Sprucing Up the Church

Little by little we are sprucing up the church in San Pancho. Along with trying to improve our services and outreach each week, we though the building could use some work. 

{this is a "before" photo}

Two weeks ago we all got together and painted the main room and the front of the building. 

It is a lot of work because the owner had used "cal" which is chalk to paint the walls. That stuff just dusts off onto everything. You have to use a wire brush to scrape it off the walls completely and it goes everywhere. It is a cheap option that some people use to paint their houses. I think I would rather have bare concrete! The pink in the photo above is the same way, they just tinted it. I didn't bring Eden and the boys until the afternoon just so they wouldn't inhale all of it. There were piles and piles of it on the floor. 

Marta and Rebeca made us caldo for lunch. I have always wanted to learn how to make Kekchi caldo and this would have been a perfect opportunity, but I was worried about E around all that dust. I did do all the dishes afterwards. I keep rubber gloves for dishwashing at the church but I have never had the nerve to actually put them on. I'm probably the prissiest person to ever live in Petén, but I'm trying to keep it a secret! 

Everyone liked the logo, so Jimmy had two vinyl signs made. One for outside and a small one for inside.

The outside of the building could use another coat of paint, but we used oil based and it's pretty expensive, especially for a rental. We will see...

Lico has been coming on Sunday nights with us. We pick him up as we pass by NH. He asked off work that day (building our house) and wanted to help at the church for free. He built this little entry with travertine scraps.

Here is the other sign:

 

It says, "Welcome everyone!"

I asked what color curtains they wanted and they said blue. So this is what I came up with:

Eden helped! She loves to play in the fabrics when I am sewing.

Here in Petén churches have these traditional curtains that are hung from the ceiling in rows.  

Some are made out of fabric, some out of lace, and the poorer areas use plastic. They are always too low for Jimmy to see under! Here pastor Rick had the same problem:

I have seen all kinds over the years, but this one was my favorite:

 I love the mix of colors, it looks so happy... like a party! These are made out of plastic which would be a faux pas I guess in a city church. So this is my "city version":

{Hugo and Maybelin helping me clean up after a service!}

Ours are hung a little higher than normal for obvious reasons! 

So little by little we are sprucing up the church. I pray that this building will be a place that we can all grow closer to the Lord together in while we gather each week to worship Him!