Nov. 26, 2011

By looking at the pictures, you'd never know it was the last weekend in November... in Canada! The Lord certainly heard our prayers, and afforded us one more Saturday of good weather. The rain held off until Sunday, so the workers were able to finish applying the tar, attaching the membrane, and back-filling.The foundation work is done for now. The front entrance and grading are still in the planning process.

There were many volunteers that  worked hard removing the floor tiles, and scrubbing appliances.

Special thanks to the Ancaster ladies for a delicious lunch.

Bench sanding continues...

No more floor tiles!

Volunteers from Ohio even helped any where they could, from taking down the bathroom partitions, sanding benches, removing floor tiles, and 

removing the sign. 

Hopefully soon the neighbors will start to realize that we are fixing the church, not tearing it down! What an amazing testimony and witness opportunity this project has been, and will continue to be. We have had support from a few people not directly connected to the church, that have since stopped by, just to see the progress (and see if there are any homemade baked goods for the coffee break!). We can only pray that more would come on Sundays to worship, not just Saturdays to work! It has also been nice to see interest in our work from people passing by...and the invitation was extended to join us for services....as soon as we have the place put back in order. We are excited at the possibilities of being a more visible and obvious church. Most people have a hard time finding our current location...It's hard to drive by and miss our new location.

We are blessed with an abundance of support.  It is a tremendous blessing to have access to such a wealth of knowledge, ideas, and experience in many facets of this project.

Nov. 19, 2011

The Lord blessed us with another beautiful fall day! The sun was shining, and the labourers were many again. We didn't get as far as we had hoped on the sealing of the foundation in the front, but the workers have made a considerable "dent" in the interior. During the week, some volunteers unscrewed the benches and moved them together, demolished the pulpit area, and removed the sub floor of rooms beside pulpit area. They filled the 2nd bin, and had a stack that filled the 3rd bin within hours this morning! The fourth bin is now being filled. 

We began to strip the old finish from the benches, and after trying chemical strippers, decided that sanding was going to be the better way to do the 30 or so benches. Sanding will continue this week, hopefully with the addition of a few more orbital sanders!


"Thanks" doesn't seem to be enough to show the gratitude we have for all of our volunteers. We certianly appreciate the time (and equipment) and energy it takes to come, some from  over 1 hour away, to help. We would not be able to do this on our own. May the Lord be your rich rewarder.








Here is the work done in the sanctuary. It looks like we are going from order to disorder...but the end result should be well worth the effort. Singing already sounds great in the sactuary, and we look forward to when we fill the benches and sing "Now Thank We All Our God".

Before and After (So far)

For those who are interested, here are a few before and after pictures of the work we have done so far. We've filled 2, 20 yard bins already, and another empty one is being delivered today. A special thanks to those who have worked hard during the week to dismantle/take down areas and haul it outside!

We look forward to working again this Saturday, hopefully to finish the foundation work, and begin working on a few projects inside.

November 12, 2011

Our second Saturday of work at the new church began where we left off last Saturday. The Lord once again blessed us with sunshine and pleasant temperatures. We continued the demolition of the old concrete at the front of the church with a crew of experienced equipment operators, while the rest of us cleared out debris that had been left in the centre of the basement by some of our workers who had spent some time at the church during the week. Since we had a good turnout, we decided to continue the interior demolition work, removing all of the existing ceiling drywall/mineral tiles from the basement, stripping away old damaged panelling and tile, and taking out old furniture. In addition to feeding everyone, the ladies also raked leaves (about 10 yard waste bags worth).

Though we weren't able to finish waterproofing the church, we did manage to remove a good amount of the concrete and the old steps, as well as partly dismantle the old stairwell. Hopefully the Lord will be gracious and give us one more Saturday of beautiful weather so we can put the foundation work behind us!

A special thank-you to all of our out-of-town helpers! May God richly bless you for being willing to donate your time and experience.

For some reason if you click on the picture it doesn't redirect you to our Google web album. Here is the direct link instead: https://picasaweb.google.com/111627355163519312724/November122011

November 5, 2011

Work began bright and early Saturday morning. The weather was beautiful, and the workers arrived in full force. We appreciate everyone that came from far and near to help accomplish as much work as we did that day! The foundation was excavated, drainage added, powerwashed, tar applied, and membrane in place on approximately 3/4 of the church! The front part is scheduled for this Saturday. The concrete walkway was also torn up, and hauled away. Inside, the wall in the foyer was taken down, and some partitions downstairs were taken apart, and hauled out to the dumpster.

May the Lord be the rich rewarder for all the labourers. We are humbled by the love and support for this long awaited new church for our congregation.

Stay tuned for more updates and pictures!