Auditorium Project Update #3

Last week the electrician got all of the electrical wiring done in the auditorium.  It was good to have lights, fans, and a piano yesterday for the services (above).  This morning our church folks came back in to get the interior painting started.  Most of the sanding of the walls had been done the first week, while the hired crew was tearing down the middle wall.  However, we had one very difficult part remaining: sanding the ceiling.  Half of the auditorium has about a 14 foot ceiling, and the other half is about 7 feet.  The new half of the auditorium (which was the landlord's living room) has not been painted in many years, so the discoloration was quite pronounced.  It required intense sanding.  I am thankful for the folks who came to help today.  Here are a few pictures of our day.

This is Kang.  I led him to Christ nearly 7 years ago.  He is a very talented artist.  He has not had any jobs going on these last couple of weeks, so he has volunteered about 7 or 8 full days working on the auditorium.  His knowledge of cement work, construction, and painting have been very helpful in this project.

This is Kang's 13 year old son, Soum.  Soum and his three siblings have been down at the church daily during this project and have all been a great help.  They live on the same street as the church.  If they have school in the morning, they come help in the afternoon.  If they have school in the afternoon, they come help in the morning.  (School schedules change monthly here.)  When they have school in the morning AND afternoon, they come during their noon break.  Love these kids.

This is two of our young ladies.  Bunda (left) and Soupia have both been saved for a little more than a year.  Both girls are around 20 years old.  Although they have work and school, they have set aside some time to come down to the church and help. 

That's me on top of that ladder.  All the white dots are the dust in the air.  About half-way through my day today, I came up with a new method of torture.  First you make the prisoner stand on a ten foot stepladder and look straight up.  Then about a foot above his head you have a coffee grinder.  In the grinder you place a never-ending supply of chalk.  Then as he stares up into the bottom of the grinder, you start grinding the chalk into a fine powder, letting it fall into his eyes, nose, and mouth.  Trust me...he'll talk!

Here is a picture of Kang (right), Ta (middle), and me after staring up into the chalk grinder for a few hours.

Tomorrow...painting!