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You are here: Home -> Current Fields -> Papua New Guinea -> Bible School Building

Construction of the Bible School Building

Bro & Sis Maxwell with the Building Team, with us and Bro Denny

August & September 2005

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Papua New Guinea was chosen to be the next country where a building was to be constructed by a great team of men and women from the USA. Brother and Sister Dan Maxwell, along with their team members, Brother and Sister Fox, Brother Teague, Brother Masters, and Brother and Sister Fox Jr., all from Missouri, came at their own expense to construct the building. The building itself was collected by the Maxwells from various sources in the USA, much of the material being buildings that had been pulled down and the materials then donated for a building. These materials were then put in a shipping container and sent by ship to the other side of the world! Finally they arrived in the shipping port of Lae, PNG.

A huge task made easy by the building team from Missouri

Nothing is easy in PNG and there were many, many problems we faced with the building site, the trucking company and the laying of the foundation. Due to the fact that the building was in a 40 foot shipping container, no truck in PNG could bring it up to the highlands town of Goroka. So the container was emptied in Lae and reloaded into 2 smaller containers and finally trucked to the building site. Brother Peter Gration and family were on site and they carried the weight of the mammoth task of getting everything coordinated and progress made before the team arrived from the USA. An excerpt from his email tells some of the story!

All is fine. The building is finally looking to proceed. I have never run so close to a deadline in my life, and quite frankly, it’s freaked me out a bit, but the Lord has been good and we’ve learned to lean on Him. Today the grader was out there leveling off the ground. They then poured the road base, which the grader also leveled. Tomorrow they will box it all including the footings, and the boss, Michael, said they would be ready to pour on Sat. as long as there is no rain. It rained all day today, so maybe by the week-end it will be gone. The container is coming up overnight on Sunday night so it will be here first thing Monday morning. The crane will leave it’s yard at 8am and be at four-mile by 9am on Monday. You can see what I mean about cutting it fine!!!

When the building team arrived from the USA, the foundation was only partially poured, so the team got into the work and did all they could to assist, as they only had about 17 days and in that time the building had to be completed.

The church folk gladly assisted

Once the slab was complete, the building construction began and the Maxwell team worked long and hard, along with the assistance of many of the local and church folk, who cooked and carried and supported and encouraged! The church people as well as local people were so proud that a building was being constructed in their area. There were welcome speeches and speeches of thanks from village and church elders.

The building structure went up quickly, so much so that it became the talk of the town. Who has ever seen a building built in just a matter of days? Did this building just drop out of the sky? The Maxwell team worked long hours and came home each evening to the mission house where Sister Gration would have a meal underway. Sister Maxwell was straight into the kitchen on her return from the building site, cooking and directing the evening meal. She knows how to cook and how to cook for a crowd!

The completed building looks awesome!

After only a few days the outside of the building was completed and then in the following week the inside was lined and sealed, windows put in, along with a drop-ceiling. With two days to spare the Maxwell team offered to add a room to the mission house! This was a real blessing for the Grations as it adds a living room and makes the house a little more comfortable.

A farewell and thanks dinner was hosted by the pastor of ‘Genesis’ church, Brother Sinakadi. Churches from Section 2 joined with him in honoring the Maxwell team. A great feast was prepared complete with roasted whole pig. Gifts and speeches were made in honor of the sacrifice and labours of the nine people who have such a great vision to see buildings in places that need them. Thank you to the Maxwell team who did such a tremendous work in the country of Papua New Guinea!

Part of the feast to honour the Maxwells

This building is for Bible School and will be used for classes for full time students as well as evening classes and also for seminars and leadership training. This is the first Bible school building in PNG and will be used by many eager and committee students and teachers.

There are many more pictures of the building and construction. Be sure to view the photo album, slideshow or movies.

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