New Meeting Grounds

We moved!

This month we said good-bye to my old apartment - the place I lived for the past year and a half, and the place where our team consistently met to work on different aspects of the ministry.  

We are excited about our new space.  The rent is cheaper and the part we are most excited about is the vacant lot right next to it.  We have all sorts of ideas in how we could use this space...outreach in the neighborhood and planting a few vegetables for starters.  The construction team is also excited about the space they now have available to them, so they can continue working with the wood pallets. 

Before any of this can take place, however, the yard needs some major clean-up. 

Clean-Up!

The team has already begun and has done a lot of work already.  The vacant lot seemed to be used as a garbage dump for the neighborhood.  There was also lots of branches that had recently been cut from the tree in the corner of the yard.  We needed to clean all of that up too. 

We've had a couple of "clean-up days" where several members of the team came to work together and tackle the overwhelming project.  We worked and worked.  We could tell that there were some improvements, but there was still so much garbage. 

This was one pile that was left directly behind the house.
Lots of garbage and dirt all mixed together.

Then one day a man came and said that he'd work all day with his son, fill up his truck and take all the garbage away.  This was an offer we couldn't pass up.

They did work all day, and this was the truckload they carried away.  They got most of it, but we still have more cleaning to do!!!  It will probably be another 10 sacks of garbage or more before the yard is really clean. 

Oh, but, when it is....watch out!  We're going to enjoy it!

Painting

Yahson and Joselo also worked to give the inside of the house an extra coat of paint.  The electricity is hooked up, and we settling into our new meeting grounds.  Praise God for providing this space -- and with such a large yard.  It's quite rare, really, especially for the price we're paying.  Even though it's a lot of work to clean it up, we're excited about the possibilities.

For now, it's the perfect fit!