Mountain Top Experience

Redeemer Missions Group

2011-07-09T22:39:00.001-04:00

We have been blessed beyond measure by a group of wonderful folks from Redeemer Lutheran Church in Lafeyette, Indiana. During last winter and this spring, they raised enough money to have a brand new cabin built at Mountain Top Experience.

In June, they came to MTE and spent an entire week working on a variety of tasks, ranging from putting siding up on the new cabin, to washing and sealing the siding and deck on the House of Joy, to organizing the maintenance building and wood piles. They sure are a hardworking group of people!

The ty-vec gets tacked on...

...then the siding goes up

Campfire time - and smores too

Morning Bible study

What a wonderful sight!

Eric adds his special touch

Abby and her snake

Trinity Falls is a nice hike up the mountain from MTE

The trip down Pigeon River was a blast!

God bless you, Redeemer missions group! Just think of all the families and groups that will benefit from your hard work.

Redeemer Cabin

2011-07-09T19:53:00.001-04:00

The kind-hearted folks from Redeemer Lutheran Church in Lafeyette, Indiana, along with a couple of other donors have raised the funds for a new cabin to be built at Mountain Top. Wow - what big hearts they have for the Lord's work!

The first wall is raised

The guys take a well-deserved break

Looks awesome!

The 2nd floor is taking shape

The green tin roof adds just the right touch

We Are Open!

2010-11-03T22:30:00.009-04:00

It has been a long time since we have posted details concerning all the activity taking place at MTE. God has been busy at work and it would be impossible to show you all He has accomplished......but here is a little!

What would we have done without all your help and support?!
We have had several groups come recently to help with things like clearing the grounds and planting grass, finishing trim in the lodge, completing the kitchen, laying tile in the entrance way, finishing the stone on the hearth and outside the main door.....Thank YOU!
Holly found a great fireplace and it is in the process of being put on the newly completed stone hearth.

She has also finished the stone patio outside of the bedrooms and has created a lovely waterfall to the side of the House of Joy....it sounds so incredible from the porch. We were in much need of extra parking space....load after load of mountain has been hauled away from above the lodge creating a great parking space for visitors.
It is amazing to see the vision given to Martin and Joy finally being completed.

This summer we finished all that needed to be done to be able to open in April of 2011.
Praise God......we can now start taking reservations.
These are the few things here and there that we would like to have done before then:

*Carpet needs to be put in the upstairs office which will now be used as a
play room/extra bedroom.
*A little trim needs to be put up here and there.
*We are in need of a few essentials in the kitchen. If you would like to donate any items please see the bottom of this post for a list of things we would like to have in place
when we open in April.
*Electricity needs to be rerun to the bunk house.
*Sealing the House of Joy-we hope to have this done before the snow sets in this winter.

We will be sending out a newsletter soon with our new brochure and a prayer card.
If we do not have your snail mail and you would like to receive a newsletter........ please contact us by email.

Thank you all for your help over the years!

Kitchen items:
Frying pans
Cooking tools-spoons, spatulas, knives, potato peeler, grater, can opener etc.
Dishes for 16....white...Correll would be fine.
Mixing bowls
Mixer
Serving dishes
Blender
Casserole dishes
Sauce pans
White bath towels, hand towels and wash cloths.

To God Be The Glory!

2010-06-18T19:45:00.012-04:00

Praise God! With the help of a whole lot of friends, the House of Joy is almost ready for the public!

A group of nineteen volunteers from Broad River Community Church came out earlier this month t0 further us along on a number of projects.

More friends have also come out throughout the month to help.

Just look at the beautiful results!

Workday in May

2010-05-28T19:35:00.013-04:00

Spring is here and it is time to get back to the work of getting MTE ready for her future guests.

We have had several people out helping with the few remaining projects

.....along with the youth and the men of the Brotherhood from Antioch Baptist Church.

A great group of kids and quite a few adults who came and worked hard.

Thank you, Antioch!

Entranceway/Board Meeting

2009-10-26T12:42:00.012-04:00

Hey all,

thought I would stop in and bring everyone up to date on the work on the mountain.
The cooler weather is arriving changing the scenerybut the work has not stopped.
On the 16th of this month we moved forward with the work on the mud room/entrance-way.
Harley and Keith jumped in and got the room sealed and the roof almost completed.
We so appreciate their work.
Then it was time to bring in the door that had been in hiding under the blue tarp.
Below you see Harley, Keith and Mr. Dewey working out a plan
to get the door up the hill with glass intact. :)
Keith brought in the tractor and they began the process.

