Two years ago, the Mission looked like a saloon from days gone by. Visitors would stop by and reminisce. It had once been a social club -a speakeasy. The nostalgia was thick in this place. The stories were legendary and bawdy.
Quickly, the transformation began. A few hits with sledgehammer and crowbar eliminated the old bar. The old beer cooler has been turned into a shower room. The bandstand, moldy with spilt beer, was demolished. Tiled floors, also moldy, were lifted up. Decades of smoking had covered everything with a thick nicotine tar. What once was shiny stainless steel looked like tarnished brass.
The volunteers came streaming in. The first batch, was a group of young adults; all the way from Milwaukee. Local churches began supplying, finances, people and resources.
The transformation has been steady and dramatic.
A local church adopted the dormitory and made it new; wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling. A church up-country supplied the new heat/air exchanger, duct work, shower valves, toilets and urinals.
A missionary who builds churches in Mexico, provided the masonry work. His plumber buddy, who also ministers in Mexico, provided the plumbing.
An electrician has been faithful to string out all the wires and tie everything in.
A volunteer charitable organization cut the floor and installed a new staircase.
A teen-age girl has authored and published a trilogy; proceeds of sales directed to the Mission.
A recording artist raised funds with a concert.
A factory closes and donates its kitchen equipment.
A Christian Camp donates beds.
A furniture company donates lockers and computer tables.
A retired pastor offers his library. A retired construction engineer cuts trees on his property, mills the lumber and builds bookcases. A local librarian is cataloging the books. But, our neighbors are way ahead of us. They have been borrowing and returning our books since we carried them in with banana boxes. The Jesus Library started functioning all by itself.
A raging anti-God atheist, who is usually reeling drunk, finally repents and converts to Christ Jesus. The man has enrolled in a one-year Bible Study program to transform his mind to Christ’s.
Psalm 127 says, “Unless the LORD build the house; they labour in vain that build it”
