All Systems Go...

By this time next week the Mercy Tech Team will be en route to Mozambique. We leave Kelowna February 23rd, and will be away for five weeks. It will no doubt seem like a long time for our families, but I know that we will be so busy that the days will pass quicker than we'll like!

Here are some recent photos of the shop progress (courtesy of ASAM Field Director, Dwight Lagore):

Outer walls of the mechanics shop, almost to full height

A view inside to the rear mezzanine area

Pouring the lintel on the last big door

Our new generator and welder, delivered and ready for work to begin!

 

As mentioned before, all the steel for the roof trusses is delivered and on-site, along with our new welding equipment (graciously transported by Allan Luus of Mercy Air in South Africa!). So once we arrive, the steel work will begin, and before long we'll be showing you photos of the roof going on.

We are still awaiting the purchase and delivery of the electrical supplies for the shop - hopefully they will arrive in time to be installed while we are there. For those who still would like to contribute to the cost of these building supplies, please follow this link to the SAM Ministries project page. So many have given sacrificially and it really is making a difference!

Thanks for following along with us on this exciting project. It won't be long before this building can be used to train new young mechanics from the local area. We've come a long way in just two years, and for the residents of this small African community, it's just the beginning. Thank you for helping us change lives, one skill at a time.

The Steel Arrives

One very important reality about our upcoming trip to Mozambique is that we must have the building materials to work with, or all our travels could be for naught. So you can imagine how excited we were to hear that the steel for the maintenance shop roof is now arriving on site!

9 men to carry one I-beam...wouldn't it be nice to have a crane? (photo by Dwight Lagore)

The last section of walls going up. (Photo by Dwight Lagore)

As you can see in the photos, the shop walls are coming along well, thanks to the hard work of ASAM Field Director Dwight Lagore and his mission staff. We can't wait to get there and start building the roof trusses and support beams.

What is critical now are the electrical supplies so that volunteer Don Bryce (our electrician) can install the electrical system and bring power from the generator shed to the shop.

For those in the Summerland area, there are some great fundraiser events coming up that you may want to attend. First, there's a Pampered Chef night, followed by a Menu Auction. Also March 23rd will be our annual Garage Sale for a Garage. The funds raised from these events will go towards the shop project.

For those who want to just make a general donation, you can send it either through Summerland Baptist Church or directly to SAM Ministries. Please mark your gift as for the Mozambique Shop Project.

Less than one month before we get on the plane...is it really coming up so fast? Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement; we appreciate all of you so very much!

Final Details

Our travel date is rapidly approaching - the team flies out of Kelowna on Saturday morning, February 23rd.

The stops along the way will include Calgary, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, White River, Biera, and Chimoio.
Countries touched on will be Canada, Holland, South Africa, and Mozambique.
Modes of transportation will range from jumbo jets to Cessna small planes to 4x4 pickups.
Accommodations could include (semi) reclining airline seats, airport hotels, guesthouses, and tents.
The experiences will be endless and life-altering.
The results...eternity will tell.

These recent photos from Mozambique show the progress being made on the shop walls - they are nearing completion in anticipation of our arrival.

You can read more at Dwight Lagore's recent blog update at this link: http://samministries.org/current-projects/the-multiplier-effect/

Our thanks goes out to everyone who has made donations both large and small to the project - your gift is making a difference! The steel for the roof structure will be ordered this coming week, but there is still a need for funds to buy all the electrical supplies and roof sheeting in advance of our arrival.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible gift towards this important project, you will find details on the SAM Ministries website (see the link above). Donations can also be made through Summerland Baptist Church.

In anticipation of our month-long trip, the team is taking welding lessons from a friend who is an instructor at our local trades college.

Instructor Sherwood Brocke with Bob Brown and Bob Denesiuk

I'm told that my metal skills could use a little work - something about welding in a straight line? But the others are doing amazingly well, and we look forward to passing on these skills to the fellows we'll be working with for the month of March.

