Elementary Students Taking their Finals
Dear brothers and sisters,
Greetings in the name of Jesus to each and every one of you, including your family members and friends!
Lately it seems that the Enemy is working harder to stop our progress, yet with Jesus we are moving forward! We could decide that this is as far as we want to go with our ministry. We could say no more church planting! No more schools! No more training people for service. As a local church we could say that we have already reached the size that we want to stay.
Those could be appealing options, especially if we think that things were not as tough as they are now when we were not as big as we are now. We also know for sure that such a decision would be pleasing to the Enemy, but we are not going to stop.
We know that if we as a church stop growing, sooner or later we will die. Because to stop growing leads to a loss in membership, thus decline. A declining church is a dying church. No responsible, Spirit-filled leader, with a passion for the lost, would choose the route of letting a church die. Consequently, we will continue to foster the growth of our people and of our church.
To make that growth possible we need more space. So we have on the table a project to build a church building that will seat between 700 and 800 people. The sanctuary will have classrooms and offices on both sides. Here is a PDF document showing the design features. This design idea began with Bill Fudge and was modified by Jude. We will have 16 classrooms and offices. The classrooms will be used for Sunday school on Sunday and for the Bible College, the Vocational School, the School of Arts and Music and other activities during the week. In short, this building will afford us opportunities to serve more people and to reach out to more people.
It will cost roughly 200,000 USD to build. Here is a PDF document showing the cost estimate. We count on YOU to help us raise that money. We will break ground as soon as possible. We will not wait until we raise all the money before breaking ground. I humbly appeal to you to make a sacrifice to contribute toward raising the funds for the glory of God.
Challenges are big in front of us, but with Jesus forward it is!
We are doing well in spite of all the challenges. School is out and many of our students are taking government tests. Sixth grade tests were over yesterday. Next week is for 9th grade, then 12th and then 13th grade.
Our team from North Carolina/Cincinnati has returned yesterday. Our team from Warrensburg arrived here last night after an eventful afternoon with their luggage at the airport. They have already done some painting as they wait for the arrival of Dr. Thomas Hobbs tomorrow, Lord willing after his own ordeal. Thanks for your partnership. Let us continue to work together for the glory of God.
We serve a big God so let us not listen to the voices saying we cannot go forward, because with Jesus forward it is.
In Christ,
Salonique and team