Back in December, while the 2nd and 3rd floors were still under construction, Lucia Munoz asked me if I would make a cross for the 3rd floor chapel. Ever since that visit, I have wondered how I would make a morticed joint cross, like I usually make, with three dowels to signify the Trinity gluing the overlapping pieces together. Since tools are not readily available in Guatemala, I wondered how this could be done. Upon my arrival for our May mission, Lucia reminded me about the cross. For three days we searched for some dry wood that would be suitable for building the cross. On June 1st, I asked Russ Little if he would help me build a cross for the chapel. Lucia said we could use the wood flooring left over once the chapel floor was installed. She said it was being stored on the 2nd floor where the new commercial teaching kitchen will be located. As Russ and I entered the room, I noticed there were several pieces of wood left over from the end cuts of the 3rd floor flooring. An idea became an inspiration for a cross. I went through the pieces and selected pieces for each location on the cross.
The knots are located in the vicinity of where nails were used to secure Jesus on the cross. The heel ledge was added to show where Jesus would have placed his heels as his feet were nailed to the cross. By using individual pieces a thought entered my mind. “Individually, we are weak! Combined with God, we are united and strong!” I handed the selected pieces to Russ and we placed them on the floor to get a rough idea of how it might look. When we had the pieces in place, we carried them down to cut and assemble. We used glue and wooden strips vertically behind the sections and screwed them to the individual pieces. We added strips to secure the left and right horizontal pieces of the cross. Once the glue dried, Russ and I decided that it was “earthquake proof” since these occur often in Guatemala. We then added double heavy wire to the back side screwed into the blocks. We installed two locking anchors into the wall and added screws to rest the wires behind the screw heads. Russ and Tanner Morris worked to install the anchors then place the cross on the anchors. The cross is placed in the center of the room which coincidently is directly over the Prayer Chapel door. On a clear day, one can see volcano Santa Maria from the Prayer Chapel. This is a very majestic landmark in the area. The Prayer Chapel is a place where anyone can go to seek peace while having prayerful conversation with God.
The chapel will be an area for hopefully scheduled church services when furnished. Teams can use for a devotional meeting and a place to share experiences where God has spoken to them during their daily activities.
Blessings,
Papa Grande (a.k.a. Steve Fulton)
Our next trip to ACD Guatemala will be Oct. 29-Nov. 5. The medical clinic will be offered and no medical skills are required. The cost is expected to be between $1,000 and $1600 including flights. Questions or want to sign up? Reach out to Pastor Carlisle (cjones@franklinfumc.org). See below some pics from their last trip at the end of May.