Thanks for following along as we once again put some dust on our shoes for the Lord, and for the people he loves.

Welcome to 2013!

We are into the new year already, and the plans for our next trip to Mozambique are rapidly coming together. Here is the latest information:

Travel dates: February 24th to March 29th

Purpose: To continue working at the Maintenance Shop project at the SAMM mission base. We hope to assist the local staff in building the roof trusses and installing them, along with wiring the shop for electricity. As always, our goal is to pass on our skills, and this building project has been an excellent opportunity for teaching construction skills to the local men.

Team: Our team of volunteers is now four in number! They include myself, Bob Denesiuk, Don Bryce, and Bob Brown, all from Summerland Baptist Church.

Bob Denesiuk and Rick Cogbill

Don Bryce

Bob Brown


A huge thank you goes out to Sherwood Brocke, a personal friend who is a welding instructor at Okanagan College. Sherwood has been giving the team welding lessons on his own time so that the metal roof trusses we'll be fabricating in Mozambique will be good and strong!

Thank you as well to all those who have been contributing financially to this important SAM Ministries project - we are close to reaching our goal. This facility will play an important role for years to come, especially in the area of teaching automotive mechanics.

May God bless you richly for His purposes in 2013!

Mercy Is Alive...

Last week at the Christian Musicians Summit in Redmond, WA, I heard a great song by Elevation Worship, entitled The Church (Chris Brown and Mack Brock). Here are some of the words from that song:

We are the change the world is waiting for

We've got a love the world is desperate for

We will lead and take to your streets

 

Now's the time for us to rise

And carry hope and let love shine

And show this world that mercy is alive

Now's the time for us to rise

And carry hope to hopeless eyes

And show this world that mercy is alive...

The song truly describes what Mercy Tech Mission is all about, so naturally I used it to create a short video about MTM's trip to Mozambique earlier this year. I hope you enjoy it.

In other news, I'm happy to present the volunteer team that will be heading back to Mozambique in March, 2013. Joining me for this month-long adventure will be Bob Denesiuk and Don Bryce, both from Summerland, BC. Our goal is to continue working on the Maintenance Facility project at ASAM, the SAM Ministries mission base in Mozambique.

Bob Denesiuk and Rick Cogbill - Mozambique 2011 (photo by Lynn Lagore)

This will be Bob's second visit to the ASAM farm in Mozambique, having travelled with me there in March of 2011 to work on the conference training center.

Don Bryce

Don is an electrician and owner of Totaltech Electric. His role will be to bring power to the new shop from the generator building, and to install all the electrical panels, wiring, and fixtures. Don is also looking forward to training local staff in the basics of electrical installation and maintenance.

Mechanical student Prosper using his new skills to fix the farm backhoe

Thank you for following our work as we fight poverty in developing countries. By teaching our trades to those living in places like rural Mozambique, we continue to bring "hope to hopeless eyes," proving that mercy truly is alive

Blessings,
Rick

Wood Lathe Training Update

"I love it when a plan comes together." That famous quote by Hannibal Smith, the crusty leader of the A-Team, rings a bell in most of us. It really is a great feeling when something you've worked at long and hard finally shows results.

Earlier this year, MTM volunteer John Topham (with the help of the Summerland Rotary Club) arranged for the shipment of a wood lathe to the SAMM mission base in Mozambique. The plan was for John to join me there during the month of May to teach local young men how to use the lathe. The goal was that through these new skills, they would be able to provide income for their families in the years ahead.

Matthias Gasser with the new wood lathe

Well, the lathe did arrive at the sea port of Beira during May, but became bogged down in customs until long after we'd returned to Canada. It was finally delivered to the base and set up by Swiss volunteer Matthias Gasser - a step forward, but not the plan we'd hoped for. It was disappointing, but God was not done with this project yet.

