How We Got Here

Whilst all the work was going on inside, work was also being done outside: clearing rubble, loading the trailer to get rid of all the unwanted wood, painting the eaves and so on.

And since it was a lovely sunny day, there were even tea breaks and ice-cream breaks outside!

Teamwork is a buzz word these days. I’m sure you’ve all seen the acrostic
Together
Everyone
Achieve
More

and there are a host of other quotes about the virtues of working together:

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” (Ryunosuke Satoro)

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” (Henry Ford)

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” (Anonymous)

or… in the words of ‘Think Geek’, “Teamwork: a few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction”!!

Whatever your view of teamwork, there’s no doubt that people have been working together at St Mark’s and we’ve certainly achieved more together than we could on our own:

Cleaning the scaffolding after use:

Here, we’re trying to prove that even the older members of our church have to work hard!!

(Corny post titles courtesy of the paint sprayers…)
Work on the main hall:

Working from the scaffolding:

It wasn’t all hard work, apparently!

Getting there…

It’s all about teamwork!

Can you see the polar bear in the blizzard?!

Next week we will be painting the bottom third of the main hall a magnolia colour and then we have to get on with the electrics and heating in this room.

So, the big job on Saturday was starting to paint the main church hall. The transformation here is amazing: from peeling plaster and bricked up windows to smooth plaster to painted walls… We were able to borrow a paint-spraying machine, just the thing to turn drudgery into fun!

Here are our paint-spraying heroes (complete with tape…):

Testing the area:

We have bought our own scaffolding; here it’s being put to good use:

Ongoing work on both the inside & outside! The disabled toilet:

The ladies’ toilets:

Clearing more rubble:

The outside gate with the beautifully painted cross:

The cross on the main front of the building has also been painted:

This walk surely has been a ‘walk of faith’. But the faithfulness of God has been seen from long before obtaining St Mark’s became even a pipe dream. From nearly 20 years ago God has been saying things like, “This place is not big enough”, and “I will do things in your lifetime that you would not believe if I told you”, and “I will bring people from the East, West, North and South to you”. Over those years we have seen our congregation shrink and then grow more than once but the promises of God have remained steadfast and true. Sometimes the “This place is not big enough” sounded like a hollow joke. But then came the early vision of St Mark’s and as the years passed, we knew that God really would have to do some unbelievable things.

And He has!

We have St Mark’s. But like the Israelites crossing the Jordan and entering the Promised Land, the journey is just beginning. No doubt we will have some glorious experiences in God and no doubt we will have some setbacks. But in it all we will progress to take hold of that which God has promised and which He will achieve (“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Phil 3:12.) For St Mark’s is not our church; it is not our building – it belongs to the Lord God Almighty and we just have the enormous privilege of being part of what He is doing in this small part of the world.

The above post was sent by the former pastor of the church who is still an elder here and a very active member of the church. It’s good to know that this long-term perspective looks back to all God has promised and ahead to all that is yet to come.