Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Day 2 Recap

We got so much work done today! It´s 1:30 in the morning now, and we are about to turn in after a fun (and exhausting) day working on the current church facility in Sitges(about 15 miles away from Vilanova)! While the new church in Vilanova is in early construction, and likely won´t be completed for at least a year, the current facility in Sitges still needs to be "fixed up" during the transition. This is something we really prayed about in the months before the trip, as we really wanted the church leaders and the congregation to have a meeting place that they could be proud of as they invited others to come and worship.

We saw the church for the first time today, and immediately got to work on the walls in the sanctuary, the windows and walls in the foyer, and expecially the storage room. The plaster walls were originally covered with large sheets of burlap to cover large holes and cracks, but after we removed the coverings we got to work on the repair. It was wonderful to see the team work together in this capacity... whatever needed to be done, our team members would just shift jobs to complete the task. Jim and Frank moved heavy office equipment upstairs, Cara and Carolyn organized the cleaning of the storage room, Jen Tanksley spearheaded store trips to get supplies and the right paint colors for the building... I was amazed at how members of our team worked selflessly to complete even the smallest tasks. Although the walls have spackle all over them now, we are so excited to see what the place will look like tomorrow when we start applying the first coats of paint on!!!! Some of the church leaders like Isma, Eva and Alvaro plan on coming in tomorrow night to help out with the work! It´s so exciting to finally get to work on the project that we have been praying about the last several months.

This evening, we went to dinner with Tomas and his wife Pudi, as well as his son Alvero and his family. Even with a bit of a language barrier, it is such a joy to be with these people who in touch with what God is doing for their church, and they are so thankful to have us here helping them.

We can´t wait to see what happens tomorrow! Happy 4th of July from Spain!!!!