PHEW...On the tractor all in one piece....
Coming up the hill......Harley waving in the background....
And finally the door has made it home. \o/

Of course there is still much work to be done on this room...but it was great to get this done.
Thanks guys!
Let us know if you have time to come on up and help us complete this project and a few others that need to be completed before we winterize The House Of Joy.

On the 17th, Mountain Top Experience had its board meeting for the year.
The meeting was successful and new board members and advisers were added to the ministry. God brought a great group of people together to help see that this ministry
moves forward to completion.
While there we enjoyed seeing the kitchen mostly finished...there is still a little sheet rock work that needs to be finished and painted.
But here you can see how far the kitchen has come in just a few months.
Thank you volunteers!
Jeff, Keith, Harley, Holly.......you have done an incredible job.

See how far we have come?
What a blessing!

As the day ended we looked out past the cross and enjoyed the beautiful snow coming down.
What a great way to end our day.

The seasons are changing.....bringing us ever closer
to the opening of this great ministry of our Lord.
Thank you for your continued support and prayer.......please don't stop.

Workday!

2009-10-07T20:51:00.012-04:00

I know it has been awhile since we have been here to post.....but

we have been very busy up on the mountain.

On September the 26th Antioch Baptist church came up for a work day.

As you can see...the day was kind of cloudy and rainy but we still got a good bit done.

The men worked to get the trim put on the windows in the office.

And the teens worked on getting the rock wall cleaned off and some ivy planted.
Where there are many hands the labor is lite......thank you to all our helpers!

Yes, even the young ones helped with measuring and cutting trim for windows.

Remember what the kitchen looked like in our last post?

Check out all the work that has been done.

Our kitchen is almost finished.

Thanks to Harley, Keith, Jeff and Holly.....we are almost ready for our first meal.

Here is a view of the cabinets going up.

Thank again to all those who helped complete this project.

What would we have done without Harley?

As you can see the "mudroom" or entrance way is a work in progress.

We had planned to get a good bit done during our work day.....but the rain had other ideas.

But even so we moved along with projects on the inside...so the day was not wasted.

The new railing going up along the driveway.

And below.....our sweet Holly, finishing up the sheet rock in the laundry room.

As you can see there is a huge smile behind that mask......even in the middle of all that dust.

Thanks Holly!

We want to send out a huge thanks to all those who have come to serve the Lord by serving up on our mountain.

Thank you to Mrs Joy and Laura, who kept us all nourished while we worked.

It was a great day.

The House of Joy has come so far.....just a little bit more and we will be open!

We welcome your continued prayers and help.

If you have an extra hour or two and you would like to come and work......just give us a call and we would be glad to set up a time that would be good for us all.

Moving Along!

2009-08-29T10:37:00.007-04:00

We wanted to stop in and let you know the current activities up on the mountain.

The kitchen is moving along nicely.
You remember that the tile floors got finished and now we working on getting the walls painted.
Holly picked out a color that will work great with the tile and cabinets.The painter is Sharon....Mrs Joy took this picture. Doesn't the color look nice?
We also got the front entrance way tile in....doesn't it look great?

The next big project has been the mudroom. We got the foundation poured for the mudroom.
And then it was time to get some walls up.
Here are Jeff and Keith working on getting the first wall up.
Notice Mrs Joy in the background making sure the job is being done properly? :)
It is hard to catch her for a picture...but we manage it.
She makes a great project manager!

The kitchen painting is finished and Holly approves!
Holly is a lot like her mom....it is hard to catch her with the camera because she is usually behind the big equipment....but Keith thought she should take credit for the color selection.
Next for the kitchen.....the cabinets.
You will notice that there have been some more trees cleared here in front of the main house. The clearing is making way for an incredible view from both the bedrooms downstairs and the walk around porch. Holly is clearing them out so that we may have a fire pit closer to the House of Joy. There is one already down by the camping sites...but this will make it nice for the people staying in the main house.

If you are interested in coming up and helping with the completion of any project... please let us know. We would be glad to set you up with something that needs to be completed and let you work on your schedule.
We do have a group coming in at the end of September from Antioch Baptist Church....please feel free to call about that date if you would like to join us.

