With Progress.... Always Problems

We laid our hands on the ailing machine--and it was vibrating violently. There was no backup for this hammer mill in our production line, the machine that turns our Cheetos-like chunks of puffed soy and rice into fine flour. When it starts up it sounds like a jet engine, the old, 60's vintage fuel-guzzling kind.

Earlier, we had become concerned about the tremendous noise levels. So we set about building a room around this machine to contain the noise. To do that, we had the help, for about a month, of one of our board members from our FUF-Lao days. For many nights Dave Welander (Pomeroy Covenant Church, IA) and I worked after the mill shut down at 9 PM and the cleaning crew had done their work.

But when the vibrations started sending cracks all through the housing, we knew we had a major problem. So, Wessel managed to get a technician up from Bangkok and set about, with our young mechanics, tearing it apart. What they found was not pretty--ball bearings shredded, hammers worn and unbalanced. In the end, praise God, they were able replace all the worn parts and put it back together. Amazingly, the noise levels dropped by 20 decibels. Our screaming jet engine became a became a purring cat.

But now we faced a new problem. Our mill generates a fairly strong odor, not unlike popcorn. Several of the neighbors said they liked the smell at first, but after weeks of it-was there not something we could do? So we set about building a room in the back of the mill to contain the exhaust and filter out the smell.


That system is now in place and working fairly well. The smell is not gone, but is much improved. Visits to all our neighbors, bouquets of flowers and progress reports on the improvements we are making-all of these have helped with this issue.

Finally, about personnel issues: Don't you wish that people problems could be as easily solved as technical issues? Well, they can't..... So, we just said good-bye to two of our key Thai team-members. Their issues with other members of the team had been simmering for more than a year. But finally they decided it would be better to leave than continue. Ruthie and I were heart-broken. These were the people we hoped would manage the company. These were our good friends.

Such is life in the Kingdom, we're finding out. Often a struggle, often messy. But God can use all of that, and does. Meanwhile, we praise him for all the many answers to prayer-orders and work, new staff members (we're holding at about 30 employees), and the resources to see MVF Co. become a reality and blessing (a sweet aroma?) to those around it.

Asia Covenant Consultation VII

"Planting Communities of the Faithful" was our theme for this year's Asia Covenant Consultation, our seventh meeting in 14 years. Covenant church leaders from all over Asia gathered in the heart of Issaan--Roi Et, Northeast Thailand--for three days of presentations and prayer, information exchange and encouragement.

Welcoming Committee

This was also the occasion for celebrating 40 Years of Covenant work in Thailand. Our current Thai church leadership put together a large program honoring missionary Jim Gustafson, Bunphote Wechkama, Tongpan Phrommetta for their visionary leadership down through the years.

For more information about this gathering and some great pictures, please check out Jim Peterson's blog postings... Jim Peterson's Blog

Working with our Thai church committee to organize this event was a great experience and an opportunity to deepen relationships we have had for many years. Though I am a somewhat reluctant networker and meeting-attender, this event has confirmed, again, that we should not "give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. " (Hebrews 10:24).