Netherlands 2010 – Day 2
Our second day in the Netherlands brought on a quick morning breakfast, and then a trip to the local church for Sunday morning service. We were warmly greeted by the congregation, and we got to hear an awesome word delivered by the church’s pastor.
After returning back to the Teen Challenge center, we had a quick lunch, prepared by Stephan himself! Afterwards, we decided to get right to work, and began installing the scaffolding which would be needed to gain access to the roof that we would be replacing. As the afternoon grew later, and the scaffolding was completed, a volleyball game was started out in one of the fields on the property. Soon, all of the team members were playing along with the men in the TC program. We played on for a few hours…in the midst of the ongoing rain and cloudy skies. By the end of the night, we were all soaked, but had an awesome experience spending time with group.
Netherlands 2010 – Day 1
Day 1 kicked off with the team leaving NYC late Friday night, excited to get to work at Teen Challenge Netherlands. We arrived Saturday morning in Amsterdam, where we met Stephan Barendse, the director of the Teen Challenge center. We made a quick stop at his father’s church, “Keerpunt”, where a BrickThink team had worked in 2008. While there, we had the chance to see the work that the team had completed, and also hear about the amazing things that God is doing in and through the Church in Amsterdam. After we left Keerpunt, we took a quick drive through Amsterdam, and we were on our way to Teen Challenge Netherlands, located in a town named Veelerveen.
Upon arriving, we were greeted with open arms by the men in the Teen Challenge program. We had dinner with the group, then had a chance to see the grounds of the Center and take our first glimpse of the work in front of us…which involved ripping an entire clay roof, repairing the framing, then reinstalling a brand new roof!
Texas 2010 Edits: Chairs and Longhorns
On one of our last days in Texas we helped finish moving the church to prepare for the Easter Sunday service in the morning, but then had a wonderful opportunity in the afternoon to get a good taste of Texas, a tour guided by a local. We were taken to the coast to see the beach, to a really live Texas long horn ranch and even got to sample some great Texas Bar-B-Q. We finished off the night by helping set up for the Easter sunrise service at the local rodeo.
Texas 2010 Edits: Moving 4 Square Church
While we were in Texas we not only built houses to send to Haiti, but had the opportunity to serve the local church in helping them prepare their building for their first service there (Easter Sunday!). We spent a couple of days serving them and helping get everything ready for their big day. Our day included a trip to the dump, moving chairs, sweeping, moping, shoveling and much more. Here are some shots from our day with the church:
Texas 2010 Edits: Building Houses for Haiti II
Here are some more shots from our second day of house building in Texas:
Texas 2010 Edits: Building Houses for Haiti
I’m just now sitting down to start editing the Texas 2010 trip from back in March/April and can’t wait to share it with you all. Here are a few shots from the first day of house building that we did there. It was such an amazing trip, and it was wonderful to see what an impact can be made around the world from our own backyard!
Central Asia 2010: Day 7
Today was officially the last day of hard labor. We were almost able to complete three bathrooms. All three rooms have the same type of tiles, but in different colors. One room is green, the other blue, and the last brown.
In the midst of tiling, one of our tilers who is a “wood work specialist” AKA carpenter took on another job. He began building shelves for the sewing center. When the transition center is completed and the sewing center is filled with the appropriate tools, they will be able produce beautiful pieces of fabric.
One of our team members has spent the last three days at the special needs orphanage. The children who live in the orphanage will eventually move to the transition home when they turn 18 years of age. The orphanage is amazing to say the least. We’ll all go there tomorrow because the children have prepared to put on a program for us.
Hopefully we’ll be able to put up some pictures soon. It may happen when we get back to NY…which is only a few days from now.
Central Asia 2010: Day 4
It took us about 3 days to get here, and it was quite a journey.
Sunday was our rest day. We went to see the work site which is an incredible building. The whole team is amazed at how the work of this transition home is progressing. After visiting the worksite, we went to a football game. By football, I mean soccer.
On Monday, we started working. Our group has been asked to tile 8 bathrooms, make some shelving for a sewing room, and some do some wood work for a sensory room. It seems the first day is always a bit slow, but by the end of it we developed a rythym.
Today is work day number 2. I am on my way to meet the team. It’s about 7AM in Tuesday morning.
Central Asia 2010: Day 1
Today a group of 6 will be heading off to Central Asia. We’re five guys and a girl getting ready to do some tiling work for a transition home for special needs orphans. I’ve packed my knee pads, work gloves, back strap, sponges and some other tools. Do I know how to tile? Well absolutely not, but I hope to learn since I’m traveling with 5 guys who have experience tiling.
We have a very long lay over in Moscow…which will be interesting i’m sure.
BrickThink in East Harlem, NY
East Harlem Fellowship, a ministry of Times Square Church was in need of some remodeling due to their growing number of attendees. Pastor Hector who pastors this church asked BrickThink volunteers if we could come help reorganize their small space. So we went to check it out and thought “wow this would make a great free missions trip”. Key word being “free” so anyone who ever wanted to go on a BrickThink trip but can’t cause of the cost could go on this trip. All you need is a metrocard and a set of hands ready to work.
So that’s how it started!
Yesterday completed day 3 and the focus has been demo and clean up. It’s amazing how much fun it can actually be when you rip things apart. We ended up having so much fun that we took apart a wall that wasn’t suppose to come down and had to build it up again. We’ve been cleaning overhead pipes and the walls of the entire space. Once that’s done we’ll paint the walls and ceiling with primer. Some of us have been patching up holes in the main sanctuary area and getting that ready for primer and paint.
Andrew and David our two professionals are concentrating on the back wall of the building because…well it requires a lot of work!
We’ll post pictures up soon, so come along with us and let’s see how it turns out.