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 Jesus? kids! December 2001 Volume 4, Number 12 "Religion that God the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself
from being polluted by the world."
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| The end of this month (December 2001) was reported by us (While in
the U.S. during our 2000 - 2001 furlough) as being the projected ending
month for Phase I of the Betikara project. As I am sure you can see by
the title of this month?s newsletter, we are far from completing Phase
I, the new home for the Betikara Lambs. We have just completed the footer
and foundation and are now in the process of filling in the vast area of
building and surrounding area to bring the elevation of the land up even
with the height of the foundation. If you look back at last month?s newsletter,
I said that we will still need to add at least 20 inches of fill to come
up even with the top of the foundation. That is on the inside of the building.
The outside of the building will require anywhere from 0 inches to several
feet of fill in order to complete the circular drive that we want to have
around the building.
While the above picture shows most of the combined foundation for Phase I and Phase II, the building is just to big (approx. 100 feet wide by 187 feet long, as noted in last months newsletter) to be able to get the total foundation into the lens of our digital camera. In the above picture, the left row of classrooms and dormitory area are cut off. As you can see, at the top of the above picture there is still quite a bit of the foundation showing above the ground level. We are now in the process of filling in these areas inside the foundation. Lord willing this work will be completed before the Christmas break that will start on the 22nd of December.
In the above picture you can get a little closer look at what is at the top of the previous picture. Here two workers are in the process of filling in one of the dormitory areas for the Lambs. Notice that the worker on the left has a shovel and the worker on the right has a wheelbarrow. Most of the dirt that has been moved to present has been moved by shovel and wheelbarrow. This is the norm for the continuing work at the Betikara land. Presently we are employing 21 general laborers, and 8 masons that are working directly on the new Betikara home. These 29 individuals are using 10 wheelbarrows and numerous shovels to accomplish their task. This is one of the reasons that we are not able to meet our December 2001 deadline for completing Phase I of the Betikara Building project. Everything that is done, is done the painstaking old fashioned way, manual labor. We are not concerned that the Betikara project is moving slower (due to manual labor), than we originally announced in the states. Rather, we have found that there are several advantages to manual labor vs. mechanical means. First, we are able to provide an income for many Malagasy people. We have a lot more people than the 21 general laborers and 8 masons working for us. There are at least 15 men involved in removing the large rocks that God has so richly blessed us with on the Betikara land. Then, there are 10 men and women involved in making gravel from the scraps that are left over from the rock cutting effort. This bring the total of workers up to 54 at present. Second, even though so many people are working at the Betikara land, we are still able to operate at a cost that is much lower than what would be require to rent graders, bulldozers and backhoes. Third, we are looking at the Betikara project as a form of evangelism that is allowing us to teach the local people about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Lord willing we will form a relationship with these people that will allow us to teach, baptize and teach (Matt. 28:19-20) in the local area surrounding the new home for the Lambs. If most of the work was done by machines, we would have a lot less outreach into the lives and families of the surrounding area. So, all in all, we feel good about the progress we have made so far. But we need your help to continue to pray for the building project. Continue to pray for the lives of the Malagasy people (and the Malagasy people in general) that are working daily to see that the building project is a success. We have mentioned before that the Malagasy people fear their ancestors and from time to time exhume their bones and rewrap them to honor the dead. This belief must stop if Christ is going to be first in their lives. We have much work left ahead of us, and this building project may be one of the greatest hurdles that we will face in trying to reach the Malagasy for Christ. Please be sure to read the other newsletter this month, as I will be elaborating on one of the Malagasy beliefs that is prevalent and easy to see by outsiders to the country of Madagascar. May God bless you all during this Christmas season. |
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If you would like to help with a monetary donation, write your check out to BETIKARA and send it to: Indiana Church of Christ
"He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him
for what he has done."
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