By Grace Shelton

Building Our Faith

The just shall live by faith. We are saved by grace through faith, and the eternal hope we have in Jesus Christ motivates us to live by faith, trusting God, every single day. There are so many ways that as we trust God, He displays His faithfulness in supplying our daily needs — from providing for our clothing needs, housing, transportation, to opening divine appointments with neighbors, and comforting during times of loss.

About six years ago our small group of believers needed a permanent place to meet for church services. As we searched, we drove past this one intersection numerous times. Stan remarked that this particular area would be perfect for our church. It is centrally located, right off the highway, and easily accessible for people from all over Vienna and neighboring villages. However, in this booming district of the city, real estate costs a pretty penny, assuming one can even find an available space. We needed something miraculous, and God provided. He opened several unique doors for us to rent one floor of a building exactly in that small area for which we had prayed!

About a year into the pandemic, we saw so much growth it became clear that we needed a larger meeting room—especially when accommodating the coronavirus spacing measures. For many months we were meeting for services in three separate rooms with distancing, masks, and video streaming. Some members chose to watch the services from their homes. But being together again as a body to worship the Lord was a big desire of our hearts. Stan searched again for a new location, but he met only dead ends. Landlords didn’t want a church meeting in their facility, so they didn’t reply to our calls, or the space was a complete construction project requiring funds we didn’t have. Nothing seemed suitable to our needs. Our current location is a stand-alone building. We do not bother any neighbors when we sing, and we have decent parking options—not something to take for granted in Vienna! Staying right where we are would have been wonderful, but the rooms were simply too small for the growth we were experiencing.

As Stan sought God’s will in the matter, God gave him the idea to pursue tearing out some walls in our current building to double our meeting space! From a financial standpoint, we could renovate our current facility for almost as much as it would cost to move to a new location. This, however, would be an arduous project for us, because the building is owned by the post office and was built in 1905. The walls were roughly a foot thick! But before we could begin knocking out walls, we had to overcome a greater obstacle—the Viennese red tape. This seemed impossible, but we expectantly stepped forward in faith.

God began faithfully orchestrating His provision through the harmonious exercise of diverse gifts within our own congregation. One of our men helped Stan find the right companies to do the demolition and fix the walls. Then another man who runs a painting company said he would cover painting all the walls and provide carpet for the platform. A carpenter volunteered to craft a versatile platform for the front. Two ladies who studied law helped us navigate the technicalities of contracts throughout the project. Others cleaned dust and debris, making sure the facilities were ready on Sundays. An owner of a cleaning company was able to give us a good sanitation strategy and equipment. Several ladies formed a team to procure some elegant curtains. On top of that, throughout the months of renovation our landlord allowed us to use the level above us for services at no extra charge.

God provided microphones for the larger room and a well-functioning livestream. He also enabled us to install air conditioning, which is uncommon in Vienna. Not needing to open the windows makes our building even more functional and services less distracting (we are on a main street). Our landlord also allowed us to rent two additional rooms for the children’s work, as we were not able to afford renting the entire upper level. The 50 extra chairs we ordered arrived in December, so we have more seating for the additional people who regularly attend church.

Through every step of this project, it was amazing to see how God supplied all our needs. Our church rallied together, serving as they were able — the unity and discipleship that happened while working through the project strengthened our faith. We walk by faith and not by sight. We trust God that He will continue to use this meeting place to build His church, disciple believers, and open hearts of unbelievers so that He alone would be glorified.