Through another project that John and his sons are involved with in Liberia, another trip to Africa was planned for November. John was able to add a side trip back to Mozambique on his own to do the teaching that was originally planned, and the results are shown below in some great photos taken by Dwight Lagore, Field Director of SAM Ministries in Mozambique.


Gabriel, Pindurai, and John Topham with some newly-created bowls.



Finished products from John's wood-working class

It is so thrilling to see the results of the efforts and sacrifices of dedicated people. A big thanks to John for seeing this through. We also look forward to another project that he is working on via the Summerland Rotary club and the Chimoio Rotary club in Mozambique - a library for the local school operated by the mission there.

We will be returning to Mozambique in March 2013 to continue working on SAMM's maintenance shop project . My next post will present you with the volunteers who have signed up for this ambitious trip, so stay tuned!

A Young Man's Words...

"Teach (a) young man is teaching (the) world."

These words were recently posted on Facebook by Prosper Fernando, one of the Mozambican young men who attended our first automotive training course in 2011. Here he is below, paying close attention as MTM volunteer Ed Hyslip explains basic maintenance on the mission backhoe.

Prosper is now enrolled in Tariro, a nearby technical school run by British missionaries, Aaron & Sarah Beecher. Prosper is pursuing his dream of becoming a fully-trained mechanic, but life is not easy for these young men. Although the training is provided free of charge, Prosper still has to find a way to pay for lodging and food in a distant town, and because he is at school all day, he cannot go out and find work. He uses a donated bicycle to travel the many kilometres from town to school every day, but it broke down last month.

His most recent posting on Facebook was: "I will be offline from tomorow bkos i want to sel my cellfpone. Bkose i want to buy new parts for my bike."

I post this, not to plead for money for Prosper (though that would not be a bad thing), but to hi-lite how important vocational training is to people like him. Prosper knows that only by learning a good trade will he be able to provide for himself, and in the future, for his family. It's for young people like him that we continue to take our skills training to places like Mozambique. We are so grateful for mission organizations like SAM Ministries who allow us to come as volunteers to assist in their projects.

Unloading blocks (photo by Dwight Lagore)

Just this week, we learned that the last of the building blocks (2000 in total) arrived for the mechanics shop project at the SAM Ministries base in Mozambique. This means that there are now enough blocks to finish the walls up to roof height (the finished building will be 2-stories high).

Quissito checking for level (photo by Dwight Lagore)



Installing the first level of windows (photo by Dwight Lagore)

This facility will be a key location for training skilled mechanics in the Mucombeze area. We are trusting God for funds to keep this project moving ahead. Between now and Christmas about $6,000 is needed to pay worker's wages, buy more window frames, and purchase supplies such as cement, sand, and reinforcing steel.

Tome using the unfinished shop and its repair pit to perform some work on the mission backhoe (photo by Dwight Lagore)

Once the walls are completed, we will then be in a position to put on the roof and bring electrical power to the building.

Our Next Trip

March 2013 is the projected time for our next trip to Mozambique. I will be travelling again with building contractor Bob Denesiuk (MTM Mission Trip, March 2011), and our goal will be to fabricate and install the metal roof trusses on this building, as well as install the roof sheeting so that this shop can begin to be fully utilized.

Some other volunteers are considering this trip as well, and we continue to pray for God's guidance in putting together the full team as He sees fit. Travelling halfway around the world to work in the African bush is not an easy decision to make, and we are so thankful for those who do make the sacrifice and travel with us.

The financial needs for the March trip are daunting. At the current costs of steel and other materials, we estimate that it will take almost $40,000 to pay for the building supplies, local wages, and travel costs for the team. We welcome any and all groups and individuals to contact SAM Ministries about fund-raising for this important project, as we attempt to bring this building to "lock-up stage" by the end of March 2013!

Prosper Fernando and Rick Cogbill (photo by Todd Green)

Thanks for coming along on our adventures in Africa, as together we continue to fight poverty by teaching life-changing skills to young men like Prosper Fernando.