke. We go into town on Fridays and we were ready to take him in but Stephen was already on his way out to get him to the doctor.
While in town we went by to the doctor and they had him on the examination table and were taking blood and giving him an insulin injection (he was a border-line over weight diabetic). After a while they said he could go but they wanted him back the next two days for more blood work and to check his insulin level. I talked with Dr King, the French doctor who saved my leg, and he concurred that it looked like a stroke but we have no equipment in Vanuatu to test to see if someone has had a stroke or not. Nor do we have any way or persons qualified to operate to save stroke victims. (Just gives one a warm fuzzy feeling how advanced our medical treatment is here, NOT!)
Sunday morning we got the call that Morris had passed away after having fever and chills in the night but he told Stephen he didn't want an ambulance called and peacefully passed away.
This was the Sunday we were supposed to have the combined service in Port Vila. Usually the body is buried the same day but as Morris was in town many many people came to Stephen's house and the body was finally brought out the Eton Village that afternoon. It was too late to take it up to the farm where he requested burial so the body was in state in Eton until the next morning. Keep in mind we do not prepare bodies here with chemicals to retard the decay process.
That Sunday morning not one church group rang their assembly bell. We did not have services. Earlier that week Morris said he was going to call a meeting after services in Port Vila when everyone was there and come up with some overall plan to help all the congregations on Efate with the leadership crisis we are having. Unfortunately he did not get to call this meeting.
Monday Morris' body was taken up to the farm (his and Stephen's cattle farm which is located 10-15 kms into the bush from Eton). The farm road from Eton has not been maintained for over a year so we had to drive toward Port Vila and then take a farm road into the back of Morris' farm, it took about 35 minutes.
Truck carrying body
On Sunday I was asked to give the funeral message and
again on Monday I was asked to talk at the gravesite. Until you have attended
an island funeral and burial you would not understand how sterile Americans
have made funerals. It is also a case where you have people who never came by
to talk with Morris when he was alive but they came wailing and crying when
his body was in state and being buried.
Burial Site at the farm
Family receiving line
Morris Felix justifiably received a burial deserving of a president or king.
He was known and loved by thousands of people and will be missed very very much,
especially by Kathy and myself. We were just glad that we were here and were
with him when he celebrated his 70th birthday last June.
Abu Morris with his sisters June 2014
TRIP TO FIJI AND NEW ZEALAND
Before Morris pasted away we had planned a trip to Fiji and New Zealand to celebrate
our 46th wedding anniversary as well as pick up some spare parts and some food
items we cannot get here in Vanuatu. We planned to leave Jan 13th but a low
pressure system had developed North of us and looked like it would arrive the
same time we were supposed to leave. We have experience that when weather like
this is present Vanuatu planes do not take off and that would mean we would
miss our connecting flight from Fiji to Auckland New Zealand the 14th. So we
left Sunday Jan 11th for Fiji thus missing services at Eton and everywhere else.
This gave us two days in Fiji before we left Wednesday for Auckland. The Sunday
flights fly to Suva instead of Nadi. The first night there we stayed at a hotel
in Suva and when we went walking to find a store for snacks we were told by
another walker that we should go back to the hotel as it was not safe out there
and that a Chinese business man had just been attacked but a gang of boys not
far from where we were walking. We went back to the hotel!!!!! The next day
we went to stay at a Hotel close to Nadi airport. Fiji had had many departure
delays over those two days because of heavy weather but our flight was on and
we flew out, howbeit with a slight delay to get a new flight crew as the standby
crew had used up their flight time. We would not have gotten out of Port Vila
on the 13th night and thus on to New Zealand the 14th as most flights were cancelled
Tuesday and Wednesday.
When we arrived in New Zealand we rented a car and leisurely drove down the North Island. We had thought we would stay at a family motel where we stayed 18 months ago but when we got to the motel in Cambridge they were booked up with people in town for the boat races on the local river. So we drove on down and stopped in the town of Tirau. The local golf club had a sign saying, "$20 per round of golf". I had brought my golf clubs hoping to play some golf, in hindsight I question the sanity of that decision. I was able to play two rounds the time I was there in Tirau, Kathy was my driver for the cart.
Nice cool weather. My cellulitis is clearing up due to very low humidity.
We then drove down to Lake Taupo where we had not been since 1985. Boy has it changed! It was like little America (all the fast food places) and the stores are open 7 days a week. We stayed in a motel right next to the lake. We could see the snow covered mountain in the distance.
