Castle Renovations!

 

Many of you are aware that our Bible Institute is located on a beautiful 77-acre castle property. While we are incredibly blessed to have such a treasured, historic, and beautiful castle, it is gigantic responsibility. It takes a lot of work, time, and money to keep up a 116-year-old castle. Word of Life Hungary is undergoing a huge renovation of several aspects to the castle, including many of the guest rooms, the glass atrium, and most recently, the hardwood floors. The Hungarian government will only allow certified restorationists to complete many of these renovation projects, however, we were able to save Word of Life about $2,500 by tearing up the old hardwood floors ourselves. Several of the WOL Hungary staff got involved with this effort, including Paul and I. As missionaries, we wear many hats: counselor, teacher, administrator, cook, chauffeur, etc. Never in my life did I think to add demolisher to the list! But now I can! 

Check out these before and after pictures...

The gold ballroom before the demolition.

As you can see, these floors have been through a lot!

Isn't he a cutie?!

Underneath the hardwood was a layer of subfloor.

The castle floors as they stand today. Not bad for a day's work!

After tearing up the subfloor near the castle stairs, we found out that there was absolutely no base holding this gigantic staircase! The stairs were simply resting on the dirt beneath and the hardwood on top. It’s amazing that they never collapsed! The guys got busy setting a brick base below the stairs so they would have some kind of support in the meantime. God has been so good to protect us all these years. Can you imagine if they had buckled?!

 

 

Please pray for WOL Hungary as we follow God’s leading on many of these restoration ventures. Pray that the Lord would provide the necessary funds from supporters and government grants. Pray that we can be a testimony of Christ’s love to the many workers involved in the restoration process. And pray that when it’s all said and done, we can give God the glory for a job well done, and a facility that can be used as a means by which to spread the Gospel through our many visitors, campers, and students.