Clearing Away the Mess...So We Can See the View

History of Saaka Land Part 2

After the payments for the land were in process….and all the papers had been signed…Jeff began to make a way for us to approach the land.

The first time I saw the property close up…we were in a dugout canoe. I tried hard to see all the amazing attributes while not turning my head. Any slight movement threatened to put us in the middle of the serene and very green lake. Dug out canoes are tricky vessels. ☺

Jeff and some guys from the nearby village worked hard to clear a path so we could actually walk to the grounds. We packed a picnic and hiked to the boundary. Some of the men were hacking their way around the periphery of the land to the right and Jeff decided to follow them to see what the land was like on that side.
I waited in a small clearing.
After about 45 minutes, I saw Jeff running towards me with his arms swatting at something around him. He got to me and began stripping down to his boxers. He was covered in biting ants. My husband doesn’t panic much. But a swarm of biting ants will take anyone to the edge of sanity. My husband included. We stomped and swatted and annihilated the many ants overtaking my hubby. After he caught his breath, we discussed the probability that the mean, swarming ants lived all over the land. And what were we going to do about it. My solution…go to a safe place and think about it. Jeff’s solution…buy better gear.
Which is what we did. We went home, decided what gear to buy…bought some ant poison and headed back to work.
Jeff and his team of workers labored for several days to clear a path. When he drove me there after a week of work, we still had to have a panga (machete) to cut the underbrush in front of us. It was so bushy and undeveloped… but we did manage to hike around the entire boundary of the land. It took us about 2 hours.

He hired the team of workers for another week, and they began to chop and cut like crazy. Jeff reported every day how much progress was being made. “God has given us something incredible, Cheryl!” We had a party at the end of the week, on the cleared land and felt encouraged by the gorgeous views surrounding the peninsula that we could now see.

Jeff walked me to every point of the land. (This time it took about 15 minutes!) “We’ll put a dock here.” “An amphitheater for worship, here.” “Volleyball and football pitch here.” “Cabins and dormitories here.” “Kitchen and meeting room, here.”

We prayed. Hard. We were meeting people from the surrounding village and it was becoming more and more obvious, God was planting us in the middle of darkness. His Light was very needed. There were 5 witchdoctors operating in this village. And the villagers were known to be thieves. Pangas, slashers(grass cutters) and lanterns were already going missing…in one week’s time.

We ended the week excited, nonetheless. Thankful to have the land. Thankful to have cleared the view. Eager to see what God would do…