We arrived in George on Sunday 11th October to be greeted by old friends from OAM. We were taken straight to the missions new head quarters at Makani, sitiuated on woodlands over looking the stunning Outinique mountains. Shortly after settling in to our new home ,we started the trip off in true OAM style with a trip to the beach at Vic bay.
Monday morning came early with the alarms set for 6.30, and as with all teams we prayed together and commited the project to the Lord as we did every morning, these were great times for the team over the trip as we seeked the Lords will for our lives and the project ahead. We arrived at the project on the site of Parkdene Baptist Church, this was a great moment for us all as many of the team had worked at Parkdene before with OAM and were eager to continue with the work that God has been doing there. Parkdene is a Town ship in George which has a great need for housing. Our team from Northern Ireland were there to build two houses on the site of Parkdene Baptist church which would house families linked with the church who were in the most need. Driving through Parkdene and seeing the poverty all around and the conditions that many people lived in really encouraged us to push on and get the houses finished as quickly as possible to bless the families who were waiting for a safe home.
The building we were constructing was two story with two houses, one downstairs and one upstairs. It was a steel frame construction cladded with a fibre cement board and painted. Inside the houses were two bedroom with a kitchen and a bathroom. We fitted the houses out with lights, electrical points and hot water which is very rare for that area. These would be houses that the familys and the local community could be proud of.
The team set out over the course of the trip to construct the houses and leave them at a level that they were ready to be painted and handed over. Due to the very tight time scale the team pushed hard to complete the project before leaving. The team was made up of four lads from Northern Ireland, two builders, an electrician, and a welder. We worked with Brian McCormick from OAM who will be putting the finishing touches to the building after we leave. A highlight to any project with OAM is having the opportunity to work along side the local people and serve the Lord together. Our team was working alongside three local men and also the Pastor of the Baptist church, this was a great opportunity to experience some of the local culture and build new friendships in a new environment.
