Volunteers with Chesterfield Baptist Association’s disaster relief team joined with members of the community and congregation of the Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana, (First Hispanic Baptist Church) of Pageland, helping them complete the roofing of their new church building during the weekend of July 10. In two days, the team installed all of the sheathing and roofing of the building.

Chesterfield Baptist Association disaster relief team with members of Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana, Pageland.

The building of the church is the fulfillment of a dream that began more than three years ago with a prayer walk around property the church had purchased. Pastor Jose Luis Ambriz said church members had originally hoped to repair an old mobile home to use as a temporary church building, but that God has given them a brand new building instead.

“It was obvious that God had his hand on this project,” said Steve Deese, a member of Liberty Hill Baptist Church in Pageland and a disaster relief team volunteer, “working out even the smallest details, such as making sure that the local building supply center had just enough pieces of drip edge to do the job. One of the team members had to find one last two-inch shingle nail in his car to finish off the last piece of ridge cap.

“Even though not all of the team could speak a common language, the teamwork and fellowship experienced were incredible, and the ladies of the church provided wonderful lunches for the team each day,” Deese said. “Pastor Jose Luis worked along with the team, and led a prayer filled with many repetitions of ‘muchas gracias’ to God for all of the teamwork and progress made during the weekend, and, most of all, for the love of God shown in Jesus Christ, our Lord.”