MILTON, Del. - The chapel at the Jusst Sooup Ministry Church is getting straightened out. The steeple had been tilted over from rain damaging the foundation, and the wind blowing it over.
Crews with Mitchell’s Contracting LLC started working on Monday. They say the materials used to repair the steeple were donated by Bluefin Premier Properties.
Ken and Dale Dunning have worked with the church for 27 years. They built the chapel together nine years ago after visiting Niagara Falls and seeing the world’s smallest chapel, which only fits six people. Dale says she and Ken started pursuing the project as soon as she saw it.
“I can remember going to the lumber company and talking to someone there and telling them what size I wanted and how much the lumber would cost, and I started gathering my money and holding on to it,” she says. “We did it ourselves. He would do the measurement and I would do the nails. Once you start something, you must complete it.”
Both Ken and Dale knew the steeple had been crooked for a while, but they say the work was too expensive. Ken says they counted on the Lord to find somebody that was cheaper.
“Mrs. Terry Scott and her husband Chuck, they came by and said, ‘We want to help’,” he says. “They said, ‘We'll buy the material and we'll know a contractor that'll do it for free’. Mr. Chad Mitchell Construction, he volunteered to bring his guys out here and they’re having more fun than we are, and we really appreciate it. My wife feeds them lunch every day.”
Crews removed the old steeple on Monday. They built a new steeple on Tuesday and began constructing the new frame. On Wednesday, they say the plan is to wrap the foundation with a weather-proof cover that will protect the steeple.
Crews working on the repairs say the hope is for work to be complete by Wednesday. For more information about Jusst Sooup Ministries, visit the link here.
