By Michael Wacht
  
LAKELAND — The first phase of the Bishop Cornelius L. and Dorothye Henderson Secondary School has been designed and is now ready for construction, according to the Rev. David Beers, pastor of Miami’s Silver Palm United Methodist Church and director of the Florida Conference’s United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM).

The school will be built in Muxungue, Mozambique, Africa.

The plans call for two buildings with four classrooms each and an administration building with teachers’ offices and bathrooms built around a courtyard. An uncovered slab will serve as the dining area with a nearby outdoor cooking area. A section of the property will be a sports area and cleared for a soccer field, Beers said.

An engineer from Mozambique who works with the United Methodist Church there and has designed several other projects prepared the plans for the Henderson School.

“They will probably build dormitories, but at this point they just want to build the school so they can have classes,” he said. “There are enough kids in the area that can live at home and attend class at the school.”

Beers said the project is in the hands of Mozambique United Methodist Church leaders. “Now we’re waiting to hear when they’re ready to receive teams and…begin work,” Beers said. “We will provide support and money, but they’re in charge of the project.”

Beers said having the local church take responsibility for a building project gives it a better chance of being completed. He said many projects end up as “UMVIM ruins” after initial excitement, support and money fall off.

“If we control the project, it might not get done,” Beers said. “If we empower the locals, it’s more likely to get finished.”

The Rev. Dr. Larry Rankin, director of the Florida Conference’s Missions Ministry team, said the delay in construction is the result of a large number of building projects currently taking place in Mozambique. “Ground has been broken, though,” he said. “Because we got involved late, we’re down on the list.”

Beers is working with officials in Mozambique to determine the assistance UMVIM can provide. He said travel and climate issues will limit the number of teams and affect what they can accomplish in Mozambique.

“It takes a hardy person to travel over there, and still Africa is a different experience,” he said.

The trip from Florida to Muxungue takes approximately two days, including a 24-hour flight into South Africa and an eight-hour car trip from Maputo to Muxungue.

Beers said he hopes the teams will take on more relational responsibilities than trying to help with construction. “I’d like to see teams be similar to the Caravan concept,” he said.

Caravans are district mission teams that have visited Cuba as part of the Cuba/Florida Covenant. They have been primarily fact-finding groups that allow members to meet and build relationships with people of their sister districts in Cuba.