KEEPING TRACK OF ERWIN & GAIL: still in California

Last time, I told you about our trip South and our arrival at, Gleanings for the Hungry, here in Dinuba (near Fresno CA). Well after the first week was finished we had packaged more than 1.3 million servings of soup but that’s not all that happens here. In the quilting room the ladies made 31 quilts and we shipped a container filled with soup, quilts, dried peaches, raisins and a truck load of love to Liberia. Each time a shipment leaves this place everything stops and everyone gathers around the truck to pray, we pray for the load, we pray for the truck and even, though it may make him feel uncomfortable, we pray for the driver. We pray that the shipment would arrive at its destination in a timely manner, we pray against delays at the hands of some corrupt and greedy border guard or port official. We pray that the love of God will radiate so far around that container that anyone coming into its presence will have their eyes, ears and hearts opened so that they will know the love of God with which and by which that container is filled. Every day here is filled with something, from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM, whether it be work, eating, worshiping or listening to special guests. During the week you meet many new people, make new best friends and then have to say good bye. Friday is always a joyfully sad day.

After the first week, which was really supposed to be the only week, we went up into the mountains Saturday morning and spent the day seeing the largest living things on this planet. These huge sequoia trees are thousands of years old, reaching heights of over 250ft. The largest of which is one called the General Sherman. The General stands 274.9ft high (83.8m). It has a base circumference of 102.6ft. (31.3 m), it is 36.5 ft. (11.1 m) wide at the base and at a point 180ft. (54.9m) above the ground it is still 14ft (4.3 m) wide. The general would weigh more than 2.7 million lbs (1.2 million kg).A branch that fell off in 1978 was over 6ft (1.8m) wide and was at least 140ft (42.7m) long, this branch alone would be among the largest trees anywhere else in the USA. Even though the General is the largest living thing in the world it did not seem to be a giant when compared to the hundreds of giants standing in the vicinity. After an amazing drive to get there, it was an amazing sight to see, in an amazing place to be, followed by an even more amazing return trip.

We started the second week, having decided to do one more, because, well because it’s an awesome place to be. Gail carried on with some general housekeeping chores and working in the soup plant, I asked if there was any wenches that needed pulling and found myself building a basketball court. It turned out to be an overwhelming project and halfway through the week Rod, the construction dude around here, told me I couldn’t leave before it was done. I immediately thought “well there goes the rest of this winter” so after a week of scraping the ground and digging with a Bob Cat while Rod worked the back hoe we had most of the footings dug out. We decided then that we would have to play this, one week at a time and just rested for the week end.

Although the next week was only a three day week due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday, God started the week out with a miracle of provision. He provided us with the help we needed in the form of a Saskatchewan farmer who could operate any kind of machinery available and a concreate specialist, from Montana, who brought with him, his sons, some of the hardest working boys I have ever met. With that amazing amount of help we finished digging, forming and pouring the footings before Tuesday was over. Wednesday the footings were striped and most of the fill placed. But that’s not all that has happened here, during those two weeks, more than a million and a half servings of soup was packaged and two more shipments went out, one to Mexico and one to Kenya and each time we stopped to pray.

On the weekend, we went East to a place called Death Valley, a place well named because there is very little alive there and very little that can stay alive in the place. We visited Scotty’s Castle, a place built in the middle of nowhere in the early 1900’s because of the climate supposedly being good for one’s health. It is suggested you don’t go there in the summer as apparently it’s not so good for one’s health. We saw deserts, ghost towns, mine sites and did I mention deserts, Josuha trees, cactuses, mountain passes, oh and, deserts. On the way back we took a different route and drove on some of the most winding roads we have ever seen. Kelsey got so tired of trying to maintain her perch on the counsel as the truck swayed from side to side with each curve; she just decided to go to sleep to avoid the hassle.

We will start our fourth week tomorrow and play it by ear from there. I will post a few pictures then see if I can find enough internet access around here to post this blog.

God Bless. With love

Erwin & Gail