So many of you have been holding up our needs to the Lord in prayer. We wanted to share with you the good news that L’Abri has passed the final fire inspection.
There is still much to do to bring the manor totally up to fire code, but nine months after the initial fire inspection, we have reached milestone. On Thursday afternoon the fire inspector arrived to look at all of the newly installed fire doors, newly updated legacy doors, freshly plastered cellar ceilings, and newly built walls. We welcomed him with a bit of trepidation because there is still so much more to do, but he was pleased with the work we have already finished, and content to let us continue making these final repairs and upgrades in our own time. He signed off on the inspection and we can officially reopen from a fire safety standpoint.
We gathered together that afternoon in the Bake House and felt that, even with the work yet to finish, a tremendous load had been lifted from our shoulders. We have all felt the weight of possible closure due to inadequate fire safety precautions. We reflected on the kindness of a God who provided miraculously from a financial standpoint—the cost will total around £100,000, and we never had to delay the work in order to wait for more funds.
In the absence of students, painful as it is for us to be unable to host during coronavirus, we have been allowed to work quickly enough to pass the inspection in under a year’s time. And we all patted the ‘men of L’Abri’—Jim, Joel, Peter, Josué, Andy, and our helper Karl—on the back for being faithful to the unexpected construction work the Lord placed before them.
We reflected together on Matthew 8, in which Jesus reminds the disciples that He commands the wind and the waves. We all could relate to the fear they felt in the face of the storm—with the coronavirus, unexpected closures, and the fire inspections, this year has felt like storm after storm. I am sure that, had we trusted the Lord with more faith, we would have known more of his peace. However, though our faith waivers and fails, God's faithfulness does not. And for that we give him thanks.
All the best,
The Workers of English L'Abri
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