Greetings!
We have had a lot going on in the building in Luck and the
programs there so I thought I would give you an update. For those of you who
don’t know, in June we purchased the former Pioneer Nursing Home in Luck,
Wisconsin for $1. It is over 40,000 square feet, 67 bedrooms, 14 clinical rooms
and it is in excellent condition. It has four wings plus a chapel, offices,
dining room and commercial kitchen. Our MissionXpress program will headquarter
out of it.
Our first concern was to get everything operational. So as
far as I know, everything is working including the boiler heating system, the
air conditioners, air exchangers, dry sprinkler system, elevator, all lights,
backup generator and everything else.
We have discovered that the professional wing will be much
easier to accomplish than I thought, as Wisconsin has a law where licensed
medical professionals can practice at a free clinic without the fear of being
sued. It is something like the Good Samaritan Act for non-profits.
I went to Rice Lake, WI yesterday to talk to the director of
a free clinic and I left there encouraged as this is very doable. They
basically can diagnosis and issue prescriptions, but they have prescription drugs onsight that they get from the drug companies, free samples from drug reps, and some generics that they purchase and provide free of charge. Their
clinic is open the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month from 6-9 PM. They
see about 25 patients per time they are open. They are also open a third night
a month which is just for Diabetes education and support. They serve just three
counties. There are people from Polk County coming there that they have to turn
away.
They have three doctors, three intake nurses, two social
workers, and a receptionist when the clinic is open. I had a brainstorm in calling
the clinic “Free Indeed Clinic” to tie into the spiritual application from John
8:36. Pastor Mike, a retired Lutheran pastor in Luck, has asked to be part of
the clinic operation and sees himself greeting, meeting, and visiting with
patients as they wait their turn to see the doctor. He is a gentle spirited man whom I
see as being a real spiritual asset to the clinic.
Yesterday I received word from Dr Karl Anderson, a
progressive successful dentist in St Paul, and a supporter of this ministry that
he is putting out the word for equipment to furnish the dental clinic. I have
not pursued any staff for any of the medical practices we will have but “If you
build it they will come.”
We are running an ad for an overall volunteer manager for
the clinic who will also work with the setup, and an ad for a
volunteer crisis pregnancy center manager. We have not pursued the counseling,
legal, chiropractic, or physical therapy yet.
There is also a beauty shop in the building that was operating as of last year. We should be able to do free haircuts and beauty work
with volunteer beauticians. It might be such a thing that we could trim toe
nails for the elderly there, as I have learned that as we get older that
becomes more of a challenge.
The kitchen has been looked at for a Community Kitchen with
classes being given through Polk and Burnett Counties to financial aid
recipients, as well as for our own use. We had the health inspector out today
and there are almost no modifications needed, with the exception of re-installing
a hand washing sink. There is the need for a new commercial stove, some
stainless steel counter tops, dishes, pots/pans, and other miscellaneous
things. But the general use is not far away and we have two convection ovens that
are ready to install. Again, most of the kitchen was left alone with the
exception of the stove and a couple of stainless steel countertops taken out.
The health inspector also looked at the rest of the building
and said we will need a “hotel License” for people to stay there overnight.
Again, we are not that far away from that being ready either. We have put out
letters to various carpet manufacturers for 4,500 yards of donated carpet, and
we have one response we are working with. However, there are still shipping
costs from Georgia and the cost of laying the carpet. I think it will be pretty
hard to find someone who will donate their labor to lay 4,500 yards of carpet. We plan on furnishing the rooms with furniture out of hotels; Marriott’s,
Hilton’s, etc. as they remodel. We already have the possibility of over 100
sofa sleepers in Texas.
The carpet has been torn out of the offices so hopefully we
will receive word soon about the donated carpet, or perhaps purchase what is
needed to get ourselves functioning with some comfort.
The UP! Program is a series of online classes that
will be used to help people with their various walks of life. The course is for
approximately 40 weeks and twice during the class they will attend a four day
weekend at the Center in Luck, WI for further instruction by speakers and
teachers. These are Godly moments of growth!
Proposed classed to be offered….
Face Up!
Too often individuals struggle with not knowing “where to
turn” to find answers to their most challenging problems. Sometimes there
is a need to “face the problems, the giants in life” with God’s help and the
help of other Christ followers. There is hope in dealing with the
giants and baggage in our lives, there is both hope and healing. This "baggage
remover" course brings people to a fresh start in Christ and life. The
"forgiveness factor" sets people free of their past with this
effective application oriented course.
Man Up!
Someone once said; "The problem in our churches
today is that we are trying to make women out of men!"???? God
created all men to live out a “God designed role”, there is tremendous
fulfillment when men discover and achieve all that God designed for
men. Man Up teaches men their God given roles and responsibilities
before God, to themselves, their spouses and children. It addresses men from
all walks of life and circumstances whether married, divorced or single with
applicable steps on the journey of faith to encourage, strengthen and return
men to their God given role.
Woman Up!
In this complex world of changing gender roles, women
often find it difficult to “fit in” to their faith walk and ministry. Woman Up
leads woman down the magnificent journey of womanhood, and ministry leadership
without losing sight of God’s purpose. You will find the "joy of the
journey" with Godly womanhood truths that you can apply to your life.
Grow Up!
“I wish someone would have told me…” These words
are often expressed by persons in ministry such as pastoral, teaching,
missionary or para-church ministries. This course removes the rose colored
glasses, can bring individuals to a clearer understanding or perhaps even
a honest examination of their desires, gifts, strengths and challenges
related to God’s calling to ministry in their life. The "best surprise
is no surprise" when it comes to ministry. Grow Up gives an opportunity to
have practical, down to earth applications which provide clearer answers
to the question, "Am I called into ministry?" and if so, what
ministry?
Life Up!
For those who struggle seeing God’s blessings in life and
are often prone to seeing the glass half empty instead of half full, this
course “Life Up!” will help individuals re-shift! This course is designed
to help individuals apply a positive, daily, blessing on blessing approach to
life. Consistency in positive daily Christian living and the effect on us
and others cannot be overstated. Christ came to bring life, life abundant
and positive Christian living is a Biblical principle that opens up this
mystery. Discover the application of the expectancy of God's blessings!
One Up!
This dynamic course is for married couples or engaged
couples to learn the principles of “…becoming one flesh.” Marriage is sacred;
it is God’s design and meant to last a lifetime! In spite of God’s wonderful plan, the divorce rates are
soaring! This course can be used as a refresher, rebuilding, restoring