Queen size bed with hand carved matching head and foot boards.

King size Cedar Head Board

Candle light Christmas dinner

Marly cheesing for the camera

Me, Brock, Tim and Marly cracking nuts... A Kloter Christmas tradition.

David cutting wood for the factory. I asked for

1 1/4" boards and that is exactly what I got! Well, they vary about 1/16" of an inch either way on the 10" wide 8 1/2 foot long board. Unreal!

It has been a long time since I updated this... Sorry for those that actually check up on here.
So much has happened in the last month. One amazing God thing was on my trip back to the States for Christmas. I was walking out of the last security/customs/immigration check point at the Atlanta airport and saw this man that I was sure I knew... Sure enough, it was Tracy and Joy Dager!(they had been missionaries at JDV when I first started going down) They were coming back from their new mission field in the West Bank working with Palestinian Christians. It was a Divine appointment that I had been praying for for a long time. We got to talk for about 1/2 hour and it was so good to connect again.
This past couple of weeks has been a great time with family, Friends and being back at church!

Damion posing after we got done putting the shelves together.

The 'after' picture

Damion helping me on this project for Veronica our cook.

The before picture of the pantry in the team dining building (M-3)

Its been raining alot... From Wednesday night through Sunday morning it poured. This is down by R-2, the maintanence building. I am in the truck on the edge of the lane.

Me, Ionda and Nigel. They convinced me they needed to go to Mandeville Saturday, so in the torrential rain we piled into the little white truck and took off. Not the smartest thing I have done, but we made a memory and laughed a lot.

It's a Jamaican Tradition... On your birthday you don't get a cake, you are made into one!!! First the cold water, then the flour!. Sheldon's birthday was yesterday.

Simone, Sheldon's wife, had a birthday a couple of weeks ago

Simone and her twin sister, Latoya, after Ionda and I got them good :) Ashley, Simone's little girl, looks on wondering what happened. You can tell by the spots on the picture the flour goes every where.

making Wayne into a muscle man

Wayne was all smiles

Hero's day trip to Ocho Rios. Ionda and Kadine.

Donavan posing for the camera

Ionda and his typical flex pose

God is Good! I had a fun weekend in Montego Bay meeting a team from Peoria(St. Paul's Baptist Church). They brought down a power point projector donated by a couple of people from Harvest(Thanks tons Christian and Steve!)and I was able to give that to the teachers on Sunday after church. Speaking of church... I visited Rosemont Missionary Church with the team for an awesome service!! Wow! Powerful and convicting.
Yesterday we loaded up the bus and went to Ocho Rios for the day to celebrate Hero's Day. Had a great time and will get a few pictures up soon. Last night Dad called to let me know that my police report came in so he would overnight it so that I can hopefully get my paper work finished here before I come back in December and will be able to take it to the Jamaican Conciliate in Chicago to finalize my work permit exemption.
Today I was working in the factory and Chad came in with a box that arrived in the mail for me. My First mailed care package!!! Kinda like an early Christmas:) Thanks Ross & Heather!!! Decided to open the mixed nuts first:)

Last week was a rough week... Things were not going so hot in the factory, at least in my mind. I had given a deadline to complete 2 jobs with a significant incentive(bonus) for each person working on them. Goals weren't met so bonuses weren't given. I was really bummed. Tuesday I went to pick up some turned bed posts for a job and Dwayne, my main guy I work with at the lumber place, was there with his left hand all bandaged up. A customer was 'helping' him rip some boards in with a table saw and instead of just steadying the wood as it came out, the man pulled the last 8 inches through. It caught Dwayne off guard and off balance and his left hand went through the saw. He lost 3 fingers and mangled a fourth. Please pray for him as he has had 1 surgery since to attach the 3 fingers and will have 1 more this week as they try to attach all of the tendons so he can use his hand.
Suddenly unmet goals didn't seem like such a big deal. It has brought back a lot of unpleasant memories of the day Ionda ran his finger through the jointer here at JDV 6 years ago when I was here.

We made a baby crib & changer for a lady in Kingston. The Side of the crib drops down to make it easier to pick up the baby. Nigel was given a little to much freedom on the design and so it is built like fort knox! :)


We made 2 Danish chairs for Pastor Tomlinson and then Sheryl sewed covers for the cusions.

