October 2009
Dear Family and Friends
I, Mark, was asked to take a trip to Adi, Congo to help some missionary friends with some tractor, car, motorcycle, truck and ??? repairs. I thought it would be fun to tell you about it but it is a bit longer then usual so please bear with me.
Sunday Sept. 27
Fly from Kigali, Rwanda to Kampala, Uganda
Monday Sept. 28
Apply for Congo Visa at Congo Embassy. I could get one at the border when entering Congo but the one I can get there is only good for 9 days. I need at least a 15 day visa.
Go around town and look at used motorcycles to see if it would be worth importing one to Rwanda. I found they were not a bad price, but were in bad condition. I think I will pass.
Tuesday Sept. 29
Take care of a bit of business at the AIM office in Kampala then go to town to get my passport, and a 30 day visa (I don’t need that many days but it is better than 9).
Wednesday Sept. 30
Up at 5 am to catch 1 ½ hour flight to Arua, Uganda. Glenn Wilton was waiting for me at airport. We went into town to pick up supplies, market for food, fuel for car, mail etc. (took about 4 hours). Went to Uganda Immigration and got stamped out of Uganda. We drove for a bit on a dirt road then Glenn told me the section of road we were on was actually the border between Congo and Uganda. We took a smaller rougher road for a bit then stopped at a gate (a pole across the road) for Congo immigration and customs. A guy who works for Glenn took our passports and went into an office (with mud walls and grass roof). While we waited a guy came out and said Hi, then he went back into the office. Glenn said that was the guy doing the customs check. About 15 minutes later Glenn’s worker came back with our passports stamped into Congo and we were ready to go. That was like no other border crossing I have ever been through. Too easy for Congo. I guess the bigger crossings are a lot more hassle, that is why Glenn likes this one. One other thing about this crossing: no military. They are all up north providing security against the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army). That war is a whole other story. After about another hour of driving (on roads that made me know I was back in Congo) we arrived at Adi.
Adi was looted during the war in Congo in 1996 (the same war we had to evacuate for). Because of the looting, there were a lot of parts missing from / problems with the tractor, motorcycle, truck as well as other things that needed fixing. After about a 10 year absence Glenn and his wife Sandy returned to Adi to continue their ministry. Glenn had purchased most of the missing parts, and had put some of them on the equipment, but most of the things still did not work for one reason or another.
Oct. 1 to Oct. 14: The work days.
Work days #1 to #3: The tractor & grass cutter
Installed a rebuilt injection pump, injectors, replaced missing fuel and injector lines, did some rewiring etc. etc.There is also a big grass cutter that goes behind the tractor that had some leaking oil seals. Replaced the seals and sharpened the blades.
Now after 13 years Glenn can cut the grass on the airstrip with the tractor & grass cutter. Why is it so important to cut the grass on the airstrip? In Africa we have ant hills (actually termite hills). An ant hill hiding in even a foot of grass would really ruin a pilot’s day. So now with short grass comes the peace of mind knowing that the mission planes can safely land at Adi in case of emergency or the need for evacuation.The air compressor in the shop stopped working today. Found that the capacitor was bad. Glenn just happened to have one that was a close enough fit to the bad one, replaced it and now we have compressed air again to help with the work.
Work day #3: Land Cruiser
Spend a bit of time to see why the 4-wheel-drive was not working. It is electronically controlled. This is going to take some doing. I’ll save it for later in the week.
Work days #3 to #5: Motorcycle repair
Glenn has a motorcycle to help save on expensive fuel costs. It was stolen during the war and somehow they ran it out of oil. He had sent the engine to Kampala, Uganda for someone to rebuild. When he got it back and put it in the motorcycle, it would not start. It has been sitting now for about 2 years. After a bit of checking I found that the engine had no compression because the valve adjustment was too tight. I adjusted valves and got the engine running, sort of. After all the years of sitting, the carburetors were full of crud so I removed them and decrudded them (took them apart to clean them). Engine runs fine now.
Also found lots of little electrical problems and other little things wrong so spent part of a day fixing lights, broken choke cables, charging the battery, fabricating missing shift linkage, cleaning out the cooling system and checking the thermostat (yes, a water cooled engine), checking to see why the horn did not work, etc.On day #3 it rained in the afternoon. Glenn has a 55 gallon drum of water that is painted black that is sitting on the roof of his house. It is plumbed into the shower in the house. Obviously, on a sunny day the water gets warm. And more obviously, on rainy days it does not. Had a cold shower tonight.
Sunday Oct. 4 went to a French service in Church. The guy spoke really softly so could not hear him too well. Too bad. Spent part of the afternoon on Google to see if we could find a wiring diagram for Glenn’s Land Cruiser to help us figure out why the 4wd is not working.
Work day #5: Land Cruiser
One of the back windows on Glenn’s Land Cruiser did no go down. Took off the door panel and found a gizmo had come loose. Put the gizmo back on and now it works.
Work day #6: MotorcycleAfter a bit of fiddling around with the choke cable trying to make it work better I got to go on a motorcycle ride while Glenn cut the airstrip with the tractor. It was fun until the choke cable worked its way back out and made the engine stall. The battery is no good and this morning we needed to jump start it. This is a 500cc bike and only has an electric start (no kick start). We tried push starting it but it would not work. One of the workers came to the airstrip to keep the kids away from the tractor so he rode his bike back to the house to take the battery out of the Land Cruiser and bring it back with jumper cables. The motorcycle started right up. I decided to get it back to the house and park it. Will work on the choke cable another day.
