Work in Progress

Celebrate our progress with us

Our sign is up

2nd desk has the overhead compartment up now

Kevin hung the peg board and arranged some of the tools. The counter still needs some organizing. A second board to follow. This one is a combination of Kevin's engineering ideas and his woodworking projects.

The organized peg board is soothing to my eyes

Some mechanics have begun. Good times began even earlier. Richard has been with us since 2006 faithfully coming twice a week. Thanks Richard

Today was Tom's first day to see the new digs. He did some sorting of the counter top and finished off a bike. Tom knocked at my door in July of 2005 when I was home praying for a secretary. God knew a mechanic was a more urgent need. Tom has worked faithfully since 2005.

The bike shop is coming together nicely

Thanks Tom for organizing the counter top today.

Below you will see there are still some areas needing work!

I'm glad we have Kevin for figuring out how to layout our workspace.

Hopefully we will have our things sorted out for the open house. This is hopefully going to be our trike area for starters.

Committed to Education

COMMITTED TO EDUCATION

Last May we sent a trike, by container, with Rise International to Angola, Africa. HWI and Rise have partnered together since 2005.

In April I heard from Lynn, Rise’s Executive Director. “The staff in Angola chose to give the trike to a 25-year-old man who is very committed to getting an education. Polio has left him unable to use his legs. Everyday he crawls to school. He is in fifth grade.

When the man was told he would soon have a hand-pedaled trike a smile broke out across his face. He said, ‘This is more than I could have ever dreamed to own.’

Rise’s Angola staff said, the need is great throughout Angola for these trikes.” Please pray with us about locating the right contact person in Angola who shares the vision and skills needed to start a trike factory there.

Check out the rest of the stories in HWI's May Newsletter. God is doing some exciting thing in the life of HWI and we'd love for you to be a part of it.

www.hiswheels.org

www.hiswheels.org

HWI Headquarters Progressing

Today Ken & Todd began doing some bike mechanics. We still have some sorting and organizing. The white board against the brick is peg board we plan to have silhouettes of where specific tools will hang.
We only have Todd with us for a few more years and he is off to France. Todd has been working with us to learn about bikes and potentially do something like HWI in France as he does church planting.
Updates are happening in every room. We didn't have a utility sink so one was put into a bathroom that was without a sink. Also, thanks to the trash we got the rack above the toilet, the toilet seat and the towel.
Here is our parts room. We now have shelving on both sides of the room. Seats will hang off of chain along the side of the shelving. All the steel shelving came from our landlord.
The other side of the room. We bought the bricks. The wood again came from the landlord. Many of our spare parts are in trash bins as you can see on the floor. The brick is just the right size for our trash bins-found in the trash when we first began.
Here is the 2nd desk in the office. Everything in the picture was supplied through the trash, including the pillow that goes perfectly with the walls. The paper shredder came to us broke and a neighbor resurrected it.
This is the other side of the office. The only pieces in the picture that weren't from the trash are the guitar in the corner and the carpet. God indeed knew how we would furnish our headquarters. I couldn't ask for a nicer office even if I went out and bought everything in it.

God's Bountiful Provisions

When I signed the lease for HWI's new headquarters on April 20th, I never concerned myself with how it would be outfitted. I knew April 23-25 Glen Ellyn, Illinois had their every 2 year trash days where residents can throw out everything without cost. Here's a picture of what I found two years ago from Glen Ellyn's curbside shopping Days

So I went out with confidence. Also what I didn't find in Glen Ellyn I was bound to find in the dumpsters at Wheaton College when students moved out between May 6-9th. Here's the list of what I found for the office between these 2 locations with about 5 items coming from other free sources.

Accessories: Throw couch pillow, Umbrella, Love seat cover, Small cleaning brush, 4 small trash cans, 10 hangers, milk crate

Bathroom: 2-Plungers, 2-Mops, Over the toilet rack, Bathroom rug, 4 shower caddys, 10 Bathroom towels, Toilet bowl brush, 3 rolls toilet paper, 2 toilet seats, 2 beveled mirrors,

Bike Needs: 3 Bike Racks, 8 Bike display channels, 1 Wheeled Shelve Unit Workstation counter

Building: Steel Shelving Racks, Table Top 8', Shelf Top Birch 3’, Assorted steel & wood & pipe, 6 bricks for shelving

Chemicals: Cleaning supplies: bathroom, kitchen, all purpose, Hand wipes, 5- Air Freshener’s

