The church building was the first building to be started at the orphanage. John felt like it was the most important. All the
work was done by hand without the help of machines. This included mixing, pouring, and leveling the concrete. John and the
other men would go down to the Rio Grande River and fill up 55 gallon drums with the river water to bring to the top of the
mesa to use for the concrete. The church was built in stages, just like the home itself. Each portion was done by groups, paid
workers, and volunteers. The zebra bus, and John's red and white pick-up, brought all the materials up to the top of the mesa
for the original construction, because no building supply or hardware store would deliver up there in those days. We
continued to use the zebra bus to pick up the church members for the services and Sunday school and finally loaned it to
another church for the same purposes. Sometimes, John, after taking the Christian musicians back to Juarez after the night
services, would not return back to Carmen and the children until 1:00 in the morning. There were over 100 members and
over 100 children in the Sunday school in those days.
