God built this building.
New Salem Baptist Church members contributed to the Building Fund for
fifteen years but alone the members could never have saved enough.
However, during this fifteen years, God was working. He showed people across
the United States the work He was doing in this church in Monticello, New York.
Those people sent money, and by 1995, the church was able to purchase five acres of
land on Waverly Avenue. God's money continued to pour in, and in 1998
God had provided enough so that the land could be cleared by contractor David
O'Neill and the building foundation poured by contractor Jessee Kinney. At
that time, God sent a team of builders from the Cornerstone Mission Ministries
of the North Richland Hills Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas, who erected
the shell. Then, with the help of a loan from the First National Bank of
Jeffersonville, contractor Jesse Kinney returned to finish the interior except
for painting and cleanup work which was done by church members.
WHAT GOD HAS CREATED
When we designed the church building, we simply wanted a functional,
adequate structure that would allow God to do the work that He has
equipped the church to do through the gifts and special abilities of
the church members. That has been achieved, but God has provided much
more than that. This building has a beauty that is unique.
As you sit in one of the chairs in the worship and ministry center,
you find yourself in an art gallery surrounded by twelve beautiful paintings,
all enclosed in walnut frames. Each painting displays a section of God's
wondrous world. God's created beauty is brought directly into the building
through these picture windows. You are overwhelmed by the wonder and beauty
of God's handiwork. And the most amazing part is that these pictures are
changing all year-long, as seasons move from autumn to winter to spring to
summer.
We thank God for the beauty that He Himself has provided for the worship
and ministry center of the church.
(Copied from November, 1988, SKYLIGHT)