The Construction

The team spent four hours each morning constructing the foundation for a new church building.  We started early in order to avoid the heat, but boy, was it hot!  Even though we live in the heat of Texas, we were not prepared for the combination of heat, humidity, and hard labor we found in Sungai Galing.  I felt every single one of my 54 years.  We probably only worked 40 minutes out of each hour, the other 20 minutes spent “on break” finding some shade and lots of water.  Our Indonesian friends, of course, kept right on working.

Dedication ceremony; laying the first stones of the foundation.

The foundation had already been laid out and the trenches had already been dug (thank you, Lord!).  It was our job to build the foundation up from there using stone and cement/concrete.  There are no power tools, so the cement, sand, and water are hauled and mixed by hand.  The stones were moved into place by hand and by wheelbarrow.  Ronny was the head stone mason, and he directed us as we built up each section of the wall.  Ronny was working very hard and so, at one point, we set up a chair for him so he could sit as he worked on the wall.  Todd also set up some plywood to block the sun for him so he could work in the shade.  While he was sitting there on his chair, in the shade, waiting for the rest of us to bring him more stone and cement he said, “C'mon Hebrews!  Work faster!  Pharaoh is waiting!”  That, of course, got a huge laugh.  We referred to him as “Pharaoh” for most of the rest of the week.

Work in process.

After the first couple of days, more men from the village began helping in the afternoon.  These men would show up after their regular jobs and work through the hottest part of the day.  We were always very pleasantly surprised when we showed up in the morning and saw how much progress they had made without us.  By Friday evening, the foundation was nearly complete.

Ronny wanted to hold Sunday morning services on the site, inside the new foundation.  That meant we had to level the inside on Saturday.  That meant lots of stone, gravel, and sand had to be put in all of the low spots – about half the surface area inside the foundation.  We all formed a shoveling and wheelbarrow assembly line.  Let me tell you, wheelbarrows full of gravel and sand are HEAVY!  I got a really good workout in my arms and shoulders that morning as we made about 20 trips each.

The team poses by the baptistry.

Foundation nearly complete; floor leveled.

With the floor leveled, the local men put tarps on the ground and on poles overhead to provide shade.  We had a wonderful Sunday morning worship there, singing praises to our Lord and engaging His Word as Kirk preached about Paul’s conversion.  Two of the adults in the village prayed to receive Christ that morning!  Worth every drop of sweat and all of the sore muscles!  We pray that this new building will continue to be a place where people encounter the living Lord Jesus and give their lives to Him.

Sunday morning worship on the site.