Preparing the ground for building the Gogodala Training Center has been a lot like climbing a sand dune. With every step upward, your foot slides back down a half step in the soft sand. Not that we are building on sand. There is no sand anywhere near us, only hard clay that gets slippery and sticky in the rain.

With no level ground on which to build our maintenance building and equipment shed, we set our manpower to work carving out the hillside with spades. God blessed us with a great team of 10 to 15 young men who continue to come faithfully, giving of their time and energy to see a training center built.

After weeks of digging, the ground was ready for our cement slab. With the corners staked and final leveling done, we got out the mixer and cement bags and set to work mixing and pouring. This time of year we get rain just about every day, so we work under a canopy. I had only enough cement bags to complete a third of the building’s floor. More cement would be coming by ship later.

Due to heavy rains, a few days later the bank on the back side of our building site collapsed and slid down onto our concrete floor, requiring a heap of work to clean up. But it was a blessing that this happened before our building was put in. Now the bank is not so steep and much less likely to collapse in the future.

We have been praying for the latter rain to fall and create a landslide for God. Some of the young men helping us have become interested in our church and are attending our Sabbath services, the midweek Bible study class and prayer meeting. Thank you to those who have given of their means to help make this Gogodala Training Center become a reality.

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