2015 News

The Road to Gandep

Thursday, 20 August 2015

Ben Richards from Hartwell Church of Christ visited Papua New Guinea in May 2015 to assist with the Gandep maintenance project.

Embarking from Madang, Ben drove seven hours ‘with vast potholes dotting the entire journey’. Ben then paddled four hours by canoe, and walked three hours in the dark through the PNG jungle to reach his destination. ‘The track is in very poor condition with large sections of mud and swamp. While the track does follow the road for substantial sections and can be reasonable to walk on, the bush track sections can be very difficult. I am quite fit so we moved quickly but it was dark by the time we were around halfway and that slowed us somewhat’.

A major priority is to create appropriate road access into Gandep. Teams from Humeridge Church in Toowoomba as well as GMP Board Member Diana Catts visited Gandep during June and July concerning the planning and implementation process of the road project and future of the Bible College. 

During his visit Ben spent a good deal of time working on the maintenance of the Bible College with Manis, the head sawmill operator. They discussed machinery related issues that they are dealing with to complete the maintenance for the Bible College. ‘I will be sending a number of parts up ASAP as well as some power tools. I am hoping to arrange some fundraising to allow for some bigger repairs; mainly the two saw mills’. There is much work that needs doing that relies on materials from town and with the remote location of Gandep this project has not been without it’s challenges 'It seems that everything comes back to having the road access fixed!’

Please continue to pray for the projects at Gandep and for the partnerships involved.  

The Gandep Project  

 

Relief & Development Livelihoods


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