DOWNstairs UPdate

….everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem. -Ezra 1: 5b

After a very busy couple of weeks, the renovation project is taking a breathe, though not a nap, for a few days. Larry and Paul were in framing windows today. Its been an interesting time of intersections.  Most of this weeks' workers are being fed by Sara Munson over at Camp Mechuwana (thumbs up on the pizza).  Buzz, who reconfigured our spare front door, is one of our UMVIM co-workers from the Slidell, LA site, though he calls Ohio home. 
     Dusty (an apt name for meeting over a pile of drywall shavings) came with a group from Pembrooke, VA. His pastor and yours discovered a beloved mutual friend.  This group also made the glad discovery that The Apple Shed is now offering nichey cupcakes-yum.

Meanwhile, Jeff and I spent a day with cousin Tom, also from Ohio, a student at the wooden boat school (Ask me for a look at the bronze cast ammonite he made me!).  Tom supports a village outside Port au Prince, Haiti and caught us up on life there. 
Can you follow the lines of Methodist connection being drawn?
       We arrived back in Readfield just in time to join the Wed. night crew:  staining, measuring (2x) & cutting (1x) heating covers, sweeping up dry wall dust, prepping window wells.  The storm didn't keep a dozen from ages 12 to ??? from pitching in. We're now up to 49 pairs of helping hands.  You can add yours Thursday night, July 14, as we clean up in time for this Sat's supper.  Stop by and say hi to this week's Ohio missioners too.  They'll be building a new ramp into the Jesse Lee Meeting House.
     Millard Fuller once wrote, "Maybe, just maybe, God wants to use "the theology of the hammer" as a means to draw His divergent family closer together.  Perhaps God is calling us to issue a joint invitation to "the strangers" of this world to come in and enjoy the abundant life that Jesus said he came to bring."