The last time I told you about the building project, we were waiting for the big bulldozer to be repaired. We had high hopes of that large machine, digging way back on the bank, making adequate building space on the virgin soil. Well, that never happened. The big bulldozer finally did get repaired, but vanished quickly because it was behind schedule for the other road work.
I don’t know if I told you this yet, but I am impressed that God wants us to push ahead and build in LaGlah also as soon as possible, even before the next rainy season! Time is short and the needs there are great!!! God has promised to supply all our needs, and He has NEVER failed us yet!!! I was thinking that perhaps God wants us to build in LaGlah first, because they are so eager and ready. Even now they are working by hand to level that property. I prayed that whichever land was leveled and ready first, then we would build there because the builder could come any day now and we must be ready! In the meantime, BYT and WST (WahSueTah) were planning to help us here in BYT. They wanted to use their rice plow. They had a sensor with it which tells them when the ground is level. That sounded good to me.
We happened to be gone the 3 days that four men worked with that rice plow machine, (See Breck’s blog at: www.experiencethailand.tumblr.com on what was going on for us that week. It actually ties in with this story)!! When we finally returned from that expedition, we discovered that this type plow works with water, so they had hosed up lots of water and plowed and plowed until it was deep mud on the filled in dirt and perfectly level. The soft mud was so deep that our neighbor told me it was as deep as his entire leg, but he was certain it would be dry in a week and then it would be solid as a rock. I wish I could be as certain as he was! Two days later four cows and 2 calves tried to walk through it and almost vanished from sight! Well, they were down to their stomachs and barely worked their way out.
Traveling into BYT yesterday we were made aware of a problem in the front end of our truck. The symptoms included loud banging of metal, a strong pull of the steering wheel to the right, and squealing noises in the right front wheel! As soon as we arrived home, we decided to turn right around and travel back to MaeSot and fix the problem, if the truck would make it! This decision proved a good one because:
1. There was to be a big celebration at the school that next morning involving dozens of trucks. Once again there would be loud live music, alcohol, eating and fireworks lasting all night for perhaps two nights! We had experienced the beginning of something like this before and wanted no part of it again.
2. We now need to visit the pastor’s brother-in-law who will be the middle man between the builder and us. He is Thai and will deal with the supply companies to purchase building supplies at a reasonable rate. He also will make sure the buildings are built according to the blueprints and our preferences. Now we must hurry to bring in lots of heavy supplies. The truck needs to be strong.
The builder may be coming Sunday! We are praying that the ground is dry by then and hard as a rock!
In His care,
Gayle