Page 193 - Unseen Hands by Nona Freeman

Advancing in the Name of Jesus
1,500 for the blueprints, but the surveyor agreed to make the drawing for 500. With the completion of the plan, Tekle could give him only 200 birr—all that he had. When they realized the unsuitability of the design, architecture students Tesfaye Adefres and Solomon Ketema drew blueprints that the municipality accepted, and they did not charge for their work.
Tekle had no assurance offinance for the church other than God's promise, and innumerable obstacles surfaced to hinder the work. The church learned again that prayer and fasting can handle anything. Limited means did not stop the saints from giving sacrificially for the building; by faith, even those existing on the edge of starvation gave beyond their nonexistent resources. Brothers Har ris and Freeman asked the Louisiana District to help, and the late Brother C. G. Weeks raised $23,000 to apply on the project. Brother Seism, director of foreign missions, supported the venture.
Erkenesh no longer prayed for a home, but Brother Harris saw the need, and God movedonhimto help build a parsonage next to the new church. The same loving hands thatconstructedthechurchpitchedintogiveTekle and Erkenesh their first decent home. Brother Harris strained the budget and his ingenuity to help with fur nishings. Tekle's asthma and Mehret's chronic bronchitis both disappeared within days after they moved into the new parsonage and finally got away from the sewer's nox ious fumes.
Spiritual descendants of Sanballat (who opposed Nehemiah's rebuilding of Jerusalem) hurried to govern ment offices with petitions and objections from the minute Tekle started building a wall around the property. One
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