DCP | Thoughts | 100 For 100 In 5

100 For 100 In 5

UPDATE 12/22/2017

Merry Christmas we’ve hit $14k left!

$14,000!

That means we have one week to crush this. $100, $50, $5000 – whatever, let’s do it.

UPDATE 12/7/2017

We’ve hit 23 x $100 donations. That’s $2300. We still believe we can hit $10k with a little help.

Three ways to give:

1. Through Impact’s website
2. Paypal (use ImpactTempleTx@gmail.com as the recipient
3. or mail a check to our home, made out to Impact Temple:
   Mailing Address:
   1106 Dakota Drive
   Temple, TX 76504

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UPDATE 11/28/2017

We’ve hit 17 x $100 donations (that I know of!). That’s awesome. Let’s keep it moving.

Impact Temple also has a PayPal address which can be used to send money if that’s more convenient (it is for us!).

1. Log into your PayPal account.
2. Click the “Pay or Send Money” button
   
3. Pick “Send money to friends and family”
4. Copy/Paste in ImpactTempleTx@gmail.com as the recipient and confirm and DONE!
5. Thank you 🙂

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For quick deciders, our church family, Impact Temple is raising funds to pay off their building by Dec. 31. My wife, Caroline and I are doing our part. We are asking our 1160 unique Facebook friends to contribute $100. If only 100 of our friends contribute a tax-deductible $100 over the next 5 weeks (100 FOR $100 IN 5), we’ll be able to give $10,000 toward the $58,000 needed to reach our church’s goal, putting a significant dent in the money owed.

The church owes $116,000 and all incoming donations received before Dec. 31 will be matched to pay off the building in order to avoid renegotiating the lease on January 1, 2018. Presently, the outcome of those negotiations is unknown.

Ready to give? Click below or mail a check to me. And thank you!

Mailing Address: 
1106 Dakota Drive
Temple, TX 76504

Need more info? Keep reading.

A Big Change

For friends who don’t know our backstory, in late 2016, our family decided on a significant change. I resigned my position at Chesapeake Church as Executive Pastor and my wife resigned as Staff Childcare Leader.

We packed our house and headed southwest to Temple, TX to be closer to my family.

The journey has been difficult. But with the support of friends from Maryland (some of whom moved with us!), our Texas family, and new Texas friends from several local church communities, we are discovering our new normal.

One such church family is Impact Temple. I heard the name and mission of the church in a conversation, and desiring a smaller church family, we ventured to Impact one Sunday last May.

Something Different

When we arrived we were greeted by a man named Tim who informed us we might have a hard time understanding what he was saying because, as a vet, he had “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” In the service, this same gentleman served us communion as we sat quietly, taking in the humbleness of the people and simplicity of the service.

My wife and I both had difficultly holding back tears as he served Caroline, me, and our two kids crackers and grape juice and prayed over us. This moment posed a significant step in our healing process of leaving our previous community.

God knew what we needed in that moment, and He came through – as always.

While I’d love to share more of our story, this request isn’t about me, so allow me to share more about Impact.

Impact is a different church community, at least in regard to our experience.

Impact is not a destination. It’s a community centered around the gospel. There is certainly nothing “snazzy” about where we meet. The building is an old print shop, long abandoned. Residuals of the print shop are everywhere – florescent shop lights (most not working) light up the rooms in yellowish hue along with the familiar hum. The walls of the “auditorium” (which is a humorous description) are exposed insulation. The floors are mostly unfinished concrete or layers of industrial carpet and cracked 70’s-era avocado tile with as much history as the grocery-cart-pushing homeless that walk across them week to week. Disconnected outlets hang from the ceiling like ornaments.

While the building isn’t in the best shape, there are ongoing efforts to improve it’s usability including men’s and women’s bathrooms (with plans for showers in case of shelter emergencies), a commercial-style kitchen, and better classrooms for kids and weekly Bible studies.