While in Taupo we tried to go eat on our anniversary (January 17th) about 4:00
pm. It was the Lone Star Restaurant. The sign out front said 'open for lunch
from 11:00' but when we went in they said dinner would not start serving until
4:30 pm. We told them their sign said nothing of the sorts and we went to Burger
King for dinner. The next night we went back and told the manager what had happened
and he also said the sign said... but we pointed out their sign did not say
anything about dinner. It was a busy place because it is a tourist spot as well
as a lot of Kiwis had a weekend holiday and they came to the lake. So we had
to wait and then after eating as I went to pay, the manager said it was on him
and we thanked him very much. Cool nights and spring like days, beautiful!!!!!!!!
(God is good!)
I was able to play an International golf course at Wairaki on Sunday afternoon that David Lock and I had played in 1985. It had changed a lot as well as the fees. A beautiful course which is now a wildlife sanctuary and I saw a lot of places most people don't see. I lost 4 golf balls and found two. Almost had a duck, a grouse and a goose but no birdies.
After Taupo we headed for Tauranga where we had lived for over nine years. We stopped in Te Puke for a night and went to 'The Stars and Stripes Cafe' in Papamoa run by a good friend of ours only to find that he was in the Tauranga hospital with an infection and he was supposed to have heart surgery the next week. So we went to Mt Mangangui which is across the bridge from Tauranga and hit a bucket of golf balls instead of finding a golf course to play (let me lose their golf balls not mine!). We also went in to K-Mart. The next day we then went in and saw Dick Hansen in the Tauranga hospital and then drove to Richard and Lorna Harnett's who graciously gave us a bed for three nights. Richard and I served in leadership at the Otumoetai congregation when we lived there. It was a holiday weekend there also. We had lunch with the Malcom & Naire Maclean and caught up on news. We also had dinner with Mark and Bernadine Willis one night. We met with the brethren on Sunday and Monday we headed to Auckland for our Tuesday flight back to Fiji. When we left Auckland Tuesday morning it was 15C (59F) and when we landed in Nadi, Fiji it was a humid 30C (86). Shock shock shock!
We rented a car in Fiji because we were going to be there for three days and had a bit of running around to do to see people and get things done. I had splurged a bit and booked us into a nice tourist hotel out by the championship golf course at Denarau. Actually I had booked it on line and got it at a very good price which included breakfast buffet. I had placed an grocery order from a CostULess store in Suva and they delivered it to our hotel.
The hotel sent us a chocolate cake for our anniversary
and then sent us a bottle of wine,which I had confiscated at Nadi airport when
we left to go back to Port Vila. I should have known better and put in in my
checked baggage.
Kathy with Anniversary cake
I did play a round of golf at Denarau and lost three golf balls in water hazards but found one in the water hazard. Kathy drove the cart again and did not laugh too much about my game.
OBSERVATION: After playing several golf games in New Zealand and a recent golf game in Fiji I now realize that when the VA did the prostate surgery they somehow affected my golf game as well. I see a lot of the courses but would like a straighter line between tee off and green. I JUST KNOW IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE VA SURGERY!
I am sure it has nothing to do with my swing, lack of regular play or just lousy mental golf. I would ask a professional for help but I am afraid he might ask how much I would sell my clubs for.
It was hot and humid in Fiji but we had an air conditioned car and the hotel was air conditioned and they had some nice cool breezes late afternoon and early morning.
We were able to visit some people we knew in Fiji and
a special Christian lady we helped get back in service who lived at Vuda point.
She says that our being in Fiji at the time we were brought her back to the
Lord. Perhaps that was why we were there before coming to Vanuatu. the Lord
does work in mysterious ways, her name is Malika and she is a seeker of truth.
Malika and Kathy at Vuda marina
And then we got on the plane back home to Vanuatu. The air conditioning was
not turned on until the doors were shut. By then we had "soaker hose sweat".
You know when you have a soaker hose in the garden and when you turn it on you
get lots of heavy drops of water. When we landed in Port Vila it just continued
because the arrival building is not air conditioned just ceiling fans that were
losing to the hot humid air. It is my fault as I was supposed to come back for
a VA appointment in January but I said I didn't want the freezing weather you
were having so we get the sultry weather. MY BAD!!!!!
Wow!!!!!! I know now why people don't takes breaks away from home and house.
It started when we landed in Port Vila at 1600 Friday: (hang on to your shorts this will be bumpy)
1. Goman met us at the airport with our truck (one piece of good news - it was running). We brought back 5 extra bags with food and books and spare parts from Fiji and New Zealand. They had to use their new x-ray machine to see if anyone was smuggling anything in - the stupid part was they were down to one of the new machines and there was only one operator and he had to also ask to see anything he found suspicious. We had declared everything but he wanted to see the Spam, cereal, cake and brownie mixes, potato stixs, popcorn, chocolate cookies (lots). So he was still scanning other bags coming through his machine and I was opening the bags and holding up items and he said okay, okay and finally "that's good". Kathy was fanning herself and him (as it was VERY VERY hot and humid in the airport) and when he said I could go he said she had to stay and fan him -jokingly. Surprised (but a 'thank you Jesus' moment) that we did not have to pay tax on some of it. We did pay overweight from Fiji but it was worth it. COMFORT FOOD!
