When Christ gave the Great Commission (Acts 1:8) He commanded the church to first be “witnesses in Jerusalem” and then the world. It was to start right where they were (cf. Mark 5:19); we’ve realized that too. When we purchased our current 3.5 acre site in 95 we noted we were in the center of the growing area. We met in our barn for 12 years and built the current facility. Then the second bridge came and people started coming faster and didn’t want to pay the toll to return. Houses, apartments, senior retirement complexes and stores sprang up and continue to do so. Less than a mile from us 178 new houses are being built, as well as, many others in the area. The mission field is coming to us.
Therefore we planned to maximize our site to within one square foot of code with better class room areas, basement storage, a family fellowship center, an expanded foyer, a 44% larger worship center, and a fully paved parking area. Today the plans are done and we expect a permit to start building soon. We are “Expanding for the Generations to Come.” Yes…more are coming.
The new Narrows Bridge cost 72 times as much as the first one. Building prices have gone up. Our builder expects the cost of our project to be $2.9 million dollars. But we know the Lord will provide, so a few weeks ago we asked our flock to pray about giving over and above to our building fund for two years to help bring the price of the loan down. Praise the Lord, the grand total of pledges to date is $211,402.00. This helps us save money in the long run. If you are interested in helping go to www.discoverybaptist.org and click the GIVE button. A special brochure and commitment card are also available at church or on request.
Last week in Everett, Chris and I met with our regional church Revolving Fund committee and presented our anticipated building project loan needs of $2,5 million. That plus our own funds should be enough to build. The Revolving Fund is a fund that our group of churches (Baptist Network Northwest) has maintained for decades to help churches build in the northwest. We presented the needs and the committee then met privately to discuss it. Later they told us we have been approved to borrow $2.2 million. They also approved us to borrow the remaining $300,000 if enough folks invest an equal amount ($300,000) in the Revolving Fund. Those are not gifts but investments paying interest of up to 4% depending on the loan length. Those funds are in turn loaned to our building project. More information on this will be made available later. We are thankful to the Lord for His provision.
I am standing with Nelson Zarfas our BNN business manager and loan officer last week at our conference in Everett. We so appreciate the work BNN has done to make it possible for us to be able to help cover the cost of building. By the way, thanks to them for the free BNN polo shirt too. :-)
The steps of God’s providence through the last forty years at Discovery are much easier to see in retrospect. Some of those include being encouraged to plant a church here vs. in Alaska, finding our house in one day on the peninsula, discovering our current building site as a result of a prayer meeting where I was reminded of a letter laid aside months earlier, and God bringing various people into our church who would be the needed leaders of the future.
Pray that soon we will have that permit to build for the generations to come here in Gig Harbor. That will make our church better able to reach our Jerusalem and be a launching point for more missions to the four corners of the globe.
Pastor Mark