Week of March 19 - 25, 2006

Week of March 12 - 18, 2006

Week of March 5 - 11, 2006

Week of Feb 26 - March 4, 2006

Week of Feb 19 - 25, 2006

Week of Feb 12 - 18, 2006

Week of January 22 - 28, 2006

Week of January 15 - 21, 2006

Week of January 8 - 14, 2006

Week of January 1 - 7, 2006

Week of December 11 - 17, 2005

Week of December 11 - 17, 2005

Week of December 4 - 10, 2005

Week of November 13 - 19, 2005

Week of October 23 - 92, 2005

Week of October 16 - 22, 2005

Week of October 9 - 15, 2005

Week of October 3 - 9, 2005

During the past week we completed all the work needed to start hanging drywall in the educational wing. We are waiting for the alarm system to be installed and we will be ready to go. God provided an unexpected blessing at the close of the week: the wiring and equipment for the phone system in the church was given to us. I was stunned. God is so good, and I thank Him for the servant He used for this blessing. On Saturday, the first layer of asphalt for the parking lot was laid. It looks great! It will be finished in the next couple of days. On Saturday we also finished all the exterior brick work for the building. The ladies of the church especially made this their project. They did a fantastic job!

Week of September 26 - 30 , 2005

The building project is progressing well. We now have a steeple attached to the roof of the building! From the responses we have received, that act alone seems to indicate to folks in town that we are here to stay. One person of the community said, “Now, everyone will know that Gretna has a Baptist Church!” We were also able to get the parking lot lights in place. We are very pleased with the coverage area and the kind of light they provide.

Weeks of August 15 - 31, 2005

The last two weeks of August were filled with lots of construction activity on the part of both our church people and the CBM missionary builders. All the interior rooms were framed up. It is amazing what a difference that made in the look of available space we will have for ministry once the project is completed. All the doors and windows were hung, so now we are able to lock up the building when no is working in it. We can also keep working now regardless of what the weather is like outside. Much of the work on the portico was completed. It was framed up, trusses were set, and it was then shingled. This will make a great area for the entrance of our building.

We also got some of the sidewalks poured, and got a good start on the brick work of the building. We are very excited about the way the project is proceeding right now, and we are getting good participation from the people of the church.

Week of August 8 - 12, 2005

A group of men and their sons from Calvary Baptist Church, in Rochester, Minnesota, did a fantastic job for us this week. They shingled the whole roof of our church building! They worked hard, all week long, and finished the job by Friday afternoon. How grateful we are for the good ministry of Pastor LaPine and the men of Calvary Baptist!

Week of August 1 - 6, 2005

Our church building now has a roof! The men worked very hard this week. First, they got all the trusses up, that by itself would have been a huge job. Second, they got the roof sheeted as well. That took quite a bit of plywood and nails to get done. To top it off, they also got all the tar paper and shingles in place. Wow! This was a huge week!

This was also our Vacation Bible School week. The Youth Group from First Baptist Church of Elyria, Ohio, under the leadership of Pastor David Burman Jr., took on all the responsibilities of our VBS this year. God used them in a powerful way. We had 84 children attend. Our biggest single day was on Friday, with 64 children. As good as that was, God had something far better. During the week, 14 children made professions of faith! 

Many of the Youth Group members also worked on the church building during the afternoons. We were very grateful for the good ministry they had among us during the week!

Week of July 25 - 30, 2005

Our building schedule got backed up a few days, primarily due to rain. That’s okay, both the rain, and the cooler weather were needed. However, we had a great team of young people from First Baptist Church of Danville, Indiana with us for the week. They had about 30 in the group and were prepared to get a lot of work done. During the week they completed several projects. They were able to get the maintenance shed shingled and sided, and get the walls for the entrance of the church building up. The youth, their sponsors, and youth pastor worked very hard and are to be commended!

Week of July 11-16, 2005

It was pretty exciting this week to see all the walls of our church building go up. With a combination of missionary builders, volunteers, and church members, far more got done than I thought possible. It is an exciting time, because what has previously only been pictured in our mind, now has actually begun to take shape. 

We are especially grateful to the college group, and their pastor, Randy Charlton, from Calvary Baptist Church of Chatfield, Minnesota. They spent the week with us, and did much of the framing work. I appreciated their spiritual maturity, and their obvious desire to be good servants of Christ.

