A pair of bulldozers from Chatsworth, Ontario have started their long journey to the Southern Grenadine island of Mayreau.
Once there, the bulldozers will be used for a Youth With a Mission project on Mayreau, where a discipleship training school and camping grounds are being built to house and train youth and their families from around the world for mission work.
“It is a big relief to see them gone. It is in the shipping company’s hands now,” said Murray Gostick of the Sauble Christian Fellowship Church, who has co-ordinated the project to ship the dozers to the island. “It is good to finally get them out of here.”
Youth With A Mission, one of the largest organizations of its kind in the world, were given 42 acres of prime land on Mayreau to build the school and camp.
Gostick, who has done mission work in places like Haiti, Liberia, South America and the West Indies over the years, said the dozers are not only making life easier for those involved with Youth With A Mission, but will also benefit the island’s inhabitants.
“What we are doing is we are also helping the economy because we hire people to work with us,” said Gostick. “A lot of our guys that do blockwork are people we hire.”
All told, the mission to send the dozers has cost about $43,000, including $34,000 for the machines and another $9,000 for the shipping expenses. The project is completely paid for through donations.
With the expected arrival at the end of November, Gostick said they will almost immediately be put to work on the project, which also includes plans to construct a soccer field for the residents of the small island.
Gostick said they have people on the island trained and ready to operate and maintain the dozers.
“We have good teams who always want to help,” Gostick said. “They have got so little in a lot of these places and we are so affluent.”
