Java is only one of over 17,000 islands in the nation of Indonesia. But it is where most of the population of the archipelago lives. Someone observed that Java has more people than Russia which is the largest nation on the earth.

I have been amazed at the people and the culture of Java and their ability to get things done. Let me share with words and pictures how 10 guys converted a banana patch next door into a new home with only hand tools, a few shovels, and one wheel barrow and periodic deliveries of gravel and cement over the course of two months. Some of the handles on the shovels were crafted from trees that were cut off the property to make room for the house.

We learned of the impending project when a couple of guys showed up with a shovel and some cement rings to dig a well. The hand dug well went down about 16 feet through beautiful looking topsoil into a local aquifer that seemed to be abundant and flowing through giant lava rocks. Every house in the neighborhood taps the same aquifer.

In the middle of a banana patch construction begins on what two months later would be a cozy Javanese house for a family of six. With no excavator or compactors or laser or cement mixer the foundation pillars with “chicken feet” bases embedded two feet into the ground with concrete are dug in.

The construction goes up with the use of an amazing building block that is similar to our cinder blocks but lighter. Pictured is a piece of one floating on water.

These amazing Hepel blocks are shaped with a handsaw and or a hatchet.

With those blocks and concrete beams that are poured as needed and some bamboo scaffolding the sky is the limit.

All of the concrete was mixed by hand on the ground with shovels. It is carried around in one gallon buckets to wherever needed. It sounds primitive but those guys ended up with a really nice looking house tiled inside and out.

A small electric hand grinder to cut the tile was the only automated tool we saw. It is significant that the wood for this Javanese house is wood that has been in the houses of the family for at least four generations.

They now join the ranks of the taxpayers in the neighborhood. Every week each house places 500 rupees (three cents) in a can tied to the outside of the gate for the neighborhood watch to pick up.

If you want to see a video Josh did of the project and life around here go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iRplyajEa0

God Bless,

Larry DeVilbiss

Global Recordings Network USA

If you are interested in learning how to share links on social media that will promote use of our recordings and the Gospel in general, please contact RolandHeck@GlobalRecordings.Net

Previous “The Next Language” posts

Nations Rejoicing – Post 122

Is It For Nought? – Post 121

Flying Ants – Post 120

Sunda: Cirebon – Post 119

God’s Winks – Post 118

Chain Links – Post 117

The Hunt, part 3 – Post 116

Torah Meditations – Post 115

The Hunt II – Post 114

Reset – Post 113

The Hunt – Post 112

Bit by Bit – Post 111

The Dark Side – Post 110

All or Nothing – Post 109

The Emptying – Post 108

Back to the Crib – Post 107

Truly Sustainable Service – Post 106

The Mountain Taker – Post 105

Give Me That Mountain – Post 104

Epicenter of Languages – Post 103

Holy Envy – Post 102

Watchman – Post 101

First the Blade – Post 100

Marghi – Post 99

Talents – Post 98

Berom – Post 97

God is my Wit(h)ness – Post 96

Scarlet Chested Sun Bird – Post 95

Fountains of Water – Post 94

A Glorious Landing – Post 93

Tale of Three Sisters – Post 92

Collaboration – Post 91

Pick Your Fears Carefully – Post 90

Mixteco del Progreso – Post 89

Go – Post 88

Those Word Lists – Post 87

Altars – Post 86

Oh, for a Thousand Tongues – Post 85

Voices in the Wilderness – Post 84

Nigeria – First Impressions – Post 83

From the Land of Nod – Post 82

Tribute to Mexico – 1967 – 2022 – Post 81

Miniaturization – Post 80

Knowing The Times – Post 79

God Comes to a Dirty World – Post 78

Corn in Mexico – Post 77

When the Church Says No – Post 76

War – Post 75

Theirs Is the Kingdom – Post 74

The Hippie Era Lives On – Post 73

Genesis of a Recording Set – Post 72

Back Tracking – Post 71

Witnesses- Post 70

Who Is Your Owner? – Post 69

An Unsolicited Endorsement – Post 68

Oral Tradition – Post 67

Works of  Man – Post 66

Deliverance – Post 65

New Discoveries – Post 64

The Wall of Pain – Post 63

Is There a Place for the Gospel in Your Story – Post 62

The Love Pyramid – Post 61

Obsession – Post 60

Verb Tenses in Hebrews – Post 59

The Unseen Weapon – Post 58

The Gospel Arrives in Zapoteco:Elotepec – Post 57

Fishing – GRN Style – Post 56

A New Day in Mexico – Post 55

Seeking – Post 54

Pick Your Battles – Post 53

How Big Is Your God? – Post 52

A Muted Gospel? – Post 51

Dedication Service for Marcos – Post 50

Two Weeks, Two Months, Two Years – Post 49

What Will You Give to Jesus – Post 48

Special Assignment – Post 47

The Good and the Best – Post 46

How Many Languages Are There? – Post 45

Verifying Speech Varieties – Post 44

Those God Things – Post 43

Meet Notch, the Desert Cottontail – Post 42

The Lost Languages – Post 41

The Rest of the Yoke – Post 40

What About Those Last Languages – Post 39

A Yoke That Fits – Post 38

The Other Side – Post 37

It Is Finished – Post 36

On the Ground in Culiacan – Post 35

I Will Go With Thee – Post 34

Unseen Warfare – Post 33

God of the Gaps – Post 32

The Father of Faith Missions – Post 31

WAIT – Post 30

Our Ultimate Weapon – Post 29

What Are You Doing Here – Post 28

Recordist Training Course Update – Post 27

Still Shameful – Post 26

Numbers Update – Post 25

The Gospel and Idolatry – Post 24

Could Ye Not Pray – Post 23

John the Baptist and the New Normal – Post 22

Genesis of a Script – Post 21

Embena Experiences – Post 20

An Easter Like No Other – Post 19

Go Or Stay Home – Post 18

The Next Language – Post 17

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