Building begins!

Recognize that?  It is part of the Church building being put together!  Woohoo!

 

It is not that I doubted this day would come...it is just so weird to see it actually here. 

To be sure, much work was done on the building in 2011...literally tons of work you could say, but to see something that is designed to be above ground of the building is just really encouraging, even if we are just getting started....there is so much left to do. 

Monday and Tuesday Oscar hired 10 guys to unload the entire container...the cranes set it upright, but could not move it, and to get the crane out...we had to unload. After it was unloaded, at least they could then put the container where we wanted it, so that is a silver lining.

The heaviest pieces will sit outside while they work across the fence to put them together.  The rest is being relocated back in the container for safe keeping, since it will be weeks or more for us to get to needing them...that plus they are taking up the entire man cave right now. 

What is with the container hanging off the end like that? Well, you might notice this is a 45’ container versus the rest of our containers that are 40’. So when it came to placement, we could have less of a walkway between the two containers on top, or hang over the clothing container/wall below. I thought having the overhang would be kind of cool, you know, to save up to have a big chandelier hanging there, to class the place up a bit. 

Your $26 per square foot is certainly still needed as we hopefully hit this ramped up phase of construction, if the funds sustain it, but not for any chandelier...no worries there. We can not rely on groups to do everything, and before the first group comes on the 21st to help, we need all these guys working to get the prep work done so that we can do as much as possible when they get here. Maybe, just maybe we might be able to get the walls up then, After that comes...well, everything else (roofing, windows, floor, interior finishing, tiling, electrical, plumbing...you are starting to get the idea, right?)  That can be done fairly quickly...if we have the funding to make it happen.

How about it? One square foot of the building paid for with your $26...right here, right now...or later as well:

If you want to go more than $26...you are more than welcome, there are specific projects like the stage, baptistry, sound booth, usher's room, each of three office spaces, and more that can be sponsored, just let me know.

The container came out fairly well in the whole dropping process as you can see, but to be sealed in the future it will require some cutting and patching. No money to spend on that right now either since the priority is to get the building done first.  The fix will require cutting out the damaged sections and putting it their place...something else, not sure what yet. Maybe windows? Maybe just other metal? Maybe a patchwork of the doors from the containers we still have? Time will tell.

Kind of like seeing how this giant jigsaw puzzle of sorts will go together in the building to house the God sized jigsaw puzzle that is the Church.

Exciting times are ahead...we ask also for your prayers for safety for everyone working physically on this project, as well as spiritually for us and the Church as we know that such a great tool for use for the Kingdom will bring reprisals from the enemy. 

Rain rain on my face...

It is only Tuesday, but it has been a rollercoaster week already.

1. Group arrived on Saturday, no problems and ready to work!

2. Sunday Church service at ICCC in Tegucigalpa was full as usual (when are we ever going to get that building done!?)
3. Halfway through the service, I was called aside (as God would have it, my seat had been taken and I was standing at the back of the Church with no room to sit...good thing as it turns out) as Gerson was frantically looking for...somebody. Somebody happened to be me, they needed someone to drive ambulance style to the hospital, as Silvia was bleeding profusely. No problem. Right before that Claudia had asked if we could go soon up to the clinic to get a bp cuff for another Church member. Well, scrap that because that person passed out, possibly a stroke, so we needed to get her to the hospital ASAP as well. Shuffle people around in the truck, and away we went. Long story short...Silvia had very high blood pressure (and did not know it.) Despite the very long lines at the emergency room, she was attended and home in a few hours...she started bleeding again the next day and came to the clinic for follow up care. I have still yet to hear how Rufina is doing.
4. We left after Church to visit some friends, Juan and Leandra first who had their home burn down in late October, trying to pick up pieces and rebuild....and God is blessing those efforts, but it is of course a long row to hoe as it were.
5. Then we went to take some food for Delmis and her family. We no more than pulled up and she was crying and coming back to the house from frantically trying to find her 14 year old daughter Doris....missing for 24 hours. We took her to the police station, she filed a report...but nothing expected from the police. We visited Monday to give her some furniture and odds and ends from the man cave only to find out that the daughter is in Olancho with some supposedly dangerous people, and it is still unclear if she went willingly (not uncommon for guys to sweep in and take a young “woman” to live with them) or not. Delmis is wanting to go after her if she can find the money to get there and back, as well as someone who knows the area to go with her to find Doris. While she is gone of course though she would have to leave her other seven children unattended, all of whom live in a house smaller than my office...with one bed (before we took them more furniture that is.)
6. Group helped a ton on Monday and Tuesday on work on the man cave. This is a small group (a family of four actually) and this was a great way to use them to catch up on some much needed work there that had been neglected for the past six months or more. Every time I catch up on cleaning/organizing/distributing in that sort of process it hits me how much we really need a “warehouse manager” full time. God knows best though, and for now this is how we have to play catch up.
7. I went to a town hall meeting at the US embassy today, mostly as executive director of His Eyes rather than for any personal reason, in case there was important or useful news or other happenings at the meeting. As usual I found myself listening during the “question” time to people that seemed to want to show how much they had to say rather than actually ask a question or get useful tips/help. I also saw these embassy employees trying to do what they can, but sensing inside myself that they were of only minimal help to me, us, the mission...if I wanted to try to grab someone’s attention and plead my case for help, I needed to take that to God. Not to say they are not helpful, not necessary, not able to get anything done...but it just seemed like a good reminder of where our priorities should be when we are not sure where to turn. I felt sorry for the embassy staff who is expected to divulge whether or not they have the bay islands under surveillance, answer for every visa denial without the facts, somehow answer how to fix Honduras security issues, etc. mostly being asked questions about which they have little to nothing to do with finding solutions or are part of their mission.
8. No word on when our trusty policeman Hernandez could be back at the clinic. With all the controversy in the police department right now, it does not look good, and that is not good for the clinic and patients.
9.  Dora's daughter Noli, after being hit by a car and via God's provision not being seriously hurt, is now waiting for another ultrasound to see if she will need surgery or what will need done with an unrelated health issue...if not for being hit by the car and needing the first ultrasound, they would not have known about this other condition/problem. 
10. Still waiting for the medical supply container (with many other supplies for the mission and sanctuary construction project) to clear customs. We are in debt to the carrier for at least $640 for demurrages (ah, a word you only learn if you have to deal with customs/shipping containers I think) and not sure when we will unload, plus praying it makes it up the hill, we have enough help, everything gets put away well, no breakage...you get the idea.
11. And to add to that, the good news/bad news is that the Tegucigalpa pre-fab sanctuary made it to port yesterday. We pray it does better clearing customs, that the crane to unload the container (we had to buy this container) can be secured, and it all comes together with no problems.

