New Construction at our Local Church
Our local church here in Ticuman has been growing! We no longer fit into the current church building. Every Sunday, there’s a large group of people sitting outside in the back and along side the building where they can still see and hear. For several years, they have been working to construct a new sanctuary, first saving and then building as they have the money.
A couple of weeks ago, I received a phone call after 10pm asking if I knew they still had four beams and all the laminate to unload from the truck. I had seen the delivery truck at about noon that day, but had no idea they were still working. It took several hours to get the truck up the hill to where the construction is taking place. Then it took a couple more hours to unload the first I-beam.
Peter, Kyle, and I went over right away to help and we were there past midnight.
This picture below tells it all!
There were between 25-30 guys there. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we could move those I-beams, but we unloaded 6 of them plus the other materials for the new roof of the church. The reason they’re so big is that some day they will support the second floor of the church as it continues to grow.
The picture above makes it look like I was holding it with one hand tied behind my back.
But, did I tell you that each beam weighed more than 2 tons! Praise the Lord for His protection! We did have one brother injured with two broken toes, but when I think what could have happened....
While we were moving things, this beam nearly fell on several of us.
My friend Martin is explaining what just happened. He and I were standing on the street below where that beam is hanging. Martin about crawled over me as we were running away from the falling beam. Amazingly, the beam hung up on a small post of the truck and did not fall to the street. They then tied a rope around it to keep it from falling as we unloaded a different beam.
We had no room on the upper lot to unload the last beam so we lowered it to the street and then pulled the truck out from under it. It fell with quite a thud! Then we moved it out of the way on the side.
After that, we unloaded all the rest of the materials and the laminates. It was a great team effort!
When we finished Peter said that ranked right up there as one of the scariest things he ever did ...unloading those heavy beams.
Construction Begins
Last week and this week, there are men installing those beams high above on top of the the 12 concrete pillars that line the sides of the new church building. These pillars have been standing like this for a long time while the money to continue was being saved up. It’s exciting to see the construction underway! All the metal of the roof should be installed before Christmas.
It’s amazing what a few pulleys can do to “lighten” the load.
It is so great to see the faith of this group of people as they trust the Lord for His provision and work so hard to save up the pesos needed to continue. They are moving ahead even though they are still in need of about $5000 USD to finish this roof.
Posted by on 12/06
(3) Comments • Permalink
Recent Responses:
Says:
12/07 at 08:15 PM
Thanks for the update! I can’t believe that you guys really moved those all by hand. Sort of like feeling the “hand” of God!
Says:
12/08 at 07:53 PM
That is either totally cool or totally crazy!! And MAYBE you shouldn’t have told your sis that you almost got squashed by one! 
Says:
12/07 at 01:50 PM
Thanks for the post, Paul. The pics tell a story no commentary can tell.
It’s good to see that your boys are included in these experiences on the mission field.