BIDWELL - Area residents may be wondering what exactly is going on as they drive by the site of a new structure being built near U.S. 35, between Ohio 850 and the roadside rest in Bidwell.

The site seemed to appear overnight, packed with volunteers working diligently to erect a church where, until a few weeks ago, there was only an empty field belonging to a small congregation brimming with hope, faith and inspiration.

“By faith we have started to build a church to the glory of God,” said Janet Miller, a member of Countryside Baptist Church. “When I say by faith, I mean by faith. Our congregation has been holding services in a small country church building that has high water in the basement when it rains, black mold on the walls and a problem with the children getting sick because of the black mold. About five years ago we were able to purchase a piece of property.”

The Macon Baptist Association's construction group, Builders for Christ, based in Macon, Ga., in partnership with the Scioto Valley Baptist Association, helps with the construction of new churches in the area. When they found out about Countryside's need for a new building, the groups decided to make it their mission to complete as much of the structure as possible in just seven days.

“We do these missions so that we can help churches that need to build better facilities so they can reach people through Jesus Christ,” said Al Andrews, building coordinator for MBABFC. “Now this congregation will have an adequate facility with plenty of room to grow.”

The construction team departed from Macon on Friday, June 20, and plan to return to Macon on Saturday, June 28. The team of 63 volunteers has been very busy constructing floors, raising walls, installing rafters, hanging sheet rock, and assembling decking and roofing components.

“We have prayed for a church, a place where our children would not become ill,” said Miller. “Now we wind up with volunteers, volunteers everywhere wanting to build us a church.”

On Monday, June 16, the first crew arrived on the church building site. Some preparations had already been started with the concrete and footers poured. When approximately 40 members from the Builders for Christ out of North Carolina arrived to set the concrete blocks in place, the excitement began to grow.

By Wednesday, June 18, they had finished their job and the second crew was on their way from Macon, Ga., arriving on Thursday, June 19, to inventory all the supplies that had been purchased.

“To make things short, it's sort of like the TV show ‘Extreme Makeover,'” said Miller. “We held services on the floor of the church with several of the walls up, without rain, a beautiful sunny morning. This morning driving to work I saw the rafters being put into place.”

“You can see a world of difference every day,” said Pastor Chuck Stansberry of the Countryside Baptist Church. “This crew is saving us about $300,000 in construction labor costs. We could not afford to build this facility without their generous contribution of labor. They are the difference between us having a building and not having a building. We could never begin to repay what these folks are doing for us.”

Builders hope to have the shingles completed prior to leaving today. More crews will arrive in the upcoming weeks to complete the electric, plumbing, dry walling and other items.

“We want to make a difference in the lives of the people in this community through an Evangelical Christian Church,” said Andrews.

“Every person that's here has come because we believe that Christ instructs us to help each other,” said Bob Franklin, director of missions for the MBA. “We're all part of the same family, and we're all here to help this church.”

“It's a mission for Christ to help our brothers and sisters here,” said Jan Odom, kitchen assistant for the MBABFC. “This has been a vision of the congregation here for the last 20 years, and they needed our help to build this church. In our faith, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, so it is more of a blessing for us to be able to do this for them than it is for them to receive our help, which is the way it should be.”