Tellout Evangelism Resources and HiVu Antique Photos Galleries
| Next | Previous | Contact Ron | Ron's Blog | Index | Tellout Home |
Church Work Day 64
It was now a joyful hive of activity for us all. The contractor built the frame. Our gang of eager volunteers, who were mostly ranchers and engineers, shoveled concrete for the sidewalks, painted, lifted and hauled. One man, a tall straight ex-Army Colonel from South Dakota, named Joe Pirsch, had worked especially hard and sometime later I was enthusiastically commending him for his efforts. Drawing me to one side, he quietly scolded me in defense. "Why," he protested, "I didn't do this for self praise. I fought alongside some good men in the last war. This work has simply been my offering to God. I am thankful for the memory of my friends! Many of them perished, but I was spared!"
Others were blessed during this project too. The contractor, whose name was Enoch, became one of our backbone members at the church. Every Sunday he took his place as regular as clockwork in the very front pew. After the tedious negotiations over costs were completed, he told me with a wry grin, "You surely made it hard for me. That fourteen men building committee you appointed were like the Pentagon to deal with! Questions about this item or questions about that sum of money!" St. Columba's ventured out in true missionary fashion. Later it established another new congregation a few miles away at Thousand Oaks, called St. Patrick's after another Celtic saint. All this came about in the first instance because a few Christian parents wanted a good Sunday School for their children and were prepared to work for it!
"Organised like the Pentagon"
| ^Top Page | Next | Previous |