Earth Bag Huts

Well it is that time again :)

Time to boot up the computer and write on my blog. When I was thinking about what you guys would all be interested in I realized that I hadn't written anything much about where I am soon going to be living. So here we go!

One thing that is very important to the McCourtney's is that we live among the people that we are ministering with here in Kitgum. It is hard to minister to a people when it appears we are living much better than they are. One of the ways that the Lord has placed it on the McCourtney's hearts to try and avoid this is to start building sandbag huts which are very similar to the local huts on some property that the Lord provided for them to farm on. Over the last month, the first of these huts has been being built. It is so amazing to see it going up and I am so excited that I was able to be here before it started so that I can see them start from the ground. The first of these huts is now nearly finished and one of the McCourtney's will be moving in to it this week. As soon as this first one is completed, the McCourtney's are planning on beginning their families huts, as the Lord continues to provide. Here are some pictures so that you can have an idea of what is going up on the property.

 This is one of the windows that has been built into the hut. It looks out onto the farm which is just beautiful. The sand bags are laid down first and packed together, and then a coat of mud and lime is mixed and smeared over for the "adobe" look. It is a little difficult to see, but the walls are just gorgeous!

 Here are Bismark and Charlie who are two of the men that have been working on the huts. Ephraim and Ethan are in the middle. They were wanting to go out and see "the farm".

 Here is a view from outside the hut. They are just finishing up the roof.

 This is a "raised bed garden" that one of the men just completed.

 The start of the "composting toilet". Although they have explained it to me, I am gonna have to wait to post pictures for you guys soon so you can see how that turns out! :)

 This is just amazing! It is a hand dug cistern. They are down to 42 feet deep and counting. Looking down into it is enough to make you a little nauseous. Fortunately they have built the small wall around the sides so Ethan and I were able to lean over it to see to the bottom.

The inside of the cistern... Yep impressive huh! It seems like it goes down forever. After seeing that I had a whole new empathy for poor Jeremiah and Joseph who were both thrown into cisterns in the Bible. Rough!

Anyway, I will try and be more faithful to keep you all updated on what is going on here in Kitgum. I am so blessed to be here and daily thank the Lord for His Faithfulness to me :) Thank you for all of your prayers !

Blessings from Kitgum,
Bri!