Work day #6: Land Cruiser
Took another stab at the 4wd today. Found there was a short in the wiring at the motor on the automatic hub on the left side. I was able to remove the motor and reinstall the hub in the locked position. So for now we are leaving the auto locking hub button pushed in. This will lock the right hub. With both front hubs locked all you have to do is put the transfer case in 4 wd and voila, you have 4 wheel drive! Glenn will have to replace the auto locking hub motor some day so he can go back to having auto locking hubs again.
Work day #6: Big table saw
Glenn has this big table saw. He is helping make doors (no Home Depot around here) for the student housing units for the Adi Bible School. The saw helps cut the wood (obviously). A few weeks ago he was cutting away when the motor started to slow down all on its own, and then pop. Something blew and the motor stopped. Turns out the capacitor blew on this motor, too. Wouldn’t you know it, Glenn had another capacitor that was just right for the job. I am thinking maybe his generator is underpowered or something causing the capacitors to blow. Anyone have an idea???
On day #6 it rained again in the afternoon. Did not bother taking a shower (see above).
A little about Glenn and Sandy Wilton
Back in the day when Lisa and I first went to Zaire (now DR Congo) we were dorm parents for Glenn and Sandy’s daughter Karen when she was in 2nd and 3rd grades. Karen is now married and has a child.
Glenn and Sandy’s house was badly looted during the war, and then sat empty. When they got back to Adi they found all the windows were gone, holes in the ceiling, doors gone or locks broken, most everything was taken, and things were a real mess inside. Glenn has done an excellent job of putting things back together. There is no electricity at Adi so Glenn has installed 2 sets of solar panels and batteries, one set runs a small 12v. refrigerator and the other set is for the 12v. house lights and an inverter (a gizmo that converts 12v. to 120v.) The 120v. electricity charges laptop batteries and runs the modem for internet (which gets its signal from Uganda about 30 miles away). It also runs a duplicating machine where Glenn and Sandy print booklets in Bangala for the Bible School in Adi and for other Bible Schools. They also print Sunday School lessons, hymnals etc. for the church. There is very little in print in the Bangala language so this work is essential.
Rain water is collected by rain gutters and goes into an underground cistern. It is then pumped up to an over head storage tank by a 12v. water pump, and into the infamous black 55 gallon drum used for a water heater (rather, a water warmer that gets cold fast).
In addition to the Adi Bible School, there is a hospital here that Samaritans’ Purse has been heavily investing in. SP has installed a big generator and water system (a well I think) for the hospital. There are some SP guys coming soon to finish installing solar panels so they don’t have to run the generator as much.
Work day #7 Motorcycle & Ford
Got the choke connector set up a bit better. I think it will work now. I took a look at the old Ford Truck. It is a 1979 Ford truck that is really rusty and is missing a lot of stuff because of the looting during the war. Inside the cab is basically stripped bare. The seat, speedo and all the gauges and wires are gone. Under the hood it is not as bad but it does not look great. The front driveshaft and tires are gone, too. Glenn has new tires and a few of the missing parts. I kind of feel it would be like the “Junkyard Wars” I saw on TV to get it running again. It does not need a speedo etc. to run and we could rig up something for a seat, but I told some of Glenn’s workers here that we should dig a real big hole and bury it!
But Glenn would like to have a work truck around, and especially this one because it has a dump truck bed on it. I told Glenn that we should remove the cab, engine, transmission, front axle etc. cut the frame in half and turn the truck into a trailer that he can pull with his tractor. I also told him we can mount the PTO (Power Take Off) driven winch to the front of the trailer and connect it to the PTO on the back of the tractor. That way the dump bed will work / go up. We’ll see if he buys the idea.
Work Day #7: Had a fight with a steering wheel
Glenn had not quite finished cutting the airstrip the other day so he went out this morning to finish it up. It started to rain while he was out but he really wanted to get the whole thing cut so he stayed out and finished in the rain. When he got back he said he wanted to look at the loose steering on the tractor. Long story, but to fix it we needed to remove the steering wheel. After about 2 hours we got it off – we won! (normally it takes about 4 minutes). I think we have the problem figured out with the loose steering, but in doing so we opened up a can of worms. Will try to finish it up in the morning.
Glenn said he likes my idea of turning the old Ford truck into a trailer. We will see how it works.Work Day #8: Can of Worms in the Tractor Steering and the Truck
After putting the worms back in the can and fixing the problem with the tractor’s steering we started in on the Ford truck. With the help of some of Glenn’s workers we had the truck’s cab ready to take off by the end of the day. We will pull it off tomorrow.
Work Day #9: Reincarnation of a Ford Truck After getting everyone in position we picked up the cab and put 2 long poles under it to raise it up off the frame. Then we just pushed it off to the side. Rather easy actually. Then it was time to remove the engine, transmission and everything else that was not needed. The idea here is to use just the rear axle, dump bed, the rear half of the frame, weld a hitch on it and then put on some new tires to make a trailer. Glenn has an old trailer tongue / hitch that we will weld to the frame so it can be attached behind the tractor. The last thing to set up will be to relocate the truck’s shaft driven winch so it can be powered by the tractor’s PTO. The winch is what is used to raise the dump bed to dump it. Next week is going to be a lot of fun.
It rained again this afternoon so since we have Church tomorrow Glenn fired up the generator to power the electric water heater so we could have a hot shower.Sunday Oct. 11 went to the French service again. This time I could hear the preacher a bit better. After lunch had a nap and worked on this letter a bit.
Work Day #10 to #13: Truck into Trailer
Thursday Oct. 15Thanks for your prayers!
