KAPPY’S CORNER —Mud

The arrhythmic swish of African brooms signals the beginning of a new day in the dry season. There’s no way around it, dust must be dealt with here. If we don’t pay constant attention to moving dust from one place to another we may very well be buried in it. Along the roads, as vehicles throw the powdery soil in the air, the plants and buildings all become the same red hue. Then the rains begin. The first drops of rain on the thirsty ground bring a welcome scent. I like to stand in the rain when the season begins and rejoice with all creation in God’s cleansing once again. Everything revives. Then what?

Every child with a patch of ground knows what happens when water and dust are combined—mud, glorious mud. There’s something very basic about mud. Children love to play in it. Pigs wallow in it. Vehicles slide sideways in it. Shoes get stuck in it. And God made the first man out of it. But there’s another aspect to mud that people have known for countless generations—we can build with it!

Our household has been watching the construction of a three-story building over the past six months or so. Actually, the only way to avoid seeing it is to keep our drapes closed. Harriet and I were standing in front of a window one day conducting our usual appraisal of the construction work when she said something that launched a thousand thoughts in my head. “Imagine, it started with one brick,” she said. One brick...at that moment I prayed for the opportunity to see how mud bricks are made.

A few days later I was sitting in the car waiting for Jim to bring our friend Sharifah from her house to go to church with us. I enjoy those quiet times of prayer and watching life around me. Then I saw a man in a pit. He had a wooden form with two compartments and handles on each end which he placed on a board. He slapped mud into both compartments, smoothed the mud over the top with his hand and traced his finger around the edges. Next, he picked up the mold by the handles and, turning it sideways, carried it to a dry patch of ground in the pit. He carefully shook the wet bricks out, lining them up with others to dry. Later I learned from Sharifah that the location of the pit had been carefully chosen for the quality of the soil. Different types of soil make different types of bricks. The man would first remove any sod and set it aside. Next he would clean the area of broken glass and debris, add water to the soil, cover it with the sod and let it sit for a few days or so. Then he would uncover the area and start kneading the mud with his feet until it was elastic. When the consistency was right he would then do what I saw him doing—forming bricks and setting them on end to dry. The sundried bricks would be stacked loosely and covered for a time. Next, the stack would be dismantled, the bricks would be sorted and a small, tight tower would be built out of the bricks leaving a tunnel under it. The top of the tower would then be covered with grass. Mud would be thrown onto the outside of the tower to seal it. A fire would be built in the tunnel at the base of the tower and kept burning for some days. And when the bricks are cool they’re ready to use.

We recently received this prayer request in a newsletter from a local church:

“Church construction

The Church brick making is still on, keep us in your prayers as we plan to burn them on 10 march 2010.We hope to first make 50,000 bricks. A lot of work is still needed and more funds to accomplish our first Phase Commitment. Hebrews 11.1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”

Can you imagine 50,000 bricks? The people of this church can. They know it all starts with one brick. We love to see beginnings, don’t we? But even more than that we love to see a work continue to grow and build, producing fruit for God’s kingdom. Thank you for your partnership with us as we work alongside churches like the one that sent us this prayer request. Please join us in praying that the work the Lord has started here will continue to build on the Rock, the firm foundation, and grow. Thanks!