I pray this letter finds you and your household well. I want to give you an update about our land and a challenge that we are going to extend to our Church Family beginning in November 2002. As you probably know by now we have closed on the purchase of 50 acres of land on Highway 82 Spur. The closing costs were kept at a minimum and everyone involved was extremely helpful. We put right at $54,000 toward the down-payment of the property. Payment for the land was set up on a 20-year fixed loan at an interest rate of 4.75%! You can't tell me that God has not been working in this whole process! We are grateful to Him for His provision and hand throughout the purchase.
Although we have set up payment for the land on a 20-year note, our goal is to have the land paid off in three years. The 20-year note was done so that our present ministries and needs would not be crippled. But if we are going to pay off the land in three years, this means that we must give above and beyond the tithe to our Building Fund. We are going to need to raise approximately $291,600 in addition to the monthly payments to reach our goal. This would mean that we need to raise about $97,200 each year in our giving to the Building Fund; approximately $8,100 each month.
Though this figure seems extremely large, let me break it down for you into some figures that will help you to see that this goal can be met if each and every person does their part. If 100 people were to commit to giving a specified amount of money each month, note what would be needed to attain our goal:
Number of People
Amount Given per month
Total per month
4
$200
$800
7
$150
$1,050
30
$100
$3,000
30
$75
$2,250
29
$50
$1,450
Grand Total per month:
$8,550
As you can tell if every person gave a part, we could more than exceed our goal. I understand that there are some in our congregation that could give more, and there are others that would have to give less. But the issue is, if you are convinced of the vision that God has given for our church - to purchase land in order to benefit and aid in our reaching people for Christ and ministering to them - then we need to sacrifice in order to meet the goal.
Here is what I am going to ask you to do: pray and seek God's face about what it is that He wants you to do. Please don't limit God, but trust that He is the Owner of a cattle on a thousand hills will lead in you sacrificial giving. As I shared before; we know that God will supply for our every need, but first we must give to meet a need.
On Sunday, November 3, 2002, we "Proved the Tithe," and formally kicked off our giving campaign toward the land. "Prove the Tithe" simply means that we are going to obey God's Word and bring the tithe (1/10 of our income) to the general offering of our church. God honors those who obey Him. Trust Him with every part of your life - including your finances.
I thank God for you, and for how He is going to use you. May God's richest blessings be on you this holiday season, and all throughout the year!