What happens when God calls upon common people?

What happens when God calls upon common people?

Great things happen!

The Lodja water system project at the Diengenga Mission Station in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is moving forward and significant progress is being made!

Nothing should surprise us since “it’s the Congo” but as the excavation has progressed, more remnants of the original dam are being uncovered.

Some very large logs were found under the core of the dam that were apparently left there in the original construction. They are well below the level of the washout of 1973, so seem to be from the original work back in the 1950's.

Paul Law, (Appointment Congo) and the workers are making progress with the hauling of clay dirt and digging out the core of the dam.

The sawmill team has returned from the forest with a load of Ukulungu planks for the core wall. They will begin driving the center planks very soon. As they do that, they we will need to contain the stream that will divert the water from above the dam to below it so that we can work on the dam without having to deal with the stream water all the time.

It won’t be too much longer before we can really see what the dam will look like!

There is still a lot of work, but we are seeing some progress and a team of men employed full-time on the water project. There is consistent progress that we can see all the way from this side of the world.

Yep. “it’s the Congo”, but with the generous support of the drops of grace friends and the hard work of Paul and Marty Law and Appointment Congo, and the commitment and employment of the people in Lodja, fresh water flowing from the tower rather than being hauled by women and children in the mission station is becoming a reality and will transform lives for generations to come.

This is so cool! I can’t wait to see it in person!

Please keep them all in your prayers.

Look at Them Go!

The Dam is going up!

After challenges we in the good ole' "US of A" can only imagine, including building a new road just to get there, the dam at the Diengenga Mission Station near Lodja in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is on it's way up!


Want to hear and see more about this water project? About Malawi and Somebody Cares? About drops of grace work in the USA?

Tease, Tease, Tease......

See you at the Ripple Effect on Friday, October 8. Tickets are still available from your favorite drop or online

NEWS FROM LODJA - THE CONGO

The supplies have arrived!

The supplies and material, not to mention Paul's truck have safely arrived in Lodja. Finally.

As I mentioned in my last blog, in the meantime, Paul has been keeping the workers busy with a road project and bridge construction in preparation for the Annual Conference.


Here are before and after pictures of the Loyehi bridge project. This is
a bridge Paul and his workers
rebuilt and is an excellent example of the quality of work we can
expect with the dam construction.


What else have they been doing? In order to get a higher quality of soil for the dam, it was necessary to build a gravel road on the other side of the dam. That road is now complete!

The soil with a heavier clay content is on the other side, Paul has a dump truck on the way to haul it and before too much longer, the dam will be going up. Rock-n-roll!

The project is a little behind the original schedule but still within budget. Paul will send some pictures and another update soon.

God is Great!

Here we go again!

Just because I have not updated the blog in a while, a long while......OK way too long.....it does not mean that things have not been happening in the Congo. Since Kip and I have been to Lodja, significant progress is being made.

Here in the good ole US of A, our work has continued as well. The banquet was awesome, we have done numerous presentations to various groups, fundraising has done well, strategic planning for drops of grace is firming up the future of the organization. All good stuff.

But this is the Congo Blog.

Since we've been gone, Paul and the gang have been working hard on excavation for the dam. As of today, almost all of the digging has been done for the footing and they are ready for the supplies to arrive from Kinshasa. They have also been busily working on another project rebuilding bridges and roads (can't understand why ;).

In January, Paul traveled to Kinshasa and purchased all the supplies. He has purchased a truck that he will use for all the great projects on his list, including the dam and water system at Diengenga (Lodja).

After a time in Kinshasa, dealing with some damage to his truck, everything is finally on the barge. The truck, pipe, supplies and material, are now on the barge to Bena Dibele, the primary river port for Lodja.

It's the Congo remember? It took 18 months to between the order and arrival of that kerosene freezer. But the good news is that all that stuff is on the boat and on the way to Lodja. Upon expected arrival in late April or May, the dam starts going up instead of down.

We realize news is slow but now that supplies are on the way, the pace will pick up.

Stay tuned.

Phil