2. Kathy's KIA that Goman is using had a large water leak from one of the freeze plugs. Nobody here puts anti freeze in their vehicles because "it does not get cold here". The twits don't understand that most of the engines are aluminum blocks but the freeze plugs are steel -they will rust, and they do. Try to tell them it is for anticorrosion and they have a "huh" look on their face. They do not stock freeze plugs here and it is under the exhaust manifold and hard to get to weld. We'll see what we do!!!!!! He could not find any Bar's leak so he had driven it into town stopping every few kilometers to fill it back up. He didn't know the trick of loosing the radiator cap to keep pressure down and conserve water or my favorite - put oatmeal in the water system as a temporary fix (or if you are selling the car). This was after we had to put a new alternator on it before we even left on this trip - $320.
3. The large generator quit putting out electricity a couple of days after we left. I replaced the brushes and the regulator but it is the windings so we had to buy a new large generator Saturday.
4. The small generator quit a couple of times and Goman finally realized it was the low oil pressure switch so he put oil in it and was able to use it to keep the freezer and refrigerator going when the solar was not enough. It also had developed a fuel leak from the fuel bowl on the carburetor so I had to fix that as well before we could use it Friday night.
4. The 12 volt pressure water pump quit working soon after we left. Goman didn't know about it so left it alone. It was a loose connection AGAIN which I was able to fix temporally with a small rock. Yesterday morning, Monday, I had to fix it properly before Kathy could use the washing machine as the pump had quit working AGAIN! No there are not replacement parts here in Vanuatu and the American company has never responded to my email.
5. The pull rope on the new weed whacker I just bought broke so Goman had sourced a new part and got it going again but I had to repair the other pull rope on Saturday.
6. I have nogardens: there was rain after we left but the few dry spells the gardens were not watered. I have a few green pepper plants left and the tomato seedlings I left under the shed roof look like they were not watered in a timely matter and they got water a day or so before we got back. Not sure I will get any out of them and will replant today or tomorrow.
7. From the time we landed Friday afternoon (actually it started when we boarded the plane in Fiji and the air conditioning was not on until they closed the doors for take off) we have been sweating "soaker hose" sweat. The temps are in the 90's and the humidity in the 80%. There was a cyclone east of us and we got some rain but the winds are hot and humid. Last night it never got below 81F/85%. And by 7:00 it is already 85F/84% and climbing. Oh, soaker hose you ask: the sweat just pops out of your skin like water coming out of a soaker house in the garden. - lots and fast! To make matters better there is another cyclone trying to develop between Fiji and us and is expected to go South of us but give us some rain. The problem is the Easterly cool trade winds have become hot Northerly winds or like right now no wind at all at night. HOT AND SULTRY! Never below 80F/80% humidity.
I am sure the upcoming weeks will be full of more exciting
things - so keep tuned. The foundation posts are in for the student housing
building so we should start building on it this week. I just have to stay hydrated
and that might take a 55 gal drum on a trailer with a straw.
Oh well, we are back home and building the student housing and my golf and this
trip will be a memory. Been fun and relaxing! Having internet 24/7 has been
good as well but we are back to the grindstone!
PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS
When we went to the farm for Morris' burial we saw some trucks using the shorter
bush road coming back to the village and I THOUGHT we could make it also. So
we took off down the trek. The grass was over 8 feet (2.4 M) tall and it was
hiding a very rocky and sometimes water worn road or maybe no road. Since I
don't have 4 wheel drive I kept a head of steam up and it was a very bumpy ride
for we who were in the truck and the many who were in the back of the truck
bed. About half way through we started hearing noises from under the truck that
indicated I had wrapped grass around the drive shaft. I was also bottoming out
the back end from time to time in deep holes in the road base. But we finally
made it to the main rode and the grass around the drive shaft was very noisy.
We got to the house and I climbed under the truck and took handfuls of grass
and vines from the drive shaft and other places where it had lodged in the bumper,
the wheel wells, cross beams under the truck etc. The rusty muffler also has
some new sounds. A strap holding the gas tank had taken a hard knock from a
large rock and had been driven back and into the tank but there was not leak
(Thank you Jesus!). I just cannot get as much fuel in the tank now.
Goman Mesa came back to Vanuatu from Papua New Guinea
in December. He had been over there for over a year working for a company his
brothers have. I had asked him to come work with the Bible school - he has agreed
to do so. I have offered him the staff house at the school and he is going to
finish it so I can work on the student housing and finish the classroom and
library. Kathy and I are loaning them her truck until they get their own.
