Dear Friends,Please keep praying. Thanks to your prayers and God's response, Full Circle is still open and running (Yeah!), but we have some requirements that will be pretty tough to meet, especially by the deadline we've been given.
1.
Please pray that we'll be given an extension on the deadline, currently April 15, to no less than May 15.
We are
being required to apply for a new building permit which means having plans drawn by an architect by April 15.
Neither we nor the owner of the building have the money to do this. 2.
Please pray that the Lord will provide us with an architect pro-bono.
We are also being required to have a licensed electrician come in and inspect all the work that has been done and complete any further work to be done. We aren't concerned about the work being up to code, it has all been done under the direction of a licensed Master Electrician, but he cannot sign off on the paperwork for us because he doesn't own the company where he is licensed and they would not be willing to be legally liable for the electrical system in such an old building.
3.
Please pray that the Lord will bring us a licensed electrician or electrical company that will be willing to sign off on the electrical work. Again,
neither we nor the owner have money for accomplishing this. If the electrical system is not signed off on we would have to cease operations.
4.
Please pray that the owner, a pastor's wife in her 90's, and her daughter, will be in agreement with us and her son who manages the building for her that
the old piano that is rotted and the old non-working organ can be disposed of so that we can comply with the building inspector's requirement of having free and easy access to the exits. It has been hard for Mrs. Olson to let go of things that hold so many good memories for her.
5.
Please pray that we'll have the manpower and the insight needed to complete the moving of everything for 3 ft. clearance on all sides of the electrical box (in our main storage area) and
for the re-arranging of significantly heavy hospital wardrobes, piano, organ, and lots of old chairs and stuff that will have to go. We do need to have this completed by April 15. We also need to re-arrange my office to keep things out of the flooding water and make it easier to mop up when it is leaking.
6.
Please pray for
strength and insight on what to do about the current flooding we've been having in my office and in the large main room. It has taken two men working constantly with shop vac and janitors mop to keep from ruining everything. Four of our guys worked until almost 1:00am Saturday night to keep up with the water pouring in from the heavy rain that night.
The owner thought that the installation of the rain garden on that side of the building would have taken care of the problem. It was designed to do so. But it obviously hasn't worked. It seems that what would be needed now is to dig out all around that side of the building to the bottom of the foundation and seal-coat the whole thing. The owner said that we would need a backhoe to do that and the expense is out of range for them (and for us). But God may have a solution in mind, so please pray.
I am so thankful that the water didn't start running in until after we finished worship Saturday night!7. Please
praise God with us that we have a building inspector who is reasonable to work with and that he did not close our doors.
8. Also
please pray for our upcoming inspection from the Health Department. I must return a call to them today to set up a time for the health department inspection.
9.
Most of all, please pray that the city will allow the Lord to do whatever He wants to do in this church building, department by department and person by person of all the city departments we will have to deal with before this is over.
10. And pray that we'll have wisdom and patience, being enabled to deal with all involved showing the love of Jesus to them as they inspect us and set limitations and make demands that may be difficult for us to meet. Pray that we'll remember that the battle belongs to the Lord.
My love to you all,
In Jesus,
Sherry Oliver
cell ph. 608-577-3264
