Jireh School Update (6/10)

Jehovah Jireh Good Shepherd School Construction Update (12/09)

Portland Builds Final Floor at Jireh (12/08)

Eastridge Issaquah Builds on Two Fronts (11/08)

Alabama Team Ministers at Jireh (8/08)

Three Eastern Washington Churches Continue Construction at the Jireh School (7/08)

Shoreline and Eastridge Continue Jireh Construction (5/07)

Portland Team Launches Jireh Construction (5/07)

Construction Summary and Project Background

Construction and Team Diary:

March 2011... Classes started on February 28th.  The final four classrooms on the fourth level were completed the week before!  The small auditorium/ prayer room still needs to be completed.

May 2010... Classes started in March without finished 3rd floor classrooms.  One class was in the sanctuary; one in the computer room.  By the middle of April the new six classrooms were finished!  Work continued on the outside.  The stucco layer was applied and the base coat was painted.  What's left?  Paint the outside, finish the 4th floor classrooms and bathrooms, and some work on the 1st floor administrative area.

Can you help?  Please write us at Panorama@Boyds.org or send your offerings to:

Jireh Project 7795
Assemblies of God World Missions
1445 Boonville Ave.
Springfield, MO 65802

October 2009... Even though the outside is unfinished, work continues on the inside.  Six classrooms (the entire second floor) have now been finished and are being used!  Our goal is raise sufficient funds to complete the six classrooms on the third floor by the beginning of classes in March 2010.  We estimate that each classroom will cost just $2,000 each to complete the interior stucco and paint, windows, doors, drop ceiling and electrical.  Another $4,000 is needed to finish the two restrooms on the third floor.

November 2008... Major block work is completed! Thanks to the seven teams that contributed to this project in the last 18 months. Emphasis now shifts to finishing the first two stories before school begins again in March 2009. The first floor houses the library and administrative offices. The second story will have six classrooms and restrooms. Pending work includes electrical, plumbing, stucco, windows, doors, drop ceiling and paint. We need your help to continue this work.

October 2008... 90% of the third story has been blocked. The roof will be finished in the next few days. Portland Christian Center comes Nov. 1st to block the fourth story!

August 2008... 40% of the third story has now been blocked and necessary bond beams. The fourth story floor will be poured the first week of September and the roof will be finished by mid-October in order to prepare for the next two teams:

October 10-18, Eastridge Assembly, Issaquah, WA

November 1-15, Portland Christian Center

Please pray that sufficient construction offerings will be given to complete the work!

June 2008... Final "preparations" have been completed for the two teams arriving:

June 20-28, Eastern Washington--Pasco Faith Assembly; Central Assembly, Yakima; and Stone Church, Yakima

July 18-26, Christ's Church, Double Springs, Alabama

These teams will finish laying block on the second floor, pour bond beams and begin laying block on the third floor.

May 2008... Construction begins again at the Jehovah Jireh Good Shepherd School. Preparations are underway for the Faith Assembly Pasco building team that will arrive to Panama on June 20th.

The next phase will include:

• Welding c-channel flooring system, corrugated metal and pouring concrete for third story floor
• Placing the third story columns
• Finishing block work on second and third stories
  Welding crossbeams, c-channel and corrugated metal for the fourth story flooring system

Construction Summary...

• The 40’ x 65’ building will extend over an existing (but new) basement area. The foundation will be concrete footings and pedestals
• A mixture of concrete columns and I-beam iron columns placed on the pedestals
• I-beam iron horizontal beams will be welded over the columns
• The 2nd and 3rd story floors have double c-channel trusses, corrugated metal decking and a 4” concrete slab
• Each floor will have 4-7 classrooms, labs or other rooms
• Walls will be 4” cinder block

Project Background...

The Jehovah Jireh Good Shepherd School was founded in 1997 in an old house next door to the church. There were just 35 students that first year, kindergarten and first grade. The school has added a grade each year and now offers preschool through ninth grade.   Of the 25 schools in Panama, Jehovah Jireh has the strongest church-school relationship. The pastor, director and growing congregation are committed to the ministry of the school.

All of our teams that visit Panama know this school. We always include a stop.  It’s the one without walls on the hill. But things have changed! The church is working on finishing the sanctuary!  
The church and school are strategically located in the community of Pedregal on Tocumen Way, the highway between Panama City and the international airport.  This suburban community is one of the fastest growing areas of Panama, with hundreds of new, inexpensive tract homes. The pastor and congregation are keenly aware of the unique opportunity to reach out to this community.

The school has consistently grown in spite of very humble facilities. Each year we’ve tried to help them extend the roof and put up more walls to “carve out” new classrooms. Today there are more than 350 children and youth who are receiving a quality Christian education. But those 350 children are crowded into 10 classrooms. There is such a potential for growth, but no classrooms.

It’s time for an extreme makeover! We need to tear down the old house and replace it with a new 40’ x 65’ 3-story building. We need your help! We need at least 6 MAPS construction teams to come to Panama in 2007 to work on this project. Our goal for 2007 is to finish the first two floors of the building and put a roof over the third floor. When finished, the new building will double the capacity of the school!

We hope you will consider this important need. Construction costs continue to rise. We estimate the cost of the project to be $100,000. Can you help? Please write us at Panorama@Boyds.org or send your offerings to:

Jireh Project 7795
Assemblies of God World Missions
1445 Boonville Ave.
Springfield, MO 65802