The old St Joseph Churchin Usgao, spread over 54 square metres wasbarely enough to accommodate about 100 people.
Fundscollected over the years were however insufficient to build the church andhence, the project was shelved for nearly three decades.
Afterbeing posted to the Usgao church in 2000, the new parish priest, Fr Felix Lobosuggested the new church building be built with contribution of manual labourfrom the parishioners themselves coupled with the little funds they had managedto collect.
Persuadedby their parish priest, the enthusiastic Usgao parishioners took up the task ofbuilding their church in April 2002.
Theconstruction work of the church saw about 25-30 dedicated people offering theirservices, which included excavation of soil, construction of the plinth,pillars and beams.
As constructionwork was in process on the top slab in 2002, the slab collapsed injuring around40 parishioners. Work on the church project came to a standstill for the nexteight months.
Theconstruction work restarted and the new church of St Joseph was eventuallyinaugurated on April 21, 2004. Spread across 600 square metres, the new churchbuilding now provides seating arrangements for 350 people, but can accommodateup to 1,000 people.
