04/19/2026
A few weeks ago, one of the parishioners from the Catholic church down the street passed by our church while we were installing the new road signage. After expressing his admiration for the new sign, he mentioned that the rotten wood sitting in front of the building looked terrible. He shared that he had been passing by for many years and had always noticed this eyesore, and he asked if we were planning to remove it. He also reminded us that this is the house of God and should be kept clean, as the wood made the building look very unappealing.
I thanked him for his comments and promised that we would take care of the rotten wood this summer.
As it turns out, God works in mysterious ways. Earlier this week, Biya from the Orthodox Youth Vancouver group reached out and said that he and his team would like to help clean up the rotten wood in front of the building and transform the area into a garden. They also offered to cut the overgrown vegetation on the west side and clean the backyard.
Today, around 10 members of the Orthodox Youth Vancouver group showed up and did an amazing job.
Phase One included:
• Removing and disposing of all the rotten wood in front of the building
• Patching holes on the front wall
• Cutting overgrown trees in front of the building
• Clearing overgrown vegetation in the west-side garden
• Removing leaves from the sides and back of the building
• Completely cleaning the backyard
The results speak for themselves—the outside of the church now looks amazing. You can view the transformation here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/u21nkySuVGD24hiGA
It was truly a delight to see these young people working together as a team. Their friendship, respect, and love for one another were clearly visible. I was very impressed with the Orthodox Youth Vancouver group and look forward to seeing Phase Two of their work.
May God bless you all for what you have done today for the church. We deeply appreciate the hard work you put in.
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