It Is Finished!!!

Today was our last official work day in Jerusalem. We accomplished everything Pastor Shahade had planned for us and a good bit more. Thursday was a gorgeous day in Jerusalem. This was the warmest day of our stay to date. The temperature was in the 70's most of the day. It was a perfect day to wrap up the many projects we tackled during out two weeks in Israel.

With many man hours by many different people the cross restoration was finally completed this morning. Charlie and I put the back panels on and we sealed the seams to keep as much moisture and dust out as possible. Last night as we admired the lighted cross an Asian group stopped and took pictures in front of the church. Today, an African group passed by and at least one lady stopped and took a picture of the cross as I wiped excess caulk off the seams. I couldn't resist taking one last shot myself with the sun high overhead as I stood on the roof looking up at the newly installed back panels.

Tim invaded Nancy's laundry balcony today as he was cleaning out rooms of what will soon be the residence for the Twal family. I caught him throwing more things off the balcony. Today it was just pillows and mattresses. Those items barely made it to the bottom of the dumpster before passers by snatched them up.

Below is a view of the lights that make the cross glow at night. The fluorescent bulb in the base was just temporary for last night to make sure everything worked. We replaced that fluorescent bulb with an LED to match the rest, before screwing the back panels into place.

Here is Charlie inserting the self tapping screws into the back panels of the cross.

Believe it or not the crows around here are smart enough and thirsty enough to peck away at black plastic pipe that is widely used for water supply in residences here, until they make a hole and can get a drink. They avoid the hot water pipes but they are a menace to cold water pipes. To protect the pipes from the crows, people cover the black pipe with blue or red corrugated pipe. Here is Kenny replacing a crow damaged cold water pipe high atop the highest point on the compound.

Charlie took care of the end of the pipe connecting to the water tank. Tim came up later to paint the exposed surfaces susceptible to rusting.

I went with Shahade to the hardware where he purchased a couple reducers so we could replace the leaking pipe with other slightly larger black pipe he had in storage. The hardware clerk suggested an additional step to ward off crows. Gold tape that looks and feels like high end duct tape is commonly used here to wrap around hoses to make it harder for the crows to do damage. By the time we where done the pipe looked like something out of a space ship all wrapped in gold tape. By the late afternoon water was back on and flowing throughout the building without leaks.

Diane brought and excellent devotional today after we had lunch on the back patio.

After lunch we paid a brief but memorable visit to our Baptist neighbors next door. This property was the home of Horatio Spafford's family. Spafford lived in the Old City just inside the Damascus Gate which is just about 4 or 5 blocks down the street from this home. Spafford is famous for writing "It Is Well With My Soul" as he sailed to the US to console his wife after the loss of all their children at sea. The Spaffords had more children after that terrible loss and one daughter called this place her home.

This painting below fills the end wall of the parlor in the home. It was painted by a Jewish Christian lady. The picture illustrates all the native foods that have thrived in this arid place since before the Israelites returned to the promised land 3500 years ago.

We had the privilege of singing that very song in the very room where the Spafford family is believed to sing their fathers song over a century ago. We were then invited to go to an upper room especially set aside as a prayer room. As we all prayed and meditated silently we could here another group singing "It Is Well" down below. We soon came to find out those were grand or great grandchildren of Horatio Spafford himself paying a visit to this House of Prayer in Jerusalem.

From the water tanks I got a good shot of Tim cleaning and organizing the roof of the church.

The floor refinishers arrived today to polish the floors while we were eating outside and visiting the House of Prayer next door, The walls, ceilings and now even the floors shine.

The entry way to the basement that was dingy and water damaged when we arrived is bright and fresh. The doors are shiny with a new black finish and gold crosses.

Here is one of the classrooms that was multiple colors and in need of some serious work. Now it is bright and clean with a fresh new look.

Here is the basement great room from the hallway leading to the nursery and the rest of the building.

The nursery floor was put down days ago but the baseboard was finally glued into place today. A play rug and box of toys is against the wall ready to start making this room inviting and interesting for children to use.

Here is one of many stairwells, our paint crew freshened up yesterday and today.

Here is one last shot of the hallway leading to the main bathrooms of the church.

There is fresh paint and re-installed lights in the bathrooms. Soap dispensers and other improvements and upgrades also took place in these rooms.

Late in the day Shahade, Doc and Kenny poured concrete in a pot hole just outside the hallway that leads to the bathrooms pictured above.

Everyone on the team was involved in bringing these and many other projects to completion today. After supper Jeff was putting finishing touches on the gold crosses on the front of the church right up until time to go back to the hotel.

Tonight after dinner Tim and Connie presented gifts of appreciation from the team to the Twal family.There are a couple little girls many of us would like to bring home to Ohio, but we would settle for a visit from them when they are on deputation in the near future.

The work may be finished but the trip is not. There are still some adventures and many miles to travel before we are home. Stay tuned for the final stretch of our trip to Israel. I must wrap up for tonight. We have a short night sleep since we get the privilege of experiencing a second "spring forward" as Israel goes onto daylight savings time at 2 AM tomorrow morning. So, goodnight for now.