The day after we loaned them the truck Goman called to say that Kathy's KIA
had stopped on his way out to work on the school buildings. So I went to the
outskirts of Port Vila and just as I went over a speed bump I started hearing
the same sounds that something was on the drive shaft. I pulled up to the KIA
and when I looked under the truck I had obviously picked up a coconut on yesterday's
bush trek and it had just fallen on the drive shaft and broken into half. I
took it off and made sure there was nothing else up there.
We ascertained that the battery was flat on the KIA. I had just put a new one in it for the annual inspection because I thought it would not hold charge so why was it flat????? So I towed him back toward the village but he was able to get it started after about 5 kms. I followed him back home and when we looked at it we found the alternator was not working. He took it off and we went back to town to try and find an alternator for this older model KIA Sportage. I did not have much hope. After asking around we finally found a Korean garage that had the alternator we needed - it only cost $320. But alternator it was and we bought it, took it home and Goman put it on the KIA and he was mobile again. (A 'thank you Jesus' moment!)
Now it has a water leak!
However it is good (a God-Send) to have Goman and Ure to come work with us and the school and help. We are talking about her having a pre-school out here on the school property as well as Goman helping teach technical classes at the Institute.
When I got back from the school this afternoon I found out that we had run out of water in the storage tank. Kathy had caught up on all the washing and had just enough water. When the large generator quit (when we were gone) Goman did not know the smaller generator would pull the well pump and had not kept it topped up like I do. Asi es la vida! (Such is life!) I started the pump and it took just under two hours to pump 1500 liters of cool well water into the tank.
BUILDING THE SCHOOL
Dec 24 - we installed the inside walls in the classroom/library.
Dec 25-26 - I put fences around the school gardens
so the goats can roam free. I wired the classroom and library building for lights
and power points. I installed the lights. I planed and cut wood for trim.
Dec 29-30 - Cleaning up the property. Getting everything
ready to build the student housing.
Jan 2-4 - made quarter round moulding, I trimmed
out the classroom and library and caulked ready for final painting. No helpers
because of the 5 day mourning period for Morris' family.
Jan 6-8 - Rain - dealing with KIA problems
Jan 9 - Put fence wire over barbed wire to keep
the goats from roaming over into the cattle farm next door. (Yeah, that worked!)
They think they own the property.
Goat in trailer
Feb 2 - I spent the day moving
wood down to the student housing in preparation to start building this week.
Using the motorbike to shift the wood stock
When I went to start the small generator at the school this afternoon to pump
water from the well, the pull rope broke so I get to fix that as well. WHOOPEE!
Onward and Upward!!!!!!!!!
Scholarship Fund for the
Bible school in honor of Joe Cannon
We have a new support program for The Christian Institute of Biblical Studies.
I have had memorial funds donated in the name of Joe Cannon in the past two
years. So we have established a scholarship fund called the "Joe Cannon
Scholarship Fund for The Christian Institute of Biblical Studies".
Joe Cannon was a great warrior for the Lord in his missionary journeys in Japan,
Okinawa, Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya, Ukraine and Memphis for over 60 years.
He touched a lot of lives in his living and I was one. It is only natural the
memory of Joe for the Biblical training of Christians since that is what he
was about his whole life. The funds generated will be used to support students
that come from the island nations around Vanuatu where we will be seeking to
strengthen the Biblical training of Christians from their islands for the future
needs of the kingdom in their home islands. They cannot work while they are
here and thus the need for support for when they are here. The scholarship funds
will be only used to support students who come to the school from outside Vanuatu.
We will be asking their home congregations to cover the cost of the travel to
and back from Vanuatu. Funds can be sent through our sponsor. (CIBS Scholarship
Fund: Joe Cannon)
Thanking you for hanging
in there with us with the building of the school.
As we start building we will be in need of additional funds in the next few
months for building of student dorm-rooms, about $30,000. So if anyone out there
can help we would really appreciate it.
(Thank you so much for those of you who have given extra thus allowing us to get a start on the timber for framing of the student housing.)
Please note that we have been able to get our website (http://www.oceania-outreach.com/Index.html ) back on line and I will try to keep it current. It also has a link for downloading mission books that Joe Cannon wrote.
Onward and upward!
Thank you so much for all of you who are praying for us, supporting us and have contributed to our needs. God bless you! Thank you for your prayers!
Thank you Lord for healing and providing what we need!
Grace & Peace
Tobey & Kathy
Huff
Ph (and text): 678 596-4821 (Vanuatu is +17 hours)
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Contributions for the Huffs, the
Bible school and the Scholorship fund can be sent to:
Huffs/Bible School
c/ Mt Hope church of Christ
2830 Mt Hope Rd
Webb City MO 64870
or
Jason Huff
2730 E 24th St
Joplin MO 64804