All posts by Mike Cantrell

The Work Goes On!

English, Renovation, , ,

Here’s a quick update from Executive Director Liana Põld.

The construction work continues at Sunbeam. Here you can see the pictures. Sadly, I think by 1 June we will not be ready to open.

Elena and Ursula work every day in the office; we plan our future work, prepare documents, etc. Ursula is working with Sirli in the city administration. Together with Elena they are writing grant proposals to get operating funds from different sources.

Also, we are organizing an Open House on 1 June. We are inviting people, making a little program, will have a concert, and if some children come we are ready to do activities with them, crafts, games…

Sunbeam is entering the final part of the first phase of renovation, preparing to open the doors. Hopefully we’ll be up and running in June or early July. We are in need of financial support for operating expenses. If you’d like to support this project (or any other Stoneworks program) please visit our Support page.

P1010184 Progress at Sunbeam
Ursula and Jelena at work in the office
P1010155 Progress at Sunbeam
the walls are being prepped for painting
Continue reading The Work Goes On! →

Recent Work on the Building

Renovation,

As the staff continues to work on the program and meeting families and children, the work on the building continues apace. We plan to open on June 1, so much is being done to get everything ready. Special thanks goes to board member and architect Andres Toome for his great designs, oversight and hard labor at the building.

Tile is going into the two bathrooms we’ve created:

The ventilation system is complicated and much needed:

In the bowels of the building, we’ve replaced the old heating system with computer controlled mixing valves. Continue reading Recent Work on the Building →

Welcome to Our New Leaders

Sunbeam

The board of Sunbeam has recently hired the executive staff for the organization.

Liana Põld (below, front L) has accepted the position of Executive Director. In that role, she will oversee all the operations of the organization, including building management, international relations and programs. Sunbeam is now more than a center for children with disabilities; the building is a multi-function ministry center that encompasses a variety of activities.

Ursula Randlaine (front C) and Jelena Shevnina (front R) will be the program directors of the center for children with disabilities.

 

Andres Toome (back L), Artur Pold (back R) and Mike Cantrell (taking the picture) are Sunbeam board members. Here is an organizational chart to help clarify the structure (click to enlarge, or download a copy here):

Sunbeam Org Chart Sunbeam Welcome Our New Leaders

The work continues on the building. Right now, much work is being on the electrical, water and ventilation systems. We’ve installed new sewerage and water lines and upgraded the heating system. Continue reading Welcome to Our New Leaders →

The Beginning

Sunbeam

Over the past several months, I’ve often said that ‘I may have some good news about Estonia soon’. Well, today I have some good news about our work in Estonia.

For over a year now, Stoneworks has been partnering with several people in the US and Estonia to help establish a day center for children with disabilities. There are over 100 children with disabilities in that area and they have no access to services; they are at home, quite isolated from the world. They need help, and we are called to help them.

An American donor is giving a significant amount to help start the program, and in the process we’ve opened an Estonian charity named Päikesekiiir (Sunbeam) to run the program. But we didn’t have a building. Until yesterday.

The city of Jõhvi has given us use of a great building in the city center. And here it is:

sompa 5a spring 1 Sunbeam The Beginning

We have it for 30 years at no cost! We have the keys and will start renovation soon.The building is in better shape than it may appear. It has a new roof and new high efficiency windows, it has a new security system and recently had firewalls and fire doors installed.

Pastor Artur Põld, architect Andres Toome and myself are the founding board members of the Estonian charity Sunbeam. Stoneworks represents the US side of the project, and also involved are Finns, Swedes, Norwegians, Germans and Brits.

Sunbeam The BeginningIn addition to housing the center for children with disabilities, the building is large enough to house many more activities. It has a great assembly hall, conference rooms, we’ll build housing for mission teams, and host other events there. It’s in a great location, in the middle of town.

Currently a youth center and kindergarten use a few of the rooms. They will pay rent to help offset operating expenses. There is much more room for expansion. And there is a smaller building on the lot that we hope to turn into a wood-working shop.

entrance Sunbeam The BeginningThere is much to be done to prepare the building for the ministry. Though some parts of the building are in good shape, we need to renovate several rooms, build two wheelchair accessible bathrooms, reconfigure and rebuild the entrance (ramps, roof, doors) and offices, upgrade the heating system, renovate the kitchen, build a fence, and much more. Here are the initial designs for the first floor, where Sunbeam will be housed.

So, now that we have the building, much more is needed: mission teams to do construction, funds for equipment and operations, people to help train volunteers, and on and on.

sompa 5a spring 6 Sunbeam The Beginning

We hope to open Sunbeam on June 1 — International Childrens’ Day.The next four months will be quite full and quite fun! And I’ll be posting more news as we move along.

You can read more and see more pictures and videos here.

Donations to support the center can be made here.

Soli Deo Gloria — To God alone be the glory. He has put this in our hearts, and He is bringing all the resources needed to help these children. We thank Him for guiding us.