Remodeling at EFM Headquarters in Bedford!

Not everyone is willing to get their hands dirty, but this crew was! I am always profoundly impressed with anyone who is willing to do the dirty work, the digging, the figuring out what to do, the sawing and drilling and starting projects and getting over hurdles and getting dirty and ending up with concrete dust in their hair and callouses on their hands.

At the same time Jonathan and I decided to make a fast trip back to Indiana to pick up a used skid steer that he bought at auction for his business, he remembered that just a week earlier Steve Gibson, president of Evangelistic Faith Mission, had texted asking if Jonathan could possibly help on a remodel project. Our friend Elizabeth Albertson had moved to Bedford a couple months ago to work for EFM, and needed living quarters. A corner of the office building was needing to be remodeled into a tiny apartment. Jonathan decided that he would squeeze one extra day into the business trip to help get that project started.

Beth rented a jackhammer and concrete saw and Friday evening Jonathan was jackhammering through the concrete to find the drainpipe to hook up a tub, and the next day was searching around in the ceiling for the water lines. He was able to tie plumbing into the old drain pipe, hook up the tub and then bring water lines down from the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Beth's father was using the concrete saw to cut out the old restroom door to make a bigger bathroom, and then cut another door through the cinder block wall for the bedroom. A tiny room that used to be just off the radio broadcasting room is being turned into a bedroom. I won't go into how the concrete saw quit because a belt broke, and how the guard part around the belt melted, and how the men had to figure out how to use an angle grinder to do the sawing.

Friday afternoon, Jonathan and I had to travel two and a half hours one way to Markleville, IN, to pick up the skid steer. Then more work at Bedford was done that evening. Jonathan is here checking out measurements and lighting, in this tiny room that used to have this window between it and the radio room which is now a room for video recording. I thought it so interesting to learn about the two red light bulbs out in the hall, which showed, when they were on, that the radio room was not to be disturbed because someone was preaching and being recorded on the radio.

Jonathan spent a couple hours or more Saturday morning just collecting material at Lowes nearby. And what a surprise awaited him when he was checking out and heard his name being called! It was Herb Halbert, Jonathan's old schoolmate who had been with him throughout many of his years of school. Herb lives nearby, and Jonathan had actually contacted Herb about possibly helping us on the project, but he had other plans. However, God still brought them together coincidentally! Herb offered that Jonathan could load the materials onto Herb's empty trailer, which they then unloaded together at the EFM building.

 

Stephen Delong's family came, and Stephen worked all day Saturday helping us. 

While Jonathan was busy with the drain and water lines, Stephen hung drywall in the office-turned-bedroom and helped shovel out the concrete chunks that Jonathan had jackhammered.

                                                            Talk about a  messy job!

Beth was such a willing helper to her dad. She would spray water on the angle grinder blade to keep the dust down while her dad cut through the concrete. Then she helped haul out the broken out concrete. 

I have seldom seen a girl I was more impressed with--hardworking, helpful, respectful to her parents, easy to work with, and fun, too! EFM has gotten a real gem to work there.

Beth will be helping with Shepherds Global Classroom materials as well as other office work such as with the Missionary Herald, EFM's paper. I loved being shown around the place, where 50 years worth of Missionary Heralds were being stored, ten from each year; where all the year's correspondence was stored; the shelves where each EFM missionary has their most recent newsletter, and where the office ladies addressed and labeled thousands of issues of Missionary Heralds besides all the missionaries' personal newsletters every month. Everything was neat and clean and smelled so much like a nice office--an atmosphere I really, really like. Sort of like a library.

This part of the building smelled different! Like concrete dust!!! Janet Albertson, who was painting Beth's office way down at the other end of the hall, said the men could not eat in the kitchen.

They were so dirty, they would have to eat meals outside!

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So we all ate outside with them. We made sure the hardworking men had seats at the table, and we ladies found seats afterward. If you think this picture is funny, you should have watched Beth and me helping Jonathan carry this thing out the first night we were here! It was too awkward for Jonathan to carry himself, so Beth and I quickly grabbed one side of the tank each and away we hustled!

In between helping wherever I could and taking pictures, of course, I spent several hours doing the final editing of the book I wrote for Haskell and Ina Burch, my sister-in-law Regina's parents.

Here is the cover as seen on my laptop in our guest bedroom at the EFM headquarters. 

I was able to get through it the final time and have my nephew Ezra do all the final corrections over the phone. He formatted the book for us. 

The book is at the printer right now with the first copy coming off the press any day. 

 

Another work scene.

Jonathan with little Jonathan DeLong.

Stephen DeLong helping Jonathan make sure the skid steer is chained on well before we leave that night for Illinois.

I try to let the little ones know they are valued!

                                                            What a great time we had!

And now this skid steer is already paying for itself working like crazy back here in Colorado. Jonathan was paying so much to rent skid steers every month for his business, esp. digging out foundations and water and electric line ditches, that he felt it would be better to buy one. And this one is better than the ones he rented. I watched Sam operating it just a couple days after arriving home. He was really going places with that thing, working so much faster than the rented one the guys had to use earlier.