Last weekend was our final fall retreat of the year. It was a Men’s Retreat. It was also a big weekend. It was a weekend that would kick off a huge project taking place this week and next.
We’ve long wanted to remove the old drop ceiling in the East Side Chapel. It’s been looking a bit tired.
This week we have a crew of men here from Ohio replacing that ceiling with beautiful white stained pine boards.
Steppin’ Out Missions is a group of men who travel and work to build buildings and work on difficult projects for ministries all over. They’ve helped with several previous projects here at Barakel.
They brought with them equipment and tools. They also brought two man lifts which they are using this week to do the work. We’re providing the materials.
But before they could bring the lifts in to take down the old ceiling, we needed to remove seventeen pews, each eighteen and a half feet long, from the center section of the chapel.
That’s where our guests jumped in wholeheartedly right after the last chapel session on Sunday.
I think there were at least seventy able-bodied men who volunteered to stay a few minutes after chapel and before lunch to help us move the pews from the chapel to our luggage semi.
It only took them about fifteen minutes.
And once again we were reminded that God provides.
The ceiling is a big project and progress this week has been encouraging. What a blessing it was to also have men who came for the retreat be willing to help us get ready by moving those pews.
Pray with us this week and next for the Steppin’ Out Missions crew as they work on the ceiling. Almost all the work is about thirty feet in the air.