“If we build it, they will come.”

We have long appreciated that a direct connection exists between available, affordable housing and the number of critical staff a ministry like MBI    attracts and retains. The lack of close,  affordable housing often hinders staff growth, and, by extension, what MBI can achieve worldwide. The good news is that answers to our prayers for much-needed staff are being answered. Moreover,  MBI is experiencing a burst of opportunities that may lead to resolution of some of its staff-housing issues.

Our stated goal has been to accomplish Phase I of our Site Development plan: the construction of the Hospitality House.  But it appears that God is rearranging our timetable, leapfrogging us directly to Phases II and III.  Here’s what happened:

In mid-September MBI was asked if it would accept the donation of an entire motel complex scheduled to be demolished or moved from the shoreline of Flathead Lake here in Lakeside. MBI’s engineers informed us that the structure would not adapt well to our site  design. In the same breath, they recommended that the SIP Panel housing system MBI purchased and stored three years ago was best sold or given away. We thought we were doubly out, until, while praying about who might be interested in the  housing system, a telephone call came from the very person we prayed for at the very second we were praying!  Asked if they could use our building materials, we were shocked that their answer was "no."  Did we hear God or not?  They were calling about something completely different - and then they asked if they could come visit later that very day, intrigued that we were praying for them. 

During their visit, and hearing the story of our passing the blessing of the motel onto YWAM Montana,  they asked if MBI could use a gift in the form of an amazing opportunity: a $100,000 challenge grant toward MBI’s first staff-housing! Donations received by December 31, 2009, would be matched by the challenge-grant donor, up to $100,000!

Thanks in part to the weather, the donor’s timing, and design changes, MBI’s construction would begin seven months later on April 1, 2010. In the mean time, we rejoiced that YWAM  Montana was the recipient of the motel complex along with the money to move it!  MBI board members and volunteers helped with the motel’s relocation. (Click Here to see the moving motel photos).

By November 24, 2009, over $17,000 had been pledged or received - not as much as we'd hoped for a full month into fund raising.   Expecting a large response to our  recent newsletter, we went to the mailbox the next day to discover only one envelope - which was highly unusual for that time of year.  But inside, a gift for $10,000.  Two days later a family emailed with news that their entire family were foregoing their Christmas gift buying and sending the amount they would have spent on themselves to help MBI's Building Fund grow!  By the next day, a gift of stock worth over $10,000 was given, and the following day a telephone call received from Asia that a family was forwarding a gift of $5,000 by year end.

By the morning of December 28, 2009, roughly $44,000 had been pledged or received, then God's angels on bicycles (three of them riding amid the snow and ice of Lakeside's roads) appeared at our office door - delivering an amazing gift of $45,000!  What a celebration!  Over the next two days, as word by telephone and email circulated, gifts of all sizes (from the widow's mite of $5, to gifts of several thousand) arrived in the mail, online and dirve-by dropoffs.  By 10 pm December 31, 2009, a total of $100,281 had been pledged or received.  Amazing Grace - amazing God!

Whether $100,000, $10,000 or $10.... MBI has been overwhelmed by the graciousness of God through the generosity of others. Thank you for participating in God's move with us! 

Mission Builders International continues to experience a mix of blessings and challenges.  It looks (and feels) like God is on the move on MBI’s behalf. This Challenge Grant was a significant step toward multiplying the number of volunteers MBI places worldwide, and a dramatic increase of answered prayers.

Though this phase of the Capital Campaign is finished, join us in rising to the challenge to continue MBI's campus development through prayer and giving!  Your prayers are always appreciated, Capital Campaign or not!

To give, make a credit card or eCheck (ACH) donation online using MBI's secure portal, click here.

Checks may be made payable to Mission Builders International and mailed to MBI, PO Box 406, Lakeside, MT 59922.  All gifts are acknowledged and a receipt for your tax-deductible gift will be issued.

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