Since our last post, we were able to get all of the remaining exterior primed, in addition to the front veranda. We did not do the staircase or the fancy little front pillar decoration things. Those will have to wait for some other time. God blessed us with great weather to finish off painting the north exterior wall... we were at work painting already at 6am yesterday to beat the sun a bit. The sun rises at 5:30 here, and that wall is pretty much in the sun all day. But yesterday the Lord blessed us with some cloud cover, so it was actually quite pleasant working on it.

We also began to paint a few more rooms with the top coat paint, but after needing 3 coats of it in the bathroom to cover relatively well, we figured that we had to come up with a different alternative. The plaster primer stuff soaked into the wall so much, that we were still seeing shadowy areas where the cement color was showing through. If we had to put 3 coats of paint on every room, it would not only take FOREVER, but would also cost a fortune. The final paint is pretty expensive, so we eperimented in a small area with putting a layer of white paint down first (which costs less than half of the colored stuff), then putting the color on top. That seemed to work MUCH better. Chad went out to buy more white paint, so we painted a few rooms white today. Sad thing, though, was we had to paint over some of the rooms we had already painted with the color, so it kind of felt like we were taking a step backwards today. But we are all hopefull that we are saving ourselves some time in the long run. We'll see. :)

Another issue that we are facing now is that the clock is working against us. Once the plaster primer is up on the walls, you have 30 days to paint over it before it starts to break down. And there is a lot of surface area that we covered with primer. It was important that we got the primer on when we did, though, because it is helping to prevent any moisure from getting into the cement walls. But the issue is that we only have a few work days left here. We legally have to be out of Mozambique next week Sunday because our travel visas run out. So that gives us the rest of this week and all of next week. Our plans as of now are to spend a few days in Swaziland before Chad drops us off at the airport in South Africa. From there, he is picking up another couple from the States who are planning a player distribution. He has 4 days to work on the studio before heading up north for that week long distribution trip. After that, he has 4 days to work on the studio before flying back to the States for a month. So, to make a long story short, there is a lot of paint that must get on these walls in a very short amount of working days. We are just so thankful that we have been able to stay this long to help take some of the burden off Chad, Sergio, and Steve's shoulders. We just wish we could stay longer.

Besides some sore backs, cramping hands, and Chad's little run in with his leg and a cement block (he has a nice photo on his facebook if you are interested in seeing), we have remained injury free. We are very thankful for the renewed energy God blesses us with each morning, too, and have all been in great spirits about the work we are doing. We have even been putting one of the Scripture players to good use as we have been listening our way through a few books of the Bible as we paint. We're having a lot of fun working together.

Please pray that we work quickly and efficiently, and that we are able to get most of the painting done before we have to head back home. Pray also for Chad as he has a very busy month ahead of him and is feeling the pressure of the amount of work that needs to be done yet. Continue to pray for the upcoming distribution trip...400 of the 500 players have been uploaded in the past few days (Sergio and Steve have been busy). God is so good! Thank you for praying with us!