KITCHEN. We had a banner week at the LARTC and our professional chef is very happy! The month gas connections were installed, inspected and approved. The large cooking hood/extractor and dishwasher hood were fabricated and installed. The LARTC commercial kitchen equipment was delivered and is in process of being set up and connected! In our kitchen design, we’ve affectionately named the four walls as follows.

• The COLD wall (left) features a lean-in refrigerator, lean-in freezer and icemaker.
• The COOK wall (top) gas appliances include a six-burner stove with standard oven, griddle, grill, fryer, broiler (salamander) and convection oven.
• The CLEAN wall (right) includes a three-bay sink, stainless table and canopy dishwasher with a receiving sink and table.
• The fourth wall (bottom) is the L-shaped COUNTER wall for food preparation with storage cabinets below.

The kitchen will also have a square island with a double sink and base cabinets located on the counter wall side of the kitchen. In addition, there will be a second island located on the cook wall side, created using stainless tables, open underneath for rolling cart storage.

We are grateful for the provisional kitchen that we have been using since moving into the Center in February 2017. However, the kitchen wasn’t adequate for the group of 40 that attended the International Educational Leaders Dialogue in March. The new commercial kitchen will facilitate meals for larger groups. We will have capacity to serve at least 200 in the Atrium when it is completed.

ATRIUM. Since the last update, we’re happy to report that the mezzanine I-beam structure, stairs and concrete floor have been built! Installation of the subway tiles on the five tall front columns is nearly complete. The “topping” pre-tile layer to level the concrete floor has been completed. Aluminum window frames have been installed in the six tall vertical openings on the back wall and this work has begun on the four tall vertical openings in the front. Glass will be installed in the next few days. The two sets of tempered glass double doors for the entrance will be installed by the end of the month. All main floor tile work should be completed by the end of July.

PHASE FOUR TRAINING ADDITION. We have also completed the roof, poured the floor and installed the door of the workshop/storage room behind the addition. We have also completed the gutters, downspouts and drainage for the roof, very important before the arrival of the rainy season.

TEAMS AND GROUPS. A team from Springfield Evangel Temple arrives on July 3rd. Half of the team will be building the L-shaped base cabinets on the counter wall and the square island base cabinets in the commercial kitchen. They will also build the base cabinets for the “breakfast room” (food and beverage staging). The other half of the team will be painting the walls of the Atrium.

The Little Davey Project team will be returning to Panama in mid-July, basing out of the Center, blessing our schools with 75 new computers! We just hosted an international group of missions leaders who conducted a week-long seminar on missionary care. Four weeks in August 35-40 pastors and leaders will continue their advanced studies at our Center. In October a church from Missouri is sending a team to work on the second story of the training/ administration addition.

The Center offers teams and groups safe and reasonably priced housing and meal options. These services help to underwrite Center operations and add a small amount to help provide furnishings for the Center.

2019-2020 GOALS AND BUDGET… THANK YOU to all who gave to make these construction advances possible. We received four large offerings in March and April that boosted our 2019-2020 construction progress. Other individuals regularly support this project. We have also received offerings from US Hispanic churches and districts, even from our national churches in Argentina and Peru, with pending commitments from two other countries. We are absolutely overwhelmed by the generosity of so many.

Year to date, we have invested approximately $80,000 of the overall projected $350,000 budget for 2019-2020 work. Following is a report of the remaining work and expenses projected to complete through phase four and essential miscellaneous work.

Phase 3 Atrium - $125,000

• Installation of column and floor tile on the main floor and mezzanine
• Cover and paint mezzanine structure and stairs
• Mezzanine and stair banisters
• Four glass double doors (connect to building wings)
• Texture and paint inside walls
• Electrical conduit and wiring, outlets, switches, lights, sound and video
• Suspended ceiling and doors for the back rooms (bathrooms, storage and food staging room)
• Wall tile, cabinets, counters and fixtures/plumbing for the bathrooms and food staging room
• Air conditioning
• Furnishings and miscellaneous

Commercial Kitchen - $5,000

• L-shaped and first island cabinets (paid for by July team)
• Counters
• Stainless tables for second island
• Pantry shelving
• Carts and other furnishings

Phase 4 Training Addition - $70,000

• First story concrete floor
• Second story flooring structure and concrete
• Second story exterior walls
• Floor tile for both floors
• Inside sheetrock walls
• Electrical, plumbing, fixtures and air conditioning
• Windows, doors and suspended ceiling

Essential Miscellaneous Work – $70,000

• Perimeter security wall and entrance
• Retention wall
• Building façade and painting
• Road, parking, sidewalks and lighting

We are trusting God to provide the additional $270,000 needed to complete our 2019-2020 goals. At the beginning of our missionary career, someone once shared an illustration that applies to this great need that we face now. We were learning Spanish in Costa Rica and had shared in one of our Panorama newsletters how it seemed almost impossible. The person asked, “How do you eat an elephant? ... One bite at a time!” In the years following, we’ve learned the secret of listening to God’s voice, being obedient no matter how impossible it seems and depending upon Him to provide what is needed to make it happen.

God has used so many of YOU to make it happen. Thank you! Will you help us again? Together, we are influencing and empowering leaders, training and inspiring teachers and harvest workers, and equipping them with the tools and resources they need!

Online giving… http://s1.ag.org/lartc

Assemblies of God World Missions
Project 14295 – LARTC
1445 Boonville Ave
Springfield, MO 65802