MMAP Third week Walker, IA

Our job at Cono Christian School ended this week....with a bang! On Friday night there was thunder, and lightening, and more thunder and lightening with LOTS of pouring rain. I was glad we were not in a tent!! Work-wise, the last week was slow for the ladies: We only worked two days. But we got two more rooms painted! Paul did what he likes to do best, demolition! There was a corridor between two buildings and one of the buildings was being moved. (The opposite of Lampe job, where he was adding the corridor!! ) Then siding needed to be installed on the exposed wall. So he kept busy this past week.


One afternoon, a couple of the ladies and I toured a close by Amish community. Anita had visited the previous week and had purchased a rug from a lady, who she wanted to revisit. She was a fascinating lady and it was a joy to visit her in her shop,

and she invited us into her home as well.

She was very informative of the way of life she led, telling us how they have an insulated building for a refrigerator. They get ice out of the creek during the winter, and it usually lasts until the fall. They do not need it in the winter, then they restock the ice for the following spring and summer. She also told us about her two husbands, both of whom have died. We also stopped at a produce auction as well as a couple of stores in the area.
On the way back, surrounded by cornfields, we found this little park, Fort Pentecost, open to anyone, complete with play houses set up for children to play make believe they were in an old western town!

It had a Bunk House (including bunk beads),

a general store, with stocked shelves


and a schoolhouse,

and of course, a jail!


Before leaving the Grand Rapids area, we visited Amana, a town that had been part of a former communal society. Although there are still seven villages within a few miles of each other, we only visited the main town of Amana. It was a very impressive village, and we really enjoyed seeing it.



and enjoyed the drive in the countryside through the corn fields to get there!

Saturday morning, we left for our next assignment. We were really slow getting started, but left around noon, our destination being Spirit Lake, in the Northwest corner of Iowa. On the way we went through interesting small towns, and saw more soybeans and corn. One town we stopped in was West Bend, home of the world's largest Grotto, the Grotto of the Redemption.
The statute at the base of the cross is similar to Michelangelo's Pieta, located in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It shows Mary holding the body of Christ after it was taken down from the cross. Beneath the cross is a 36 inch cross section of petrified wood from Arizona.

It was fascinating!! It was started in 1912, by a Catholic priest, Fr. Paul Dobberstein, who worked on it for 42 years, until his death. Great care was taken in selecting colors and types of rock, stones and gems, which have come from all over!
For example, the grotto of the stable was made of 65 tons of petrified wood from Montana and the Dakotas

while the empty tomb has white calcite and purple flourite depicting the coldness of death, and the bright colored ceiling symbolizes his victory over sin and death.

The entombment of Jesus includes three figures that have been sculpted out of a single block of white Italian marble.

On the right hand side of this picture is the beatitudes, written in gold mosaic, inlaid in green copper. The stone on top is a stalagmite from Carlsbad Caverns, in New Mexico prior to them becoming a National Park!

It is now comprised of nine separate grottos with music, in a city block, surrounded by a park, a very serene place.


Pictures just do not do it justice. There are approximately $2.5 million worth of stones and gems, all sparkling in the sun, but in the pictures, you cannot see the true brightness and colors. To experience the sight of it, and consider the magnificance and magnitude of the creation of this was awesome.
This morning, Sunday morning, we attended church at the campsite. It was a wonderful praise service led by a group named Blue Water, starting with "Holy, Holy", and ending with "I'll Fly Away"! And lots of songs with the gospel message in between.
The rest of the day is dedicating to sitting and doing nothing!!