Normal? What’s that?

Well, we’re starting to return to what we laughingly refer to as normal around here. Chuck and Donna returned to Florida on Thursday, and Gene and Evan are flying back to the States today. We had a wonderful time with them all and Donna was a big help around the house, but I think Mildred is about worn out. She’s the introvert and I’m the extrovert, ya know.

(Note added by Mildred: I don’t want you to think I was worn out only from having people visit; it was a combination of  many things. Dr. Priddy needed my help when he did an audit of the radio station financial records for 2008. I was also dealing with  all the financial items that had to be done before the end of the month and then I began working on all the reports that go to our Tampa office for the end of the month. I just wanted you to understand that we both enjoy having people come to visit us!)

As you’ve already seen, we got the new FM transmitter site on the air earlier this week. Our mission president, Dr. Eugene Priddy wanted to have a dedication for it, so that took place yesterday. Because there was a cruise ship here, our attendance expectations were fairly low, but we were pleased at how many people were able to get away from their businesses to be there for the ceremony. Some pastors and several laymen from nearby churches joined us, and of course we were all there including Rev. Evan Drake, our soon-to-be president of Bible Basics. It was a simple affair. We gave our guests a tour and explained how the signal is converted at the radio station to computer data, broadcast over a wireless network to the transmitter location, then converted back to audio and fed into the transmitter. The transmitter then feeds an amplifier that boosts the power to 2,000 watts. Once the Q&A session wound down, Dr. Priddy shared briefly about the ministry and its history, then asked Evan Drake to lead us in prayer. Following that, Pastor Edly Bush asked God’s blessing on the new equipment and the many new listeners we hope will be able to hear God’s Word over the air.

We all stood around and visited for a while, admiring the new tower and the wonderful view, and then folks headed back to their homes and jobs.

I then had the place to myself, so I went back in the transmitter building, changed clothes and got out my welding gear. I had discovered the day before that the door to the generator building is too low for me to put a barrel of diesel fuel inside with my truck crane. So I’m making sort of a little porch that I can set the barrel on and then push it inside on the dolly. I think I’ll have that ready Monday if nothing distracts me.

I decided that some pictures would tell the story much more quickly that I could do it, so I’m sending you a bunch of them. They cover some of our time with Chuck and Donna, but mostly have to do with the transmitter move and the dedication. And I really need to thank Evan, Chuck, and Donna for letting me use so many of their pictures today. They got some angles that I was too busy to capture.

One important event I didn’t include pictures of is the prophecy seminar that Dr. Priddy led at the Coxen Hole Baptist church. Attendance was very good all four nights, but especially on Sunday night. During the conference we discovered that Evan Drake is blessed with a marvelous singing voice. This past week was the first time we had met Evan. It looks to me like BBI will continue to be in good hands when Dr. Priddy hands over the leadership to focus on his other ministry callings at BBI. Despite his impressive list of accomplishments as a missionary and pastor, Evan is a warm and gracious servant leader.

OK, I’ve babbled long enough. Let me see if I can get this posted to the blog before we head out on our regular Saturday errands.

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