During our first trip, we used the television studio as our refuge. There wasn't enough time to work on it, so we left it unfinished; only a small portion of it painted. While we were there, it got to be a bit of a mess. We moved furniture and equipment out of the other rooms in the studio building so we could work. We littered it with our water bottles and granola bar wrappers. Plastic chairs were scattered across the floor. A suitcase full of tools brought from the US lay open as we grabbed hammers and gloves out of it. At any given time on a work day, you would find a team member in the television studio. Ron would be meticulously maintaining his first aid journal or I would be trying to edit video. It was our haven within the haven that is the Christian Media Centre.

This year, we once again find refuge in the TV studio, but it has become a completely different space. It is immaculate. The floor glistens with new tile. All of the walls are freshly painted, and the space is kept clear in preparation for the next recording shoot.

Other rooms have also been finished up. We built new walls last year which created new rooms. One of these, a dressing room for the television recordings, has even been outfitted with a lighted vanity. The studio building has a bathroom which we were careful to avoid last year despite its proximity to our work. It only had "squatters" and was dark and smelly. Now we use this bathroom more than the others! It's clean and bright with bright blue tiles and the kind of plumbing we expect to find back home.

Today Chuck, Todd, and John added a final touch to the studio:
Just outside the Suba's sound recording studio, the wall now bears lyrics from the famous song; a tribute to the sweet sounds that will be recorded there. The carefully placed vinyl letters were purchased as a surprise gift before the team left California, and we have plans to place more throughout the CMC offices before we depart.