News update

This week in addition to four guests we are pleased to have a good friend from Wales with us helping practically with the completion, we trust, of an en suite bathroom in staff accommodation on the second floor. We value greatly this form of voluntary practical help as there are a variety of jobs needing to be done. We would like to get some trees felled this year so any experienced voluntary help for this would be valued!!

The installation of our new boiler is going to scheduled. We were relieved that they managed to get us hot water by Friday evening and now Monday should see the central heating radiators warm again. Thankfully the weather has been mild and we have our wood fired tiled oven downstairs which has maintained some warmth in the house.

It was good to have the café open over Easter and the warm sunshine enabled us to have tables outside which attracted several passers by. Two-tone yellow pansies in our car-park flower boxes are giving a nice splash of spring colour while in the forest it's good to see new growth driving away the drabness of winter and wood anemones, violets, celandines and ladies smock adding their colour to the fresh green of the opening leaves. However a little higher up the valley there is still snow up to your knees as I discovered with Tom and Esther when we went searching for frogspawn earlier in the week.

We are sorry that the Bible ministry planned to begin this Thursday has had to be cancelled due to Peter Ninnis suffering a minor stroke. He and his wife Marion have still been able to come to us as planned but it was considered wise to allow Peter a complete holiday rather than the seven nights of Bible ministry he had hoped to give us. Our times are in God's hands!

Len & Phyl & Tim & Deb

A wonderful provision from God

This week we are expecting to have a new boiler for hot water and central heating installed in Haus Barnabas. We praise the Lord for His gracious provision. It seemed an impossibility when we first contemplated this need! The sequence of events leading up to this miraculous provision runs something like this.

Last autumn a heating consultant whilst on holiday here without any prompting by us, took an interest in our heating system with the intention of helping us to reduce heating costs which are big! We sent him facts of the amounts of oil consumed at different times of year and he made several practical suggestions as to how to run things more efficiently. However he came basically to the conclusion that our old burner was an 'oil guzzler'!

At the same time our local heating engineer who had installed the system in 1968 and serviced the boiler each year was warning us it could give out without warning any time. Also it needed each year to pass a test in regard to exhaust fumes and in 2007 it failed on this although thankfully just scrapped through after being re serviced. Providentially it passed again in 2008.

After some discussion our heating consultant friend generously offered to finance half the cost of a complete new boiler if we could find the other half of the cost.

Five year ago we had paid to bring gas into the cellar when they were taking it into the house opposite and were advised this type of fuel would be an advantage for us.

We discussed our present needs with our local heating engineer and he gave us a quotation of a minimum of 18,000 Euro and nearly 1,000 more if we opted for a bigger boiler which we would recommend. We mentioned the situation in a letter to 'friends of Haus Barnabas' and then in our general newsletter. The following is part of a letter from a regular guest who has become a close friend and faithful prayer supporter:

'I'm writing to let you know that I have today sent a cheque for £8,000 to Bible in Action Trust to go towards your new boiler - No I am not a millionaire but I lost money on an investment and decided to withdraw the remaining funds and place my treasure in heaven. I have thought and sought wisdom from the Lord and this is the decision I have come to; so it gives me great pleasure to help you.'

We informed our heating consultant friend of this gift I had the following email from him:

I am so glad that the Lord has answered your prayers. I will send a cheque to Peter tomorrow. Please can you tell me the balance required, as after conversion to pounds it may come to more than £16,000. If as a result of exchange rate changes or charges for moving money around, there is any deficit in the total, I will make it good later.
Yours in Christ,

We knew that the installation of the new boiler and all that involved with this would take the best part of a working week and since we would be without hot water or heating for those days the timing for the installation would obviously be important with regard to guests in the house. A family group due to come the week after Easter cancelled at the last moment because of illness and when I spoke to our heating engineer remarkably he said he would be able to schedule the work for this period.

A further factor in the best timing of the installation of the new system is the avoidance of the waste of expensive heating oil. We normally have to buy this 5000 litres at a time, but because of lack of funds the last order was for 2500 litres only. This ran out a week ago and since then we have been able to feed the old boiler from a measured supply in a canister.

We have been told that we should have heating and warm water again by next weekend when we are expecting new guests.

Surely we can see the Lord's hand in all this and we praise Him for His care and provision. We continue to look to Him for His further over-ruling and providential care until the job is completed and finally paid for.

This provision has encouraged us to pray on in faith for other pressing needs.

Yours in our Lord's service,

Len & Phyl Holder & Tim & Deb Brooks