North Central Ohio Work and Witness Trip to Israel: Friday Work and Worship

Last night and again this afternoon we walked and shopped in the Old City. Above is the famous Damascus Gate we used to get through the wall into the most ancient part of Jerusalem.

Each workday this week we have started with breakfast in the hotel and a chilly walk to the church compund a couple blocks away. Each morning we have devotions before starting work for the day. Today, Nancy started our day off well with her devotional in the freshly remodeled great room in the lower level of the church.

Along with continued painting, cleaning up around the peremiter of the compound, and sign/cross renovation, today flooring installation was added to the list of projects in progress. Nursery room painting was completed yesterday and today, the laminant flooring was installed. The only thing left to do after today is to fasten the trim boards around the walls.

The weather this morning was cold and looked like rain was on the way, but by mid morning the sky cleared up partially and work began again up on the roof and the front of the church. After much deliberation the decision was made to take the big metal letters that spell NAZARENE CHURCH down and refinish them and remove the outdated and nonfunctioning electric lighting before remounting them. We still are not sure if we will back light or flood light them but we are certain they need refinsihed and stripped of the old electrical work inside.

Tim and I climbed down from the church roof and worked off the porch roof to free the metal letters from the stone blocks holding them in place for a very long time. Some letters came free easily but most where tough to get loose. As we handed letters up and over the front wall, we couldn't resist yelling like cheerleaders, "GIVE ME AN N", "GIVE ME AN A", "GIVE ME A Z", GIVE ME AN.....You get the picture:-).

Below you can see the back side of the letters as they lay on the porch roof. The old plywood inserts with old ceramic light fixtures and wire can be seem here.

For the next few days this is what the front of the church will look like. Hopefully about a week from now there will be night pictures showing an illuminated cross and signage.

All the letters are lined up across the back of the compound awaiting their facelift. We are considering having a contest to see what other words we could spell with the letters we have to work with.

Here is a closeup of one of the new lamps installed earlier in the week. In the left background is one of the many metal cross frameworks that was painted today. We are still waiting on gold spray paint to replace the copper paint in a gold can we purchased this week.

It is finished. The walls and ceiling of the great room in the basement are repaired and painted. It is much brighter and cleaner than it was when we arrived Monday evening.

One of the smaller rooms off the great room are now cut in and ready to roll in the near future.

We stopped work at 2 PM today becuase the church has one of it's weekend services here on Friday evening at 6 PM. So we tidied up inside and outside the facility this afternoon so we could rest and clean up before church. Many of us spent part of the afternoon walking and shopping in the Old City. Certain parts of the Old City near the Temple Mound were closed to outsiders due to Muslim and Jewish worship, and about 4 PM shops started to close in preparation for Sabbath observance which commences at Sundown about 6PM.

This evening we had the privilege of worshiping at Jerusalem Nazarene Church. The crowd was small but from all over the world. Attendees tonight were from Jerusalem, England, Korea, Sudan, Washington, Montana, and a few other places I did not catch, and of course Ohio. I cannot forget Pastor Shahade who is from Jordan and his wife who is from Switzerland.

Pastor Shahade leading Friday night worship

Doc bringing the message Friday night.

Doc speaking Friday evening

Tim brought greetings from our team to the congregation. Notice the coat. It was cold in the church since there is no longer a furnace in the facility for reasons unknown to anyone here, including Pastor Shahade.

Tim bringing greetings for the group

After the service we had a dinner reception. Lental soup and barley soup, sushi, or a Korean dish similar looking to sushi, apple crumb cake and cookies were on the menu. I believe Shahade made the soups and the pastor of the Korean congregation, standing to the left of Shahade in the picture below, prepared the Korean dish. It was all delicious and a good opportunity to get to know this internationally diverse group as we wrapped up a productive work week.