One of the ministries we were involved
in while in Cambodia was to help repair a house for a widow and her son. The
construction involved repairing the roof, the steps, and half of a floor. We
also constructed two of the four walls. The ministry lasted a total of only 6 days.
The first day we started with the floor. Our job was to take bamboo that was
cut in half lay them on the base of the floor and nail them to the supporting
logs of wood that layed perpendicular. The first day seemed to go quite well
and before we knew it dinnertime was here and we decided to close up shop.
The rest of that day went as normal
where we made our mile walk to the café where we would get our dinner, then
shortly after eating we would start our walk home in order to make it home before
8pm. This was then the time we would take our showers and plug in our computers
before the two hours of electricity ended. Once everyone had his or her showers
we would gather together for feedback. Feedback consisted of my team and I
coming together to talk about the day and then pray for anything that we felt
called to pray for.
The next day was the day we set out to
finish the floor and then start on the next project. We started around 9:30am.
Megan and I were diligently working on the floor, while the other team members
were getting the bamboo ready to be used. Megan and I were nailing each piece
of bamboo as we were directed. We would switch off and on depending on who had
the best angle to hit the nail into the supporting wood. Recalling the event I
remember holding the piece of bamboo down and Megan nailing the nail when all
of a sudden the floor under me broke and I went down. I tried to grab on what
ever I could and thought I had a good grip, when that part of the flooring
broke as well.
I landed with cuts and bruises all over
my body, but thankfully not hurt to bad. No broken bones or gushing wounds we
decided to get back to work.
We stabilized the floor a bit better so
no one else would have this same experience. We switched two of the supporting
wood posts with more solid wood and then continued nailing the bamboo down.
Afterwards the floor looked pretty good. I will say I appreciate our cement
floors back at home a lot more. The effects of the fall were felt a lot more
the next day.
Looking back on the night before the
fall I recall praying specifically for the stability of that floor. I remember
praying for the safety of the widow and her son. I prayed that if the floor
weren’t stable enough for them to show us so that they could have a safe home.
I guess I should have also prayed for my team’s safety as well.
God has a sense of humor so beware of
what you pray for!!!!!!
