Mark and Cathy Warwick - Prayer House Auschwitz

Click here to view this email in your browser

These seven shall rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel…

Dear Friends,

Yesterday the builders finished the main structural walls (25cm thick) of the ground floor of the Prayer House building. And next week they’ll start building the ceilings, balconies and stairs, which will take maybe another 3 weeks. This will be followed by a 4-week break to allow the concrete to dry, and then they’ll come back to build the internal walls (12cm), which will create the individual rooms. The ground floor should be finished by the end of June. Thank You Lord!

We’ve had such a sense of joy as we’ve been seeing the walls go up!! Perhaps it’s just us, but Zechariah said that the angels of the Lord rejoiced when they saw the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. This was when Zerubbabel was commissioned by the LORD to rebuild the Temple. In those days the builders would use a plumb line to check that the walls were straight. Today they use spirit levels and laser beams. We were pleased to see that EVERY block was checked vertically and horizontally with a spirit level as it was being put in place!

We’ll show you some photos in a minute, but first we’d like to share our plans for 2018…

For some time, Cathy and I have been praying about WHEN to build the top floor and the roof (stage 3). This is a BIG step for the Prayer House building because it’s the most expensive part of the building and it can’t be broken down into smaller parts. I think we mentioned previously that we ALWAYS need to hear from the Lord before we commit ourselves to the next stage of the work, so we’re always trying to hear and respond to what the Lord is saying.

For several weeks Cathy and I have been feeling this oomph inside us that the Lord wants to put the roof on THIS YEAR. Perhaps God is in a hurry – I don’t know. But there’s a feeling that He doesn’t want the building work to be delayed. Also we’ve had these words going around our minds, “this is the year of the roof”. Then eventually – just last week – I heard the Lord say that we should schedule in the next stage of the works (stage 3). So we spoke with the builder and he agreed to start in September and complete the roof by the end of 2018.

Now for a little “tour” of the ground floor…

First a couple of photos of the walls going up. For those who are interested, the walls are made of 25cm (wide) ceramic blocks with a lot of holes in them! These are thermal blocks and although they are light, they are strong and can carry a lot of weight. This kind of material is used a lot in Poland and Germany.

What surprises a lot of people when we show them around the building – is how big it is! The next photo gives you an indication of the size. On Friday our architect (who is also our building inspector) had a look around to check that everything was ok. As he was walking around the basement he said, “Wow, this basement is HUGE! What are you going to use it for?”. And I’m thinking… well you designed it… But there’s a lot of space down there. The big room will be used for different kinds of activity, for example creative workshops or teaching seminars for up to 50 people. But there are also 2 large bedrooms (for short term visitors), 2 bathrooms, and 2 other large rooms that can be used for whatever the Prayer House needs.

The next 2 photos are of the building taken from the outside. First, a view taken by the gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau looking back. The red building is the Prayer House and the white house behind it is where we live.

This photo was taken from our balcony. The height of the walls (red blocks) is 3 metres.

Coming closer, this is the view through the front entrance, looking right. The entrance is nearly 4 metres wide and the 4 rooms connected to the hall on the right (moving from front to back) are: (i) the cloakroom, (ii) ladies’ toilet, (iii) men’s toilet and (iv) disabled toilet.

This is the view through the front entrance, looking left. The room on the left is an office and behind it is the kitchen and dining area (which you can’t see in the photo).

I’m now standing in the entrance looking into the hall. If you look carefully to the left of the concrete pillar (where it’s dark) you can see the stairs leading down into the basement.

I’m now in the hall in front of the double doors that lead into the lounge.

This large open plan room is the lounge and dining area. I’ve taken the photo from the dining area end looking into the lounge. This room will be able to host groups up to 50 people. The dining area will be able to be closed off by a folding dividing wall to separate the dining area from the lounge. Directly ahead are 2 double doors that lead onto the terrace. On the right are the double doors that lead into the hall.

Another view of the lounge taken from the kitchen. There are 3 large windows overlooking Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Finally, this is the view from the lounge into the hall and out through the front entrance. The stairs that go down into the basement are on the right.

We hope this “little tour” gives you some kind of impression of what the Prayer House is going to look like. It’s exciting to see what God is doing!!

As the physical building is growing, we are trusting that the Lord is raising up the whole Prayer House – spirit, soul and body. We know that many of you are standing with us around the world – thank you! He is also bringing some of the “living stones” to Auschwitz-Birkenau and we are enjoying fellowship and worship with those who are making the journey.

With our love and blessings

Mark & Cathy

For those who want to partner with the Lord and intercede financially to build the Prayer House:

United Kingdom (£)

UK bank account for non-gift-aided donations:

Account holder: Fundacja Living Stones

Account no: 14740466

UK Sort-code: 23-14-70

For UK Tax-payers:
Please give through Stewardship (no account needed)

https://www.give.net/livingstones/oneoff

EURO (€)

Account holder (Kontoname): Fundacja Living Stones
IBAN: DE31 1009 0000 2423 8670 03
SWIFT / BIC: BEVODEBB

For more options (incl. Paypal and Polish Zloty Account):
https://livingstones.com.pl/donate.html

Fundacja Living Stones

ul Boczna 4

32-600 Brzezinka Oświęcim

Poland

+48 519 433 612

www.livingstones.com.pl

You are on this list because you have asked us to keep you up to date with what we are doing.

If you no longer want to receive these emails, then please unsubscribe below.