Dear loved ones,
Noah has been on my mind often as of late. 17 years of building behind me, how many to go? I wonder how many times he wanted to quit, wanted more help, thought he couldn’t continue? Could he? How were those middle years of building? Most of us think of the beginning and the finish as being very important. Certainly, they are, and they get the emphasis, but let’s think about a crucial victory point. I can imagine a connecting beam that had to be placed on which the rest of the work would depend. I believe we have arrived at such a point.
We’re calling it a Ministry Makeover! Briefly, we’ll double the sanctuary size, double the kitchen, go from 8- 16 bathrooms, plus add a roof over the back outside play area (approximately 45’x 75’). All for about $150,000. We’ll effectively double our capacity to serve! Double in one year, all while continuing to receive groups. Insert big gulp here:) Yep, it’s a big chunk to bite off. But if it was easy, it wouldn’t be faith.
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear…
We will move with godly fear. I will move with godly fear. But as you know, I can only do so much. I’m up in the WI and MN area as I write. I brought my little shovel as an illustration. There are many things I can accomplish with my shovel, but it has it’s limitations. Recently, we dug the last footing on approximately 500’ of wall. I had to break up some concrete around the footing and then asked Chalo (the backhoe driver) if he could get in there. He did! Thereby saving me a day’s work with my little shovel. He dug it out in about 10 minutes. I just hopped in and cleared out the corners with my little shovel, and the preparation for the footing continued. You, our supporters, new and old, provide the speed, provide the backhoe. We can only advance accordingly. Minnie and I are in full agreement. Our Board of Directors are behind us and share our vision. Our time, yours and mine, is very limited, let’s move this project along with godly fear.
…prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of righteousness which is according to faith.
–Hebrews 11:7
Another piece of our Ministry Makeover is our online presence.
We now have online giving, guess this internet thing is here to stay. 🙂
We’ll extend the sanctuary straight out the back approximately 30 feet. Space in our sanctuary is so limited. Pictured below left is a typical camp service. We limit the number of campers because of space.
The sanctuary is also the dining room, that means a lot of tear down and set up. This also can take away from the feel of services. We want the sanctuary to be the sanctuary for many reasons. The added space will make it possible to receive larger groups and enhance the experience of every other group that comes.
We’ll extend a steel roof that covers all the cement area behind the church, extending all the way to where you can see the pitched roof of our play area with our slides etc (Approx. 45’ x 75’)…That will extend and connect the shade and covering from the front entrance of the church all the way down to our home and laundry area.
When I asked Minnie what she thought we needed most, the answer surprised me. Bathrooms! More bathrooms was the answer. Imagine 40 kids, 2 cabins, 1 bathroom each cabin and you’ll get the idea.
We’ll remodel within the church, to provide the equivalent of 10 full baths (from 6). And in-between the cabins (pictured), we’ll build 4 more full bathrooms accessible from the outside.
That’s the plan and some of the reasoning behind our Ministry Makeover! We’re stepping into the 21st century as well with our website access. That’s getting a makeover too. We will be purposeful about keeping you all more up-to-date with this vital juncture of building our ministry together. We have some more help with that, I’ll learn a little too. But mostly, I’ll stick to my shovel. This Ark has provided salvation, refuge, encouragement and rest for so many through our Lord Jesus. Let’s expand the Ark for the saving. More will be coming.
This is a thoughtful time, a somber time, and a very exciting time for our ministry. Let’s move by faith, in godly fear. And may our God that blessed Noah and gave him the strength to endure, bless you this month as well. We love you.
Prayer requests/ praise reports:
Sidewalk is poured! Check out the walkaround video!
July 17th–20th
Preaching at a family camp on the east coast in Tampico was a great blessing! Over 100 in attendance, what an encouraging time it was for all of us.
July 28th
Preaching at a teen conference in Monterrey. There were 190 teens at their alliance retreat. That will get your attention! We saw so many teens we knew from our camps. I was encouraged to hear of one 12-year-old when she heard I was speaking. “The camp guy! I love his preaching.” And we love you young lady. Santiago and Eric came up for a picture afterwards. They grew up in our camps.
FORE!! Let’s golf again!
We had 12 teams of golfers and many more for the dinner. Thank you all! What a beautiful day we had in so many ways. I created a new golf term. A 7-some! Yep, 7 of us lagged behind and had such a wonderful day. We managed 1 birdie and so much laughter. And we cleared over $8,700 as a direct result of the tournament thus far. So the Makeover monies have started to come in. So far, we have approximately $13,000 raised.
Pastor Chayo and Betty also just returned from a mission trip to the SW. They taught VBS in the morning, teen conference in the afternoon, and the church in the evening. For a week! Much of our outreach monies are going toward their work at Miracle of Life and their work in the SW as well as their work with the local church. Makes me tired just writing about it all! We send about $1,300/ month to support all of it. We’ll work to raise their funding as well in the coming year.
In Cuernavaca, we are so thankful for all the great work that Pastor Chayo and Betty are doing.
When Joshua arrived, teachers had given up on him. They said he couldn’t learn. At 11 years old, he could not say the alphabet. His father was murdered and his mother worships evil. Joshua is reading now, and very good at math. Recently he told Pastor Chayo that he wants to be like him. “I want to be a pastor.” You’ll make a good one Joshua.
Now introducing 2-year-old Uz. His young mom needs help while she goes back to high school. We’ll be glad to do that. We’ve been waiting for you Uz!
Gary’s Schedule for September
September 1st First Baptist in Falun, WI
September 8th Cedarcreek Community Church in Eau Claire WI
September 15th First United Lutheran in Roseau, MN
September 29th First Baptist Church in Barron, WI