Sera Brasil ?

Wanted to let you know that MBMSI has invited Gary to consider helping with the building project of the Training Centre in Sao Paulo in 2010. We fly out for an initial visit on Wednesday evening, to visit Jim and Marilou Nightengale and get to know the work there and will return to Berlin in a week.

Once again our prayer is that we see things from God's perspective,

move at His pace

and function under His directives.

Our current Berlin chapter ends December 20th, and we look forward to spending Christmas in Abbotsford.

Please pray with us as we consider and discern what's next.

Thank you so much for your support.

http://www.mbmsi.org/projects/brazil/project-c0469-adventure-camps-brazil

Grateful for every task accomplished!

Working with the extra help from Lage (7) and Dresden (6)

was a huge blessing and encouragement this weekend.

The ventilation holes were secured with beams and 'finished off'...

(one in the kitchen, one in the nursery);

What a difficult, hard job - possible with extra help and personnel.

The drop-down ceiling is what Gary and the guys are working on tonight still.

The back entry, hallways and bathrooms were done this weekend.

What a change to hide all the wires and concrete behind clean white tiles!!!

AND

Did I say the hallway lights are on automatic sensors - that is really nice.

The door frames and doors are all in now;

and we're learning to work around them.

It's great to be able to close off sections

from the construction dust and dirt!

It's unfortunate the walls weren't already painted and electrical work done.

Vinyl tiles for the multi-purpose room and Sunday School rooms are done.

Some of the rooms were too cold, and needed to wait -

but Gary and Andre completed them last week.

The floors that still need to be done are:

- offices and boardroom which get rug

- the main sanctuary, after the walls are painted.

Ceramic tiles on floors and bathroom walls are now completed!

The 'base-tiles' (baseboard) now also have silicone sealant as well.

What a change to vacuum and mop level surfaces!

The basement hallway and bathroom are tiled...

offices and boardroom walls and floors need to be done there.

Plumbing and heating

(one step forward, two steps back)

BUT... we all love the functioning new bathrooms,

waiting for hot and cold water in all basins;

waiting for all toilets to be connected and functioning;

and YEAH for the three new showers stalls

waiting for water connection on two of them

So much work for only one employee.

Love the warmth we feel from the gurgling heaters (15 of the 52)

floor heat in the sanctuary and multi-purpose room is great!

A lot of work still left before all work as they should.

The 'conference room' was cleaned out on the weekend,

the heavy concrete slabs wheeled out

and 'garbage' removed;

Need to finish off the 'windows'

prepare the walls for wallpaper and paint,

complete electrical work,

install ceiling tiles

and level the floor, so the rug can be put in.

The 'Hausmeister' apartment now has a newly tiled bathroom,

it was cleaned on the weekend

and we can close the door!

Waiting for bathroom fixtures to be installed,

the new kitchen to arrive,

and the last part of the walls to be completed :)

November 3 update

A year ago, we visited Berlin

and understood God's call to help with the renovation project here.

The fall colors are beautiful as they were then!

Temperatures are cold, and the rains are forecasted to stay a while.

The most noticeable changes these past 3 weeks

are the new tile hallways and kitchen floor;

the tiled bathrooms and new kitchen,

and the recently installed doors.

And yes, the building is warm now :)... the floor heating is working!

and the large rooms are noticeably warmer than kitchen at this point.

Flooring will be laid in the multi-purpose room before the weekend.

Gary and his brother painted one of the four walls of the sanctuary 2 wks ago;

hopes were the rest of the walls would be ready to paint this week;

however - the walls are soooooo tall, and sooooo long, and sooooo big!

and even after hours and hours of sanding...

there is still more preparation necessary to do the job well the first time.

Cutting concrete and steel reinforcement rods

has got to be one of the hardest tasks

of renovating a concrete structure.

Andre - in the 'board room' upstairs.

The tiler layers (3) will work on Hausmeister bathroom

and the 2nd apartment bathroom tomorrow...

most vanity cabinets were installed today

and the sinks are here;

the new shower has hot water -

(hopefully also a wall, a curtain and a door by the weekend).