WORSHIP CENTER UPDATE

Wow, things are moving so quickly up at the building that these pictures are already outdated. Things are moving very quickly!!! These pictures show the panels arriving. The building is constructed in sections called "panels."

They sat in the ballfield for a while, but work began almost right away on setting them up, and finaslly things are beginning to look like a real, live, honest-to-goodness building up there.

Camp Maranatha is blessed by the most amazing community of volunteers. Just about every weekend someone or some group of people come up to help with the building. Back during the teen march retreat we needed help backfilling the retaining wall along the eastern side of the building. Pictured above are the Vinings (left) and Walt Shirley (right) who spent a considerable amount of time working on the project. You've got to love volunteers, not only for what they do, but also for the spirit with which they do it. Just amazing!

One shovel full at a time.

Then we convinced the March Retreat to help with the wall as a service project.

Here's Captain Dave. He's the sort of Captain that would never ask his crew to do something that he wouldn't also do.

But sometimes the crew isn't as good about doing what Captain Dave does. There is still some backfilling to do, but they got the lion's share of it done, which is a huge relief.

Then the panels starting going up.

It's going to be a very tall building.

The peak of it's roof will be twice as tall as the Mt San Jacinto Chapel, which is right next door.

It is so exciting to see it coming together.

The next step was to hang sheets of concrete that closely resemble plywood (but weigh a lot more) to the outside of the building. More on that in the next installment.

EAGLE SIGHTING AT CAMP MARANATHA!!!

Rick Weibe, one of our favorite MMAPers, served as project coordinator during the Month of February. Rick is a gifted carver, who generously agreed to use his time here to carve a beautiful eagle, which will eventually grace the entrance to the new Eagle Mountain Tabernacle.

It was really fun to take a stroll up there everyday to see the progress on the Eagle.

I asked Rick he he did it, and he said, "You just take everything off that doesn't look like an eagle."

Looks pretty good, eh?

Rick burned the portions of the eagle that should be black.

Here's Rick with his wife, Helen. Thanks guys!!!

NEW WORSHIP CENTER UPDATE

Yesterday morning I woke up to the sound of trucks rumbling past the house. It was the day of the big pour!!! All day long a steady stream of cement mixers and work trucks entered and exited the grounds.

On my way down to the office I walked past the worksite to snap a few photos. I found the crew hard at work. I watched for a while- long enough to decide that I never want to be employed pouring cement. That looks like very hard work.

They poured cement into the retaining wall at the same time they poured the slab. This guy went along the top with this device which vibrates inside the wall, compacting the cement and working out any air that might be trapped inside.

The job was big enough that they had to rent a special truck to do the job. I believe it was called a boom pump, or something like that (again, pardon my lack of technical language). Basically it sent cement through this big arm and dropped it right where it was needed.

Here's how it worked. The cement mixer would back up to the pump truck...

...Where the cement was poured in.

Then it was pumped up through the arm (which was incredibly long)...

...until it plopped out at this guy's feet.

As the cement was poured, the crew worked hard to even it out.

Until the pour was complete they always had a couple of cement mixers waiting in the wings with a fresh load of cement. the cement never stopped coming until the entire slab had been poured. It was a very efficient operation.

After the slab had been poured, and was firm enough to walk on, they brought out these machines which look like a cross between something you might see on Star Wars and one of those boats with the big fan mounted on the back zipping through the Florida Everglades. I'm not sure what they're called or exactly what their purpose was, but I do know that they looked like the most fun part of the job. In fact, I would have paid money to zip around on one.

In order for the cement to cure properly, keith ran warm water through it overnight. It snowed a little, just a dusting, but when I came out this morning the lab looked to be in perfect shape.

What an exciting day!!! We were so grateful that it didn't rain, and this stage of the building is now done. Now, like never before, you can really get a sense of the size and feel of the building. I'll keep you posted as new developments occur.