CONSTRUCTION BEGINS!

SEPTEMBER 2024

A grading permit was the last domino to fall that allowed construction to officially begin. The work began by digging down - they call it “over excavation” - then re-compacting the ground underneath the building foundations.

One major answer to prayer was that the grading crews did not get stopped by bedrock. At one point there was a concern that we were building, as one engineer described it, on “a mountaintop right underneath the surface.”

Our minds immediately went to Matthew 7 when Jesus told us to build our houses on rock. This is good, right? The engineers explained that building on rock IS good structurally, but that it may take a lot more time and money - and also dynamite(!). In some cases, the conditions require buildings to move or be re-designed.

We weren’t deterred, and moved forward in faith. The graders did encounter bedrock, and more time was needed to dig through it, however, we did not incur delays or significant cost. So, the best outcome happened. We built on the rock, but did not encounter unusable conditions, re-designs, unexpected costs, major delays - oh, and we didn’t have to use dynamite.