Update 8/30/07
Sisters and Brothers
We have good news, a bit of hard facts and more great news.
Our church project is officially moving forward! We have the state plan release and a written response to our plans from the Warsaw Plan Department. The Warsaw Plan department and our architect intend to have our full building permit issued within the next week or so. We have had the foundation release for several weeks and plan to start digging shortly.
If you have not been out to the site, this aerial photograph shows our church building site all ready for the foundation. The steel building is due onsite the week of September 24.
We are closing in on the final prices for our project within our architect's estimate and within our proposed banking arrangements but a little more of a stretch for us than we had intended. The elders are considering some additional arrangements. Please continue pray for us during this really challenging time.
It is a little like building a home, when you find out what think you want is going to cost, you step back and consider what is really needed and is there a simpler way to get it done. But this project really is a lot more like the first two chapters of Nehemiah. Nehemiah knew the Lord wanted His people to move forward to build but having looked at the situation and considered the cost, he also saw that if it were going to be done, it was going the take the Lord to accomplish it. Ten years down the road, we will look back and marvel how the Lord accomplished it and used this tool for His purposes, our ministry.
We must also tell you that we are continuing to pare the bottom line. Our brick supplier found that his brick manufacturer has a production overrun of a specialized brick from a much larger project. The brick, intended for commercial purposes, is longer than a standard brick. We will need about 40% fewer of these bricks and will require less work in laying them. They have enough of those bricks for our project available at a dramatically reduced price. Larry and I examined that brick sample on Wednesday. It is a match with our architect's finish recommendation for our project. Some might say that we " just lucked out". We are here to tell you that luck has nothing to do with it - the Lord is in charge of His project, not us. The savings in both brick and masonry costs is worth a person's annual wages.
Several of our sub-contractor final prices still are not complete, a good thing for them to work through God's timing in determining their Gifts in Kind for our project. One of our subs has been out of town completing another large project and just has not had time to seriously consider their GIK for our project. Our excavator gave us the idea of using recycled asphalt as a way to pare paving costs. The city has given us some options on this same issue. We are currently working out those details.
Our general contractor still plans to have the steel shell up, enclosed and the brick on by early to mid November.
We will have two construction trailers onsite for our project. One for the usual construction management, the other for our "Ministry of Construction". We will use this trailer for occasionally serving meals and ministering to our construction workers along with a place to keep our hard hats etc. for our volunteer laborers. We currently have a cooler on-site stocked with bottled water for worker use.
Do come out to the building site, if you can, to spend a little while praying that God's will be done and that His hand will be evident to all.
Larry and Dave
We have good news, a bit of hard facts and more great news.
Our church project is officially moving forward! We have the state plan release and a written response to our plans from the Warsaw Plan Department. The Warsaw Plan department and our architect intend to have our full building permit issued within the next week or so. We have had the foundation release for several weeks and plan to start digging shortly.
If you have not been out to the site, this aerial photograph shows our church building site all ready for the foundation. The steel building is due onsite the week of September 24.We are closing in on the final prices for our project within our architect's estimate and within our proposed banking arrangements but a little more of a stretch for us than we had intended. The elders are considering some additional arrangements. Please continue pray for us during this really challenging time.
It is a little like building a home, when you find out what think you want is going to cost, you step back and consider what is really needed and is there a simpler way to get it done. But this project really is a lot more like the first two chapters of Nehemiah. Nehemiah knew the Lord wanted His people to move forward to build but having looked at the situation and considered the cost, he also saw that if it were going to be done, it was going the take the Lord to accomplish it. Ten years down the road, we will look back and marvel how the Lord accomplished it and used this tool for His purposes, our ministry.
We must also tell you that we are continuing to pare the bottom line. Our brick supplier found that his brick manufacturer has a production overrun of a specialized brick from a much larger project. The brick, intended for commercial purposes, is longer than a standard brick. We will need about 40% fewer of these bricks and will require less work in laying them. They have enough of those bricks for our project available at a dramatically reduced price. Larry and I examined that brick sample on Wednesday. It is a match with our architect's finish recommendation for our project. Some might say that we " just lucked out". We are here to tell you that luck has nothing to do with it - the Lord is in charge of His project, not us. The savings in both brick and masonry costs is worth a person's annual wages.
Several of our sub-contractor final prices still are not complete, a good thing for them to work through God's timing in determining their Gifts in Kind for our project. One of our subs has been out of town completing another large project and just has not had time to seriously consider their GIK for our project. Our excavator gave us the idea of using recycled asphalt as a way to pare paving costs. The city has given us some options on this same issue. We are currently working out those details.
Our general contractor still plans to have the steel shell up, enclosed and the brick on by early to mid November.
We will have two construction trailers onsite for our project. One for the usual construction management, the other for our "Ministry of Construction". We will use this trailer for occasionally serving meals and ministering to our construction workers along with a place to keep our hard hats etc. for our volunteer laborers. We currently have a cooler on-site stocked with bottled water for worker use.
Do come out to the building site, if you can, to spend a little while praying that God's will be done and that His hand will be evident to all.
Larry and Dave
posted by Jack |
7:11 PM
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