On Saturday, the last work day of our trip, we were working
on installing a solar panel in the new church at the batey (small settlement)
which would collect sunlight and convert it to electricity, which would charge
two automobile batteries mounted inside the church. The batteries would then
connect to the light fixtures to provide light for evening services.
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| The solar panel installed on the roof of the Molinito chapel |
A local electrician was working along with Pastor Steve
Straubel from the Littleton United Baptist Church to do this work. Having
finished the work I was doing, I joined this small team to offer whatever minor
assistance I could. We worked to mount a metal rack to the wall to support the
two batteries, while the electrician continued to run the wiring for the solar
panel and the light fixtures.
One thing everyone forgot was that the solar panel would
charge the batteries, that is 12 volt Direct Current (DC) power, like a car's
electrical system. But the light fixtures operate on 110 volt, Alternating
Current (AC) power, like the electricity in your house. There is a device
called an Inverter which converts 12 volt DC to 110 volt AC power.
We needed that inverter device, but no one remembered that
or realized it was needed until we were ready to connect everything. Once we
saw that we needed another component we were all discouraged that we would not
be able to finish the project that day, and that Pastor Tanis would have to
return to town to try to find an inverter for sale, or order one. And they are
not inexpensive, so there would be another large expense to consider.
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| Some of the men from the Molinito batey watching our work |
We stopped then to eat lunch, and while we were eating, a
man walked into the church carrying a cardboard box. We thought at first that
he was bringing some fruit or something to offer us.
When he set the box down and we opened it, we were amazed to
see that it was a brand new power inverter.
How it came to be out there none of us knows. Our
electrician started to connect it to test it and it did not work at first. But
he studied it, changed a couple of connections on the device, and it worked
perfectly.
We were able to mount, install, and connect everything so
that by the time we finished, there was reliable electric power at the church.
Praise the Lord!
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| The white box is the inverter; the two batteries are ready to be connected |
On Sunday night, Pastor Tanis said that this was one way in
which God was showing us that He was pleased with the work that was being done.
We all agreed that it was nothing less than a miracle.
If we had remembered the inverter in time to purchase one
and take it to the batey with us, we could have finished the project in the
same way, and then stood back, admiring the result, and thought: “There! Look
what we did here today!” And maybe that would have been fine.
Instead, we stood back at the end of the day, admiring the
result, and thinking and saying: “Wow! Look at what God just did!”
And that is FAR better!
Reported by Dennis Ashley, the Scrawling (and temporarily Wandering) Shepherd
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