Help Missio Dei Buy a New Ministry Center!
April 2, 2008 – 1:57 pm | by van s
Missio Dei currently operates a communal ministry house and meets Sunday evenings in the basement of a local coffee shop. We’ve been looking for another space for intentional living for some time. And we’ve just found a property that would work well as our ministry center.
The 4600 sq ft property has apartment space for intentional community (with minimal remodeling, we’ll be able to turn it into a spacious 4 bedroom apartment), a large gathering space (for up to 100 people), office space, and a restored basement that would be used for art studios and/or classrooms (local adult English learning programs need additional classroom space and we could share our classroom space with them).It also has a very full sized two car garage (which would be used as workshop space), a large lot that would add more space for our urban gardening project, and an enclosed outdoor courtyard between the garage and the main building.
This would be a great next step in what we’re doing. Missio Dei has been faithful for the past few years…we’ve resisted easy growth as we’ve sought to root ourselves in the neighborhood. We’ve become a people of hospitality, a people of prayer, a people who put faithfulness to Jesus before the ornaments of church success. This property would help us to do everything we’re doing now, but with greater intensity and greater impact. We’re ready for this. We’re praying for this. But we need help from brothers and sisters in Christ to make this a reality.
We’re trying to raise a minimum of $100,000. I know it is a lot. But this property will give us a HUGE step forward, allowing us to dramatically increase our impact. We’d have a larger capacity for intentional community, the ability to serve the local programs that lack classroom space, an increased capacity for hospitality, and a long-term gathering space for our various meetings.
Here’s how you can help:
1) Pray. Let’s face it; the sort of money we need is way beyond our grasp. God will either have to move a large donor or two to part with a LOT of money or have to mobilize many small donors. Either way, this isn’t something we can just “muster up.”
2) Give financial support. At the top of the Missio Dei website (www.missio-dei.com) there is a link that says “give.” This is a totally secure online giving portal, created for Missio Dei by Vanco Services. Your donations are tax deductible. If we are unable to purchase the property in question, your donation will be set aside for the future purchase of a ministry center.
3) Tell others! If you have friends and family that might be interested in the work of Missio Dei, let them about our need. If you have a blog, let your readers know about our need.
3 Responses to “Help Missio Dei Buy a New Ministry Center!”
By Maria Kirby on Jan 23, 2008 | Reply
Could we put pray as number one help item?
By van s on Jan 23, 2008 | Reply
That’s funny; I thought about that today as I was re-editing, just as I thought about it as I wrote it the first time.
I remember a story I was told about a missionary who came to share at a church. After sharing, the pastor asked, “how can we help?”
The missionary said, “you can pledge financial support.”
The pastor asked, “aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Oh, you can send your youth on a trip to help us with some maintenance at the mission,” the missionary replied.
Embarrassed, the pastor asked, “don’t you want us to pray?”
The missionary responded: “I figured that since I’ll have your money and I’ll have your kids, you’d already be praying.”
All that is to say, I felt it go without saying that we need your prayers. But perhaps it doesn’t…so I’ll add it.
By Jason Okrzynski on Jan 24, 2008 | Reply
Mark,
I will be praying for your monetary mission. I know how spiritually trying Capital campaigns can be, you feel called to a specific mission but the completion of that mission is largely out of your hands. I hope that your community is challenged and strengthened by the process! Oh! And that you find the money!