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The Iglesia Apostolica De La Fe En Cristo Jesus is pictured Thursday, Aug. 8, 2025, in Provo.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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The Iglesia Apostolica De La Fe En Cristo Jesus in Provo is pictured prior to improvements.

Courtesy Kurt and Carrie Sandholtz

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Volunteers are pictured at the Iglesia Apostolica De La Fe En Cristo Jesus on July 4, 2025, in Provo.

Courtesy Kurt and Carrie Sandholtz

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Painter Reymundo Murrieta is pictured at the Iglesia Apostolica De La Fe En Cristo Jesus in an undated photo.

Courtesy Kurt and Carrie Sandholtz

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The Iglesia Apostolica De La Fe En Cristo Jesus is pictured Thursday, Aug. 8, 2025, in Provo.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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With paint peeling off the walls, exterior siding damaged and interior baseboards worn out, the Iglesia Apostolica De La Fe En Cristo Jesus in west Provo was in need of improvement.

The building’s landlord reportedly had no intention of helping, so the congregation of the Spanish-speaking evangelical church determined it would use its own labor and resources to repaint the building and make other enhancements during the July 4 holiday weekend.

When community members caught wind of the predicament, they stepped in to help.

The church congregation, a professional painter, two different hardware stores and a group of volunteers all went to work last month to give the church a facelift.

“Even though I didn’t have time because I have a family, and obviously I’ve got to provide for them, I took time for it and I just felt the need to help them,” said painter Reymundo Murrieta, who is cousins with the church’s assistant pastor, Ricardo Colorado.

The result of their efforts was unmistakable. The once-forgettable building on the corner of Center Street and 1600 West is once again a noticeable house of worship, thanks to the vibrant, fresh coat of blue paint.

“Before it was just like an old building, looking like nobody was in there,” Murrieta said. “And now, it came alive. Now people notice it. They can actually turn around and be like, ‘Oh, look, it looks nice.'”

A community effort

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Provo Communications Council, Kurt and Carrie Sandholtz say their goal is to facilitate communications with different churches in the community and see where they can lend a hand.

When the Sandholtzes attended a service at the Iglesia Apostolica at the end of June, Pastor Héctor García mentioned to them the painting plans for the following weekend and they decided to help.

On Monday, June 30, Kurt began calling hardware stores soliciting donations or discounts for paint and primer. Home Depot store manager and director of the “Team Depot” initiative in Utah County, Jake Fields, was immediately responsive.

Fields said every business quarter they do a Team Depot project, though they often take a long time to come together through application and approval processes.

With paint needed in just four days, Fields opted to fast-track the operation and began calling several Home Depot stores in the area to see what they could offer. American Fork, Provo, Lindon and Sandy stores were able to donate paint, offering a combined 16 gallons of primer and 30 gallons of paint to the church in time for the project.

Fields said the efforts fulfilled Home Depot’s core values of respecting people, giving back and building relationships — and mentioned the project also hit close to home.

“I grew up in between Provo and Orem, and so I’m very familiar with seeing that building,” he said. “After seeing it get to this level of disrepair, (helping) definitely felt like it was the right thing to do.”

The Sandholtzes said Lowe’s in Orem was also helpful as store manager Lindsey Keck donated masking tape and drop cloths and offered a 50% discount on other supplies. The Sandholtzes also posted the project onto JustServe.org.

“It was really last minute,” Carrie said.

Seeing it through

On July 4 weekend, the church members, along with 10 volunteers from Just Serve sacrificed their holiday to work on the project.

Kurt Sandholtz said the main objective was prep work, because Murrieta was going to come in and spray the paint when everything was ready. From July 3-5, the volunteer crew did masking, sanding and chipping, and more.

Carrie Sandholtz said the church members and volunteers were able to come together, despite a language barrier between some of them, and got a lot of the work completed.

“They were just over the top (with gratitude) just explaining how much they appreciated the help,” she said. “And they really liked to get to know these different volunteers that came. Some spoke Spanish, some didn’t. There was a single mom who came and wanted her children to have an experience serving. Several of the members talked about how much they admired that mother. I think they so appreciated the help of the community and felt so cared for.”

Murrieta, who owns the painting company RRM Brothers, said the whole painting process took two weeks; first to paint the interior walls and ceiling followed by the exterior, and that it “came out pretty good.”

“I didn’t do it because ‘I’m going to be good with God and maybe he’s going to forgive me for a couple of things,'” Murrieta said. “No, I just felt the need to do it. And I didn’t just do it myself, there were a lot of people involved with it too.”

The final step will be to install the church’s logo and lettering at the front of the building. The Sandholtzes said Colorado will finish that himself, cutting out letters and designing a shield.

The overall project was a fine example of how different community members could join together for a common goal, Kurt believed.

“It doesn’t matter what church you belong to or what your beliefs are,” he said. “We’re all just friends and members of the same community and we can work together on this.”