Water, Electricity and a Tall Engineer

Electricity and water - my 2 favorite things now that we live in a 3rd world country, and often the most inconsistent services in our lives here.

We rarely have running water in the house, but the bill still comes every month, on our doorstep, usually increasing from the month before. Unfortunately, taking it to the FIPAG office and complaining isn't really an option. Complaining doesn't typically yield results here - only money can do that. I'm extremely thankful that we have a well in the backyard!

The electricity is slightly more consistent, usually only going off for 1-2 hours a day. The longest we have been without electricity since moving is 5 days - 120 long hours! While this really isn't that big of a deal, it's just another reminder of what I've always taken for granted.

Several lines serve thousands in our community 

Water and electricity make life easier, although I used to believe that electricity was a necessity. However, now I know I can do without it fairly easily, but with water, there is no compromise. Nothing happens without water. Life ends without water.

Backyard well

Water is a necessity we have been working to secure for this project. We have hired a friend we call Papa Berry, a jolly South African with an incredible accent and a contagious laugh. He has agreed to help us with this huge undertaking of finding water. His business is to dig boreholes for a living and he has offered to do what he can to help us on our current site. He agrees there are few problems with water where we are located, but his engineer and geological specialist will first have to take a look before we decide if it's worth drilling.

Our engineer, Gaumbe, is another man on our side. He is a tall, slim Mozambican whose smile is so big he can light up the darkest places. We met with Guambe Friday and he let us know how we can move forward with starting the foundation. Obviously, his first concern was water, and his second concern was funding. He believes so much in our project so he is doing everything he can to cut down on costs of labor and materials. He is currently extremely busy with the construction of our church, but he is making us a priority on his long list of projects. We are so thankful for his experience, engineering abilities, his faithfulness to God, and his giving heart.

Our engineer, Guambe

Guambe has calculated the costs for all of the materials we will need, and while the figures can be overwhelming, we know that we serve an awesome God who has met every single need we have had so far.

We have had every need answered in one way or another. We currently are about $11,650 away from our goal for completing this first building, and we know the funding will come through by God's grace.

With ongoing construction, it is important for us to have monthly donations so construction doesn't come to a halt in the future. Have you considered becoming a partner? If not, now is the time. Every dime you donate goes towards the project, not our personal financial needs.

We are currently in need of 10 monthly donors to commit to $50/month for the next year. Make it easy on yourself, and visit our website to set up automatic giving through PayPal: heartfortheneedy.org.

Thank you for your prayers and for all of your support. We know that as the project progresses we will continue to have great success, and we give all the glory to God! Without Him, none of this would be possible.

Be blessed,

Phil, Laura & Jadon, too

One Week – What a Difference

We’ve been dreaming about this orphanage for so long, picturing a playground, kids running everywhere, the house a complete mess, but a joyful, happy mess. Honestly, we can't stop dreaming about how and what God will do to accomplish this project. While it can be overwhelming at times, it is so amazing to watch how God puts all of the pieces together. From the very beginning of all of this, almost 7 years ago, He has been preparing a way. 

I am always blown away when I look at this picture:

 

Orphanage site in 2009!

This is the VERY first photo we ever took of our land, in 2009, when we purchased additional land knowing we wanted to build the orphanage here. A few weeks after we bought it, we had the land cleared and cleaned up, making a perfect soccer field for the local community’s youth.

For 6 years we left this piece of land under the watchful eye of the previous owner, who carefully looked after it for little to no reward. When we came back to get started, the land look like this:

 The community told us the youth in the area like to play soccer on the land, so they have also kept a watchful eye on it, and continued to remove debris and trash through out the years. While I know they are a little sad they won’t be playing soccer on it much longer, I’m so grateful for the years they enjoyed it, because it continues to remind me that this project has already become a community project. Between the youth, the former owners of the land and our close neighbors on the north side of the land, our 8 plots has stayed secure and safe for the future of this great community.

However, apparently someone in the area “sold” 2 plots of our land to another foreigner. Fortunately, God helped us obtain the building and occupancy permits quickly, and we are able to show the land was sold to us first.

These are the things we continue to see from God. The ways He has lovingly knitted every detail to work together in our favor, kept everything in order so that we wouldn’t have to fight for ourselves. When you allow God to fight for you, it always works out better!

We decided that prior to building, we need to get a temporary fence in place to help protect our land from unwanted attention, and especially from individuals hoping to steal cement. The temporary fence began about a week ago and is now complete on 2 sides that we needed enclosed right away. The progress was so much fun to watch, and as the foundation planning begins this week, we can't wait to see the landscape change again. 

 Here's the fence in various stages:

 The fence went up quickly, and gave us an opportunity to hire some of our neighbors. Everyone was excited about having this project in the community, and our neighbors directly in front of us offered us anything we need - water, storage for any supplies we have, and they would be willing to help keep an eye on things, just in case. Many people made excellent suggestions about how to lay out the compound and asked questions about the different stages of the project.

 This only took about a week – 4 days of gathering supplies and 3 days of work. We hired the former owners of our land to facilitate the construction of the temporary fence, and they did an excellent job.

We are now awaiting the arrival of our small truck so we can finish hauling rocks, cement and sand to our land. A borehole is also in the pipeline for next week, but we are still awaiting pricing and how much time it will take.

The finished product of the fence looks beautiful and well put together. The team did an excellent job!

For the next week, will you please pray for us? Please pray our borehole won’t cost an arm & a leg, and the beginning of the foundation won’t encounter too many issues. Please pray for funding to continue to come in, as we are still about $12,000 away from our goal for this building.

We thank God for this new year, and we know 2016 will be another life changing year for this community in Mozambique. If you haven’t already, consider partnering with us. All of your donations are tax deductible, and ALL funds go towards our project, not to our personal needs.

Don't forget to sign up for our weekly emails! Send us an email and we'll add you to the list, or go to our Facebook page - Facebook.com/heartfortheneedy - and sign up! 

We're praying for a bless year for you and your families, and we can't wait to show you what God does here in Mozambique!

Many blessings, 

Phil, Laura & Jadon, too