23 May, 2018

It’s all about the WINDOWS!

Our departure from breakfast was a bit lazier than the past couple of days.  We are beginning to get weary of ‘doing windows’. But, we do have another project that a few folks then got out of doing windows all day. Tomáš, Ľuboš, and Benjamin Chandler talked to us about the drama that will be a part of Anniversary Celebration and that there are cardboard props and other set parts that they want us to help build.  Bob, Rich, Erik and KJ went to the ‘set design studio’ (aka an un-occupied classroom for the next 3 days!) to cut out and paint cardboard props. It actually was fun to use cardboard and tempura paint again!  Benjamin is a wonderful artist who drew out the props of the cardboard, and the rest of us cut and painted.

In the meantime the rest of the Elite Eleven unloaded all the windows !!again!! from the Bible School hallways outside for them to get the ‘flip side’ taped and painted.  As the morning went on, the paint was dry enough to remove the tape from the glass. Julie and Jeff were now in the ‘finishing station’, using a razor blade to peel off paint from the glass, and touch up any spots where the tape pulled off the paint.  They managed to about 20 windows ready to wash and hang for tomorrow!! Otherwise, Jan, Mary, Erik, Mark & Corrine all diligently painted windows today. Cheryl was ‘banned’ to the west side of the Bible School building to paint 3 windows that had not been painted in decades!  The windows were in the boiler room, so we decided she had been banned to painting in Saudi Arabia! She did a great job despite bad working conditions and worse wood conditions to paint on. Five 8th graders stopped to ask what they could do to help, so we put them to work taking masking tape off of the painted windows.  That was a huge help as the day wore on.

There were 10 windows with broken glass, which Bob, Mark, and Jeff worked on yesterday to remove the broken glass and hard glazing.  Today, Jaro, one of the custodians, got the pre-cut glass and installed all the new glass in the window frames!! Tomorrow those windows will get glazed, and perhaps then on Saturday they will get painted.  There is a light at the end of this tunnel! THANKS TO the ELITE ELEVEN for their tenacity and their willingness to be interrupted and interact with the Slovak kids that so want to practice their English.

We took a few minutes out of the afternoon to take in the church ladies ‘Sewing Club’ hand work.  They have been meeting for 25 years for a couple of hours each week to do their handwork, and give each other support.  The proceeds of their sales goes back to purchasing sewing supplies and the rest is given to the church. And their kolačkies were exceptional as well!

We ended today a wee bit early to then take the city bus to Mošovce, to have dinner at Tomáš & Slavka Gulánová house.  Tomáš barbequed for us a delicious and delightful meal of meatloaf, chicken strips and roasted veggies. It’s always a good evening to get out of the city and see the countryside... and those amazing tree-covered mountains.

Dear God... we thank you for again keeping us safe in our work.  We delight in YOU allowing us to share your love with our Slovak brothers and sisters of all ages!