Architectural Photos: Tallinn

Here are a couple photos of Tallinn. We only had an evening to take a quick look around the old town area of Tallinn. Simply beautiful!

Click here for more on the history of the city.

Architectural Photos: Tartu

Even though we worked long days, since the nights go on forever, we got to see some of the country. I thought I'd share a few photos of the architecture that showcases some of the beauty and history evident in the buildings and surroundings.

 Several guys commented that they felt like they were
in "Call of Duty" looking at this building.

 It is believed that the first settlements in what is now Tartu dates
to as early as the 5th century but the first documented record
of the area was made in 1030. Some deep history in this city!

 The town square was awesome! We walked to the
square and ate most of our dinners here.

This was about 11pm on our walk back to the hotel after dinner.

 Restored Ukrainian Auto, a Zaporozhets.

Project: Fascia boards

The largest project and the one that took the most cooperation among the team was the preparation of fascia boards to frame the top of the building.

When we arrived the walls were being finished with a stucco material most of the way up the sides. The tops of the walls were exposed blocks of styrofoam insulation. Our job was to prepare furniture-grade plywood sheets to cover the foam. These sheets, once professionally finished and weather-sealed would both protect this foam from the elements as well as an an architectural feature.

The plywood sheets will extend...

... all the way ...

... around the building

The first step was to add furring strips around the top of the building so that we would have something strong enough to mount the heavy plywood sheets to.

David prepared the custom measured furring strips.

Lloyd practially lived on the ladder for several days nailing up the strips.

Bob spent almost all of his time working over the side of the roof, first attaching the tops of the strips and later helping with the positioning of the plywood sheets.

The process of preparing the plywood sheets begins.

The first sheet goes up. Two men on the roof would lift each sheet into position  by pulling on ropes attached to  sheetrock "carry-alls". These men would have to hold the boards steady while other men called out instructions for leveling the boards and once leveled hold them perfectly still while they were screwed into place. The first few boards went up slowly and awkwardly as each person on the team refined their techniques. We eventually became quite proficient at the task and could do it quite quickly.

A plywood sheet gets moved into position.

Two people would work from below centering the board, identfying when it was level and attaching the bottom screws.

Finalizing one of the last boards

This is what the building looked like with all of the boards up. However, we had to remove the screws and lower them all back to the ground so that they could be sent to the woodworker to be professionally treated and weather-sealed. The boards did not return from the woodworker until after we left.

The back of the building showing the treated boards remounted to the building

The building already looks dramatically different from the Soviet-era community cafeteria that it started out as.

Here you can also see where they have poured a new foundation on the left side of the building on which a new foyer will be constructed.

Project: Wheelchair ramp

The Ristee Church building is based upon a structure originally from the Soviet-era. There is a ramp and stairs that no longer lead into the building. One of our projects was to add a new set of stairs and a wheelchair ramp to the back entrance of the church.

Kevin surveying the original concrete block stairs.

Jim helping with the construction of the form for the new stairs and ramp by hammering out part of the old stairs.

The concrete arrives. It was another example of the contrasts present in Estonia. The mixer was state of the art with a powered and articulated chute that the operator controlled with a wireless remote control unit.

Once poured, the concrete has to be troweled smooth before it sets.

Once the concrete sets, the form will be removed. There is a rectangular hole at the top of the steps. This is necessary to allow access to a manhole cover now underneath the steps. A removable grate will be added later that will cover the hole and act as a snow grate for people to scrape their boots to room snow in the winter.

Black Wristband

Kevin asked me to post my encounter with the security checkpoint worker in Amsterdam on our journey home last Saturday.
Background on the wristband: About 2 years ago during the series Big Church, wristbands were given out that had "Be Bold" and "Acts 4:29" inscribed on them. I have been wearing mine and also wore my wife's. When we were going thru the security checkpoint, we were asked if we were traveling alone or with a group. When we answered with a group, we were pulled aside for questions. The questions were the normal ones, did you check a bag, did you pack it, has it been out of your site, and so on. The agent also asked me the purpose of our trip, which I replied we were renovating a church in Estonia. He seemed to light up at my answer and said that was cool. Then he asked me about my wristbands. I told him what was inscribed and told him the story in Acts of the apostles praying to be bold after they had been jailed. I also gave him the North Point web site and that he could hear past messages on the site. He seemed very interested, and then asked if I had another wristband that he could have. Only having the two, I took one off and gave it to him. He seemed surprised that I would take off one of mine and give it to him, but he was very thankful. What will come from this I do not know, but I will pray everyday that this gentleman will come to know the Lord and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Back Home - More posts to come

We are all tired but home safely. We worked 10 hour (or more) days and by the time that we got back to the room to post some pictures and updates we were too tired. We will continue to post some photos and stories now that we are home so  keep checking in with us here for more on our trip. I apologize that we were unable to post more while we were there but the priority was to serve the local community so that is what we did. 

Here are a couple photos of the team on the train ride to Tallinn after a stressful (more on that later) last day of work Friday.

David and Neal taking a nap while Kevin has the 1,000 mile stare.

Lloyd, Kathy and Bob all also crashed for a bit of much needed rest.

Last full day and sendoff

Today was  our last full day of work, we have put in around 400 man hours of work at the church. Friday will be a half day of work where we will finish a few projects and then we will board a train to Tallin and spend the night there. It will be an early wake up call as we have a 6:00 a.m. flight to head home.
We had a nice sendoff by Peep and some of the members of the church. We gathered at Peep's dads house where we had a cookout and nice time of fellowship.Some of the members were dressed in red, white and blue to help us celebrate the fourth of July. I asked Peep what could we be praying for, he said for the people of Estonia, their efforts in planting two new churches in Estonia, and for Risttee to grow and to be out of debt by the end of the year.
Thanks to all of you who supported us with your gifts and prayers. We have all been blessed, as were the members of Risttee. We have had 4 great days of weather, we may want to stay since we have heard from home how much it is raining there.