Week of July 5 - 9, 2005 

This week, we had the youth group from Floris Baptist Church of Floris, Iowa, and their pastor, Gordon Hawkins, work at our church project for three days. They were a great group of young men and women. In that short period of time, they were able to construct our maintenance shed, which will be of great help to us in the days ahead. We thank God for their hard work and serving attitudes

Monday and Tuesday, June 27-28, 2005

On Monday and Tuesday, we poured the slab of our church building, with the generous help of a crew of men from Floris, Iowa. With their help and equipment, it made the work very easy. We arrived on the job site both days at 5:30 a.m., in order to beat the heat of the day. Both days reached the upper 90’s. The actual pouring of the concrete only took two hours each day. Having worked with concrete for a number of years, this was quite amazing to me. I had expected to be crawling home with exhaustion, but after finishing with the concrete, I think we were all still looking for something physical to do.

I was also grateful for a good group of men and women, from our congregation, who took time off from their jobs in order to help with the pour. We probably had 1/3 of the congregation represented in some way. They certainly demonstrated their willingness to take ownership of the project. I thought it was an excellent testimony for the people of our church.

It is quite exciting to walk on the floor of our church building, and imagine the hallway, auditorium, and rooms that will soon be taking shape. Although nothing is actually laid out, we all know exactly where everything will be, because we have been looking at the prints for so long. I know it probably sounds a little silly, but it was nice to just sit in the auditorium for awhile. In the week ahead, the framing of the building will begin. That will really be exciting!

Week of June 13, 2005

We had some excellent weather, here in Nebraska, during the week, which allowed us to accomplish needed, time sensitive, work on our building project. After a delay of a couple of weeks, due to rain, the men were finally able to start digging the trenches, and pouring the concrete for our footings. Praise the Lord, after a full week of steady work, the foundation of our building is now complete. It doesn’t look like much buried in the ground, but of course, we know that it is very important. We will build upon the foundation, and it will hold up our building for a long time to come.

It is exciting to stand on top of the hill, and look down on the foundation walls. With just a little imagination, you can see the building that will rest firmly upon it. Of course, there is no foundation as firm as the one you and I have, as Christians. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Foundation our faith. How good it is to rest upon, and to build our lives upon Him.

I Corinthians 3:11 provides this affirmation of truth, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” We are then challenged in verses 12-15, to be careful how we build upon the foundation of Christ, “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

Week of May 23, 2005

Two important things were accomplished this week regarding the construction of our building of worship and ministry. First, we were able to secure Builders Risk insurance that will provide general coverage for volunteer labor and the rental of equipment. It was necessary to attain this before we got started on our project. This was far more time consuming than I had thought it would be, so I am glad to be able to check it off the list.  

Second, all the grading work, to prepare the site to build on, was completed. What was at one time a hillside, is now a fairly flat section of land. I continue to be very happy about this 5.5 acre lot that the Lord provided for us. It is centrally located in Gretna, with visibility, and access from the main highway running through town. Having changed the contour of the land enables us to position our building so that it faces Angus Street. It will be hard for anyone in Gretna to miss us. 

Two tremendous blessings are associated with the grading of our property. First, the company hired to do the grading has decided to give us a very generous discount. Second, the company that we are renting our big equipment (dozer, backhoe, etc.) from, decided to allow us to use the equipment at an unbelievable rate. As you can imagine, both of these blessings put words of praise in our mouths, and huge smiles on our faces.

Saturday, May 14, 2005

This was a fairly significant day. As planned, we were able to have a great Ground-Breaking Service! 92 people came, and guess what, they all brought shovels! We truly did break ground!

A Ground-Breaking Service is a good opportunity to celebrate past blessings, and the service of good brothers and sisters in the Lord. We were able to do that. We honored eight people that had the vision for a new church in Gretna, and became part of our team back in 1997. We thank God for each of them: Robert and Marion Joslin, John and Jean Abbas, Richard and Diane Glover, and Alvin and Carolyn Engdahl. Four of these are now with the Lord. A Ground-Breaking also looks to the future. We break ground to build a place of worship, and ministry, because we believe that the Lord has a work for us to do, in His field, in the days ahead. Our prayer and aim is to use the building as a tool to reach out to, and minister to the people of Gretna, and beyond. Pastor Ron Abbas shared appropriate words from the scriptures, based on the planting of the church of Philippi. From New Testament days to our own, the gospel continues to go out, churches continue to be planted, and the lives of people are changed for eternity.

Following the Service, we enjoyed a great time of food and fellowship in the park across the street from our property. It was a cool and breezy day, but that did not keep people from staying. We were all quite warm from the excitement of the day.