Chapter 5 - Page 60 - Building A Village

thatched with straw. Before long, doors and windows accented the structures. The ceilings were nothing more than horizontal poles laid across the vertical wall poles and covered by bamboo strips. Jim followed this rural African design for all the public buildings, so the people that gathered in them would feel more at home.

   The foundations for the rest room area and ten houses had been poured, and workers completed these next. The houses were also made of sturdy bamboo frames and thatched straw, with wooden floors above the concrete foundations. Twenty more houses remained to be built.

   A large water tank now towered above the empty village. An electrical generator had been installed and wires run underground to all buildings. A few streetlights had been added, mostly around the hospital, dining hall, and residential area. The swimming pool and park area were now complete. The forested area had been cleaned up and the piles of undergrowth burned. Finally, a truckload of food was delivered and shelved in a storeroom next to the dining hall.

   Jim stood in front of the hospital, admiring the finished buildings. He had waited a long time for this moment. He knelt on the ground and prayed, “Father, please forgive me of my sins and have mercy on my soul. Father, the important buildings are finished, and ready to receive the needy. We have a doctor and nurse on staff, but no patients. We have a cook, a preacher, and a pilot. We have food, medicine, and vacant houses. Father, all the hospital beds are empty and the storeroom is full. If it be your will,” he pleaded, “send us the hungry and the homeless, the sick and the helpless. Father, I pray for these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”

End of chapter five