Overwhelming just fails to sum it up. There are some other big things going on as well that I am not presently at liberty to discuss...as you can imagine, even more overwhelming things...just don’t leap to any drastic conclusions from that statement, some things are just not for blogging.

And this sounds like a good time to reflect on Jars of Clay’s “old” song Flood (a song that I think can be interpreted at least two different ways depending on where you are in life, or sometimes both ways at the same time):

“Calm the storms that drench my eyes
Dry the streams still flowing
Cast down all the waves of sin
And guilt that overthrow me

Lift me up - when I'm falling
Lift me up - I'm weak and I'm dying
Lift me up - I need you to hold me
Lift me up - Keep me from drowning again"

Church construction

His Eyes has a big project to accomplish in 2011. It does not scare me to say that it is way beyond what we can do by ourselves, since anything good done here in the mission applies to that category.

The long story is that the Church with which we have partnered for over 10 years here in Tegucigalpa...where our mission house and clinic are located, has been struggling for years to build a new sanctuary building.

The one they are using was built in 1999, a temporary pole barn type structure that was not meant to last this long. The Church outgrew it many years ago, after adding walls and a concrete floor. Even with the walls, made out of masonite, it is not a secure facility. Every speaker, stand, piece of equipment and folding chair must be removed after every service lest it be stolen. And with five or more services/meetings going on every week...that is a lot of wear and tear on the equipment...not to mention the volunteers.

Having a place to meet where there would be room to expand...both physically and in terms of spiritually expanding with space for more people to attend...would be an incredible opportunity. Right now...if you are late for Church, plan on finding a place to stand for thirty minutes or more, until the kids go to Sunday School....which is overcrowded and has its buildings falling apart as well.

Falling apart? Look at these posts, which are just some of the wood that is not doing so hot that supports the building.

In helping the Church with this new building, not only would it give them and us more opportunities to reach out and minister to the community immediately and otherwise around us...but this would also be an opportunity for us to help the mission as well.

You see, the property we are using for the clinic and mission house is not ours, not legally. It is "borrowed" from the Church, and has been an arrangement since before we arrived here over ten years ago.

In building the sanctuary for the Church, in addition to some other smaller projects that have already been completed, we will get legal title to that property we are using, giving us better long term security for the mission in the future to do even more construction and be safe...regardless of whether or not all of us are dead and gone and the leaders of the Church and mission at that time know about our arrangement or not.

His Eyes is committed to making this sanctuary construction its top priority for 2011. This does not mean that the rest of the work of the mission stops, but all fundraising goals are focused on this one project.

We need your help, desperately in order to finish this project before the end of 2011. The link at the top of this post will take you to PayPal where you can donate via your PayPal account or credit card to the effort.

We are looking to find people to donate 1 or more square feet of the 6,000 square feet we will be building. We are hoping to raise $26 per square foot to get the project fully funded ($1 is for the PayPal fees.) Every foot counts...if you can only donate one, that will still make a big difference. If you could also help us spread the word, letting your family, friends, enemies, acquaintances, and random strangers you run into on the street...so much the better! We need God's help...we also are praying He will use you to be part of that help.

Have questions? Want more information and pictures to help set up fundraisers? Just want to talk about all this? Please, let us know!