Please continue to pray for the progress of this work of God.
Pray that God would continue to guide those involved with Mountain Top Experience.
We are really anticipating having the mountain open by March of the coming year.
May God continue to bless this work done for His names sake.

New news!

2009-08-08T21:37:00.007-04:00

Hey all....just thought I would post some of what has been taking place on the mountain.
Holly has done a great job on the wall next to House of Joy.....we will have some youth coming in on the 15th of this month and they will plant some ivy around some of the rocks.
It really is a spectacular wall!
Also, we have now had a load of gravel brought in.....so we can drive right up to the house
come rain or shine!

The above vehicle arrived late yesterday afternoon.
This new addition to MTE will make it easier for Mrs Joy to get around and it also seats six! So we can allow people to park down the hill if needed and then carpool them up to the main house.

Mrs Joy and Holly picked out the tile for the kitchen and entrance way.....so it's in the process of going down this weekend. The kitchen is finished except for the grouting and the entrance way will be finished by next week. We are excited to see all the things that are taking place.
The House of Joy is getting really close to being finished!

Work continues around the grounds.
Holly, Jeff, and Kieth continue to clear a few trees here and there so that the view from the porch will give those visiting a great view of the mountains in the distance.

This is the next project.
Supplies have arrived and as soon as the tile inside is finished.....this project will begin.
Plans are underway for a small room that would give people a place to get out of the wind or rain.....and it will also act as a wind buffer for the main floor.

We welcome your help!
Please call to find out when our next work group is coming in. Or if you have some spare time during the week....call and we would be glad to put you to work!

Thanks again for your prayers.

If you would like to visit the main web page
there is a button right under the MTE header....click it and it will take you right over there.

Getting the doors open!

2009-06-09T18:10:00.007-04:00

Holly has compiled a list of all the little things that need to be done to get the House of Joy open.
I thought I would list them here so that you can see where we need help.
If you would like to step in and help please give us a call to see our scheduled work days.
Thanks in advance for all your help.

Here are the areas that need to be worked on to finish the House of Joy (the lodge):

Main entrance

Install new door-finished!
Put up awning over door-finished!
Stonework under awning area-finished!
Hang drywall just inside door-finished!
Tile the entrance way-finished!

Kitchen

Lay and grout tile-finished!
Install cabinets and counter tops-finished!
Build the island and food bar-finished!

Closet

Trim out and build shelves-finished!

Downstairs rooms

Put up railing in lofts-finished!

Trim work

Around all bathroom doors
Downstairs hallway
Around the cross window
At entrance way

Chimney

Finish with rough cut siding and trim-finished!

Cove lighting

Build light boxes to go around the great room-idea changed

Office and conference room

Lay carpeting
Trim out

Thanks for helping us get the doors open!

Welcome!

2009-06-05T19:53:00.014-04:00

This is our first post for Mountain Top Experience.
We are excited about what God has done so far and is doing currently to get this ministry up and running. It is our prayer that this blog will help our many contributors and volunteers know exactly what is going on up on the mountain.
Please take the time to leave us a comment.
We value your partnership and most of all your prayers.
House of Joy is getting very close to being ready to use for God's glory.
We so appreciate the work that has been done so far and look forward to a day real soon...maybe the end of the summer of '09...when we will welcome our first visitors.

We still do have need of our volunteers.
In our next post we will give a few ideas of projects that need to be finished and also the few things needed before we can open the doors.
God has been with this every step of the way and we are EXCITED about the near future and how MTE will bring glory to God!
Here are a few pictures....we have come a long way.
This is the main floor of House of Joy.
Just through those doors to the right you will find a beautiful wrap around porch.
Holly and Jeff have been busy clearing some trees so that those enjoying the porch may also enjoy this view.
Isn't it incredible?

Can you imagine how blessed our visitors will be to enjoy God's creation in all it's majesty?
And you should experience the cool breeze from the wrap around porch!
After a great day with the Lord those staying with us will be able to enjoy a great night sleep in one of the four rooms in House of Joy. Of course should they rather a little more back to nature type experience we will still have the little chalet and plenty of tent camping sites.
Aren't the room fantastic? We still have a few things to do to ready them...but we are SO close!
We pray you have been inspired by what you have seen. Feel free to subscribe to our posts so that you will see when we publish our next post.
We will also be adding a calendar here on the blog. That way you can see what activities are going on with our volunteers and if you find you have an open day......we would love you to call and join us as we work to bring this ministry of God to completion.