Winter Road Update

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This year's supply run was quite rough.  On our first trip, I ran into some mechanical difficulties en route. About 255km (160 miles) outside of Krasnoyarsk, the wiring harness caught fire. I immediately hit the kill switch, (a UAZ van has a factory installed kill switch that cuts all battery power to the vehicle) and got it off the road. Matt Northcutt and I cobbled the wires up enough to get it to a nearby city. A few days later, I limped it the rest of the way to Krasnoyarsk. (A special thanks to Kevin Jones and James Pranger for their help in getting it back to Krasnoyarsk.) I had a new wiring harness put in, and returned to Vanavara loaded with supplies. 

Upon my return to Vanavara,the van developed some different problems that I am working on now. In addition, Matt Northcutt's truck developed an engine knock. It is looking like he may have to send his truck down to the city on a flatbed for repairs.

Because of the problems with both of our vehicles, we were not able to make our second trip via winter road, but rather flew down and sent the needed supplies up with a truck.

Twofold prayer request:

Pray for Matt Northcutt, as he only has a short window of time to get the truck down to the city, repaired, and back before the winter road closes for the season.  

Pray for our vehicle situation.   After the accident that happened in October of 2015 , nothing has been quite right with our van. It has turned into one problem after another. In addition to the serious mechanical problems, I am having trouble keeping the back door closed. I have had to install a nut and bolt to keep it closed on the road. All that said, I think that it is time to think about a different vehicle. The good thing is that I can recoup the cost of putting it back together from the trade in. We have some money that has come in for a vehicle already, Praise the Lord! We need an additional $10,000 that will allow us to upgrade to a newer model and do any modifications that is needed for extreme weather. Please keep in mind that, as a foreigner,  the banks will not give me an auto loan like they would in the States. When we buy a vehicle, it is cash upfront. I know that that sounds like a lot of money, but if 20 churches gave $500 we could raise that money in a short amount of time. Please pray for this need.  

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