One of the things I do is help advocate for our Peruvian base and the director there, Bob Cooley. The story below summarizes the amazing things happening in Peru with a unique set of circumstances that have come together to provide and opportunity to go there and build some houses for people who lost their homes in the big earthquake last year. If you are interested (I’ve underlined the opportunity below) in joining a group of people to do some ground breaking construction in Peru, let me know!
Dear Scott,
Since the 8.0 earthquake in Peru on August 15th of last
year, God has sovereignly been putting the pieces in place for a collaboration
between the national government here and the Evangelical church that has the
potential to tremendously bless the entire country as well as the victims of
the earthquake.
In researching various building materials following the earthquake, we
identified a product that not only has the best earthquake resistance
characteristics of any product on the market, we learned that it offers many
other advantages as well. To simply put things, it is superior in every
respect when compared to the traditional method of construction in Peru and
Latin America (buildings with brick walls supported by steel-reinforced
columns, covered with a stucco of cement), but it is also considerably quicker
and cheaper to construct.
We have formed a partnership with the company that manufactures this product in
Texas. The company (Volcan Wall) will build and operate a manufacturing
facility in Lima, and a company we have formed (via a large local church) will
sell and build homes made of this product. Fifty percent of the profits
from this venture will be given back to the church for ministry purposes,
especially to help offset the costs of rebuilding homes in the earthquake zone.
But this partnership and business enterprise is in the future. Right now, there
is an opportunity for the evangelical church in Peru to collaborate with the
Congress of Peru in building 23 homes for families whose homes were totally
destroyed in the worst-hit of the three major cities incurring substantial
damage from the quake–Pisco.
The government has asked us to partner with them using this material
“SHIPs” (Steel-reinforced, Hand finished, Insulated Panels) to build
these 23 homes in an outlying area of Pisco. They will pay for the
materials and the site preparation. They are also exempting the materials
from taxes and will provide transportation from the port in Lima to the
construction site.
Representing the spiritual side of this partnership is one of Peru’s largest
evangelical churches, Camino de Vida (Way of Life). Camino de Vida wants
to contribute the labor for this project as well as a gift of wood for doors
and windows. The manufacturing company will be providing the training and
on site supervision as well as providing the panels and shipping significantly
below their cost. They also are providing design and architectural
services.
Here’s where my request comes in. I would like to recruit a crew of 15
construction-savvy workers from the U.S. The project is scheduled to
begin on June 9th. These should be physically fit, motivated, efficient
team workers. If they have cement experience, so much the better.
We would like them to come for at least a week. If they could come for 10
to 14 days that would be even better. They would be responsible for their
transportation to and from Peru. We would take care of them once they
were here. We will provide transportation, housing and food.
Our goal is to assemble five work crews made up of three U.S. workers and two
to three Peruvian workers. There are some time deadlines and we will work
hard and fast for the entire time. We are hoping to successfully errect
ten or more homes in that time. One of the advantages of this material is
that it can be put up amazingly fast as compared to traditional construction.
I would greatly appreciate your getting the word out toward the goal of
assembling these five teams. I’ll keep you apprised and would appreciate
your doing the same.
For His Glory
Bob Cooley