Chairs that we fixed for a pastor... I thought they should have been on a junk pile when we got them, but Nigel fixed them all and Ionda did a great job upholstering the seats and backs.

The guys have all caught the farming bug and have their own farms. Nigel's is closest, then Gary's, then Marvin's and then Pastor Damian's isthe far one.


After work last week, Nigel was expanding his farm and I decided to help. It's a little different than using a Troy Built Tiller! We potato forked through the rocks 12" deep the whole patch of darker dirt. About killed me:)

On the way back from the airport Saturday after Gustav, between Middle Quarters and Bamboo Ave. I got out my camera on the shallow water spot to take pictures while i was driving. Went through it earlier in the day so knew it wasn't too bad(the mini bus has a snorkel). The water gets up to the license plate of the Honda CRV in front of me down past the white car. Didn't think it was the wisest thing to keep taking pictures once the water got that deep. :)

Sheldon and Rachel came over the Wednesday before they left and cooked dinner for me. We had a great time and I learned Sheldon's Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe. I also learned how to cook Calaloo & Cabbage, Yams and Plantain.
Sheldon Burkett, my brother and amazing friend!!! had to get a pic of the two of us with our 'bald' heads. It was hard to leave him at the airport... counting down the days until May when he and Rachel hopefully come back on break.

The bed Calva made for Nicholas and what it looked like after we set it all up!!


Dresser that Nigel finished along with help from Calva on carving the drawer fronts of the top 3 drawers

Dwayne is LOVING his new mower!!! the old one finally couldn't be revived. After the first day of using it, he cleaned it all up and wanted his picture taken:) Wayne made this security gate and installed ityesterday

The before and after stain pics of the headboard Calva is making

Andrea excited for the beach

Dennis and Damion

Sheldon and Simone at Negril for Independance Day(last Wednesday, Sug 6th)... I told everyone here that I would drive where ever they wanted to go for the holiday. I told them they needed to pay $200 each for fuel and then when we got to the gas station gave their money back... Ionda called me a liar and couldn't trust me, but was laughing and thanking me the whole time! Thanks to all of you for making the surprise possible with your support!! this isn't staged, we had 20 of us in the mini-bus for the 3+ hour trip!:)

Nigel posing for the camera

Kitchen Cabinets that Nigel made for Mrs. Senior.

The cabinets are pine and the crown mold on top is pineapple. We are going to have to change a couple of thingsin the furture... the corner base cabinet was made in one piece and we had a real treat trying to get it in the house:)

Ionda sneaking up on me the first night... didn't realize his giggle gave him away, but I played along:)

Me looking like a Rasta Mon

Yesterday I drove to Montego Bay in the truck with all of the luggage for the last work team here at the village this year... Should have gotten a picture:) Amazing what a tarp and a lot of rope will hold in!! Spend the day in Mobay and got to hang out with 2 teachers from the Mobay school for dinner and the evening as they showed me around and gave me a dose of Jamaican culture. Slowly but surely, I'm learning Patwa!
There is a big group here at the Village now for a camp... 75 boys from the inner city of Kingston and 23 men watching them. They managed to break more than 8 glass window panes so far fighting:( This afternoon one of the boys got news from Kingston that 2 of his buddies were shot. Details are still sketchy other than the boys are ~14 years old. Praying that they both live. One of the leaders told me that this is a very common thing these guys live with. Makes me thankful for growing up in the cornfields of IL. I am thankful that these boys, many of whom have never been to church, are able to get out here in the middle of the mountains and here about the love of Jesus Christ through this camp!!!
On a more selfish note... I gave a tour of the factory to 5 of the men that are helping lead this group this afternoon... One is a lawyer and the other is a manager of the biggest security company in Kingston. They are very excited about what we are doing and think that the churches/church members they represent in Kingston need to be buying their furnature from a Christian organization! They are going back to spread the word as well as offering to help me with locating anything in Kingston that I need for supplies!! Praise the Lord for that!!

Church in Kingston at Calibar Baptist. 173 deaf there. 13 made a commitment to Christ

Me and 'my boys' Sheldon, Me, Kevin and Ionda. 3 of the guys that I lived with and worked with 6 years ago. I was able to meet Michael W. Smith in Ocho Rios when his cruise stopped. The fundraiser he had for CCCD brought in $7500!! 2 recent graduates from Knockpatric helping in the factory