Caroline and I believe the Bible puts little emphasis on a church body’s building – we’re taught Christ abolished the need for a high priest and that God’s temple is us, the Holy Spirit dwells in us, not a building.

Our experience in Impact’s humble meeting place has shown that our new church family is of similar belief.

Then why are we raising funds to pay off the church building?

Good question. And one we’ve wrestled with. There are 3 important reasons that have led us to believe in the importance of making this happen:

1. To provide a place for the homeless and working poor. Most of the homeless and poor do not have transportation. And Impact serves homeless and working poor not only on Sundays, but throughout the week. After the service on Sunday, all are invited to stay and have a meal. This not only serves the poor who need food, but integrates people of all races and economic statuses. It’s really beautiful. So a central, walkable location is essential to this type of outreach. When the showers are complete, Impact will also be capable of sheltering several hundred people in an emergency situation (remember Harvey?). Currently, there is very little shelter for the homeless in downtown Temple, particularly men. During the week, Impact provides a place for those same people to be discipled by people in the church. One such study is led by our Pastor, Brandon Baker. He also provides a meal with this Wednesday evening study.
2. To provide a free meeting place for the Un-Included Club. You can’t live long in Temple without hearing about the Un-Included Club. Led by our friends Doree and Travis Collins, also part of the Impact Family, the Un-Included Club works with elementary-aged children to keep them “un-included” from illiteracy, obesity, and negativity. They also have an outstanding leadership program for older kids who mentor the younger kids. They meet each day at the Impact building after school during the school year. They are not charged rent to use Impact’s building. As a non-profit org, this allows them to focus primarily on the program for the kids. It’s a great partnership. They need a building to make this happen and Impact graciously provides.
3. Lastly, to be a gateway to unite Temple. It’s interesting, but the Impact building is located on East Adams, just east of downtown between cross streets 6th and MLK. If you’re not from Temple, that may not mean much; I grew up here – it means a lot. East Temple is the side of town where poverty resides. It is also the predominately black and hispanic side of town. But on any given Sunday at Impact, you’ll note a “mixing bowl” group of people – doctors, jobless, lawyers, homeless, business owners, blue-collar workers, white-collar workers, government employees, elderly, and everyone in between. This little tract of property in an old part of Temple is a gateway, a lighthouse, a city on a hill shining against the evils of racism (on all sides), denominational division, racial supremacy, and overall hatred. But we have no need for that, right? The building backs up to Martin Luther King Street – we’ve come so far since MLK’s days, haven’t we? Obviously, no. It’s 2017 and the news is littered with divisive hatred EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And unfortunately, nationwide, the church hasn’t been much help. Yet this church using an old print shop for a building actively challenges the barriers preventing the gospel from reaching all people. I wish I could communicate clearly the joy that brings to my spirit.

It’s just a building.

Someday it will fall apart. Someday it may be a business – again, or a parking lot. God only knows. For now, here’s how I see it: we have a chance to put a pin on the map for the Kingdom of Christ.

$58,000 does it.

We have a chance to burn bright in darkness. We have a chance to fearlessly demonstrate the gospel through feeding the poor, discipling one another, worshipping without barriers, and unifying the church in a way that has escaped us for some time.

We have a chance to make a significant “impact” right before our eyes.

It’s only $100.

In a month, it’ll be just a memory. It’s one date night; one home project; one trip to Walmart (right!?); one Amazon order; one of your kid’s Christmas presents. But in a month, should Impact have the capacity to pay off this old print shop, the church will have $2000 every month to turn into real ministry. Imagine the effects over the course of 2018, 19, 20 and beyond.

Will you join Caroline and me in being the hands and feet of the body? Please consider joining us today for a tax-deductible $100, $200, or more before December 31, 2017 to match the funds provided by the church.

If you have questions about this, feel free to email me or call my cell, 410-507-9424.

Thank you. Grace and peace to all of you!

To find out more about Impact Temple, see their Facebook Page or Website.