scrubbing scottish basement bricks

manky. mingen. boggen.

the bricks in the 100+ yr old basement of the KOG building on Parnie St. in Merchant City (an artsy district of Glasgow) were covered in layers of old plaster, paint, dirt, grime, mold & mildew. it took tons of muscle power scrubbing with metal brushes, chipping away with hammers and chisels to clear it all away.

my first trip to Glasgow i had the opportunity to be a part of a team from Boise, Idaho that would travel over to join up with an international crew of dedicated and devoted students & believers in Christ with a common purpose to help out in the demolition and restoration process. it would eventually take 3 years for the coffee house to be renovated enough to be opened for the public...but during those first few months of clean up, those of us who could be there to lend a hand worked with enthusiasm and anticipation for what the old building would someday become.

one particular day many of us were assigned the task of cleaning up the brick walls in the basement. it was dark and damp and musty down there. we were required to wear face masks, goggles, and gloves for protection. the scrubbing was hard work and at times became quite frustrating. years of stuff caked on the bricks just didn't want to come off. many of us struggled with a heaviness in our thoughts & hearts and we became discouraged and quickly tired from the strenuous work.

at our tea break, as we gathered upstairs in the light, we began to share about how we were all feeling as we scrubbed in vain in the damp darkness of the basement. we talked about how the building was being prepared to be utilized for God's Kingdom...a coffee house/art gallery/bookstore/meeting place for worship, where Christian and non-Christian alike could come together to build relationship...a place where rich and poor could share a cup of coffee and reach out to each other....and how the crap we were trying to clean away from the bricks seemed like a metaphor for something deeper, something spiritual. we realized that the enemy of our souls probably didn't like what we were doing. we knew that at one time in history there had been a Christian revival in this same building...but the darkness had crept in and eventually the street that the building was on had become a place of poverty, immorality, drugs, and even witchcraft. we decided to pray together against the powers of darkness, for God's help to lift the heavy oppression we were experiencing downstairs. we gave over our fatigue to God, and asked Him to come and cleanse the place as we worked....that with each scrubbing stroke the darkness would flee. that we could take back the territory the enemy had stolen.

we returned to the confinement of the basement to continue working...but this time we began to sing together. with joy, we sang songs of worship and praise to God and you know what...the heaviness we had felt earlier was no longer there. some of us danced, others laughed. it became a party down there. and the scrubbing became easier. and fun.

i will never forget that experience. scrubbing scottish basement bricks.