Masha Oshkina, the Executive Director of Mir who is also serving our team as an interpreter, sent some pictures of the team and the construction going on at Elama.  Here is a link to view the full photo gallery.

As you can see Elama is located in a beautiful area--lush, green, full of life.  A fitting expression of its name, Elama, which in Finnish means life.

The laying of the foundations and the raising of the frames are only the beginning, and while not outwardly visible in the finished work, they are the most important parts for the stability of the construction.   God does something similar in us.  He provides a foundation, His Son, and the walls, His Word, on which everything else is supported.  But rather than a building of wood or stone, we are being built into a living house.  "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:5)