Our mission project in Tucson is focused solely on Santa Clara UMC, formerly Hope UMC. This church has been struggling for years as the community surrounding the church has become increasingly hispanic. The old church basically died out and efforts to save it by attempting to blend the old and the new community, failed. The former pastor was sent to another church and the current pastor who was hired to minister to the hispanic portion of the congregation was asked to take over. So basically, this church is now a new startup and the pastor is attempting to create a bilingual congregation. The church has intense needs in terms of maintainence and general care but little in the way of monetary or volunteer support. They have a good size complex with several addtional buildings and land that provide a great opportunity to minister to this community. There are issues with gang activity surrounding the church and ongoing vandalism to be prevented and repaired. Much of the campus is overgrown and neglected but the potential is there. We pray we may be able to address the needs of this church as seen by it's pastor and trustees and as we have opportunity.
Our NOMADS crew for 3 weeks are: Paul, Shirley, & Jane in front from the left and Bill, Bev, Jodi, Stel and Jim from the left in back.
First, we are underneath the stage where supplies are stored. I, being the smallest of the "strong" ones got to go under there and hand out the boxes of tile and bags of grout to others to move to the area for installation.
Paul handed them to the next,
and Jim loaded them on the cart.
Meanwhile, Shirley, Jane and Bev, worked with the pastor to check the usability of the paint on hand.
Bill and Jodi started cleaning out the cracks in the parking lot (some were 4" deep and 2" wide) so that they could be filled with asphalt patch.
Stel, and Jim, with the help of Paul's hammer drill, installed framing over door panels left after addition of the lobby some years ago. It was the Pastor's wish that these walls be made to look more like walls, so that is what we are doing.
Shirley, Jane and Bev began repairing the ceiling in the food pantry and painting the walls to make the area more presentable for delivery to the needy as they arrived.
Stel and Jim added the drywall to the framing and then textured the walls prior to painting.
Paul is adding Kilz to water stains on the sanctuary ceiling with the hopes of saving the ceiling tile since it cannot be replaced.
Bill continues with the parking lot patching.
Jim and Jane are painting the door trim on the sancturary side all the doors & windows.
Bev is painting over the graffiti on the outside doors.
Jodi is working with Rachel, who manages the food pantry, to clean and restock the newly painted food pantry.
Whenever we get a moment, we pull weeds on the property as is Jane in this instance.
Stel and Jim are patching holes in the walls of the kitchen,
and then painting the damaged wall,
Jane and Jim are painting the newly framed walls next to the lobby.
Bill, patched the walls in the youth building and now he is texturing the walls to match the existing finish,
with the help of Bev and Stel.
Another moment to pull weeds, this time it's Bev.
Here, Stel and Jane think they will remove this tumble-weed at the end of the work week.
This Sunday, Friendship International brought a group of singers from Chile to the church and performed for a full house with visitors. It was a wonderful service and we all had lunch together in the sanctuary after the service
Phase I of the service involved Chilean folk songs all in Spanish.
Phase II involed mostly English contemporary music.
We accomplished a great deal more than we have pictured so far but have a great deal more yet to do. We are looking forward to accomplishing the goals of this congregation and more if possible.
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