Drawers/Storage Units: 6 desk drawer sorters, 6 shelf units-plastic, 2 desktop file holders, 6 Plastic Bins/drawers

Educational stuff: 3 backpacks, Webster’s

Electronics: X-Box, DVD portable player

Food: Pop, Condiments, Canned goods, Cereals, Fruit & vegetables, Cheeses, Coffee and tea, Disposable plates, P. butter and jelly,

Furniture: 3 small - Tables, Plug outlet tabletop, 1 end table, Oak Dining Room, table Round table, 4 chairs, 2-book shelve, Leather love seat, Steel kitchen cabinet, Mission coffee table, 2 shelf metal cart

Kitchen: 8 Dish Towels/clothes, Silverware, Dish ware, Glasses & mugs, Salt & Pepper shaker, 2 dish racks, can opener, large waste basket, blender, Pot Holder Set, Storage containers

Lights: Assorted light bulbs, 1 desk lamp, 4 standing lamps, 2 new IKEA lights

Office supplies: Stationary office chair, 3 swivel office chairs, Writing tools & paper, 3- rolls tape, scissors, stapler & staples, 3- hole punchers, 7- loose leafs, 2-Calculators, Portable DVD player, 1 Bookend, 1 – clipboard, HP Printer, 2 drawer file cabinet, 2 desks/overhead bin/self lighted units, Work Space partitions, 2 fans, Corner computer workspace/desk

Small Appliances: Turkish Coffee Maker, Mr. Coffee Maker, Expresso Maker, Hot pot,Popcorn Maker-air, 2 dorm refrigerators, Microwave

Sports equipment/Rec: Prof. foosball table, Small pingpong table

When you come into our new office just know one persons trash has been set up in a way that it is now being used by HWI's Headquarters and put to good use.

Polishing His First Set of Wheels

Both Margie & John served full-time in Christian Ministry within the church and for International ministries. After John died of cancer, HWI offered to give bikes to their children. Margie says, “What a gift! A bike to fit both children as they grow!”

“As Spring brought warmer weather and the chance to be outside, my 4 year old son Josiah was eager to have his first real bike. We planned a day to visit HWI and Miss Alice to get the bike. When we got there Alice and Richard, another volunteer, helped Josiah get his bike in tip top shape. After they put the bike on a stand, they let Josiah clean it. He used steel wool and WD40 to shine every inch of his bike. He was thorough, serious and delighted.

When the bike was ready and he got onto it, we were both surprised that he could actually ride it! He took off, a free man at last.

We brought the bike home and went to a bike path near our home. The path is ideal for the beginning biker because it is wide, smooth and has no traffic. It is perfect for a supervising Mom because it is a self-contained circle of which I can see the entire distance. Josiah got on his bike, strapped on his helmet and took off around the circle. As he got further away, the distance somehow gave me a glimpse of him on his life journey, working to grow and become without a Dad. This thought pierced my heart, tears ran down my face. I cried out to the Lord, "Oh Lord, this is your child. Please help me. Be with him wherever he goes. You have promised to be a father to the fatherless. Reveal yourself to him."

As Josiah made the circle back to me, he stopped and shouted, "The Lord helped me!" "What do you mean?" I asked. "I came to a hill and I couldn't get up. I prayed to the Lord to help me and He did. I made it up the hill!" He sped off on his bike for another round while I looked to the clouds and said, "Thank you."

Open House

Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 12, 2010. We will have an open house at our new headquarters from 12PM-9PM. Come join us at 21W161 Hill Ave. Glen Ellyn, IL 60137. More details to come

Bike Workspace Shaping Up

Today with Kevin's help we made great progress. Not only did the office get finished, but the bike mechanic workspace is well on its way to being finished. Again all the structures in this section were rescued from the trash over the years.

The night we signed the lease

Prepping the walls for a fresh coat of paint

Will order ever come out of this chaos?

The work area is taking shape

My garage sure held a ton of inventory

We are ready to return to bicycle mechanics on Friday just in time for the summer demands!

The New Office

Thanks to the Glen Ellyn Trash days that happen once every two years, our new office was fully furnished. The only things we bought for the office was paint for the walls and the vinyl floor that looks like oak. Over the weekend we had 11 people helping us paint and prep the building.

Here's pictures of the office from start to finish.

First Appearance

Richard & Todd hard at work

Ken laying the floor

The Lord answered all my prayers for office needs as you can see

All the essentials for an office including a leather couch (allergy free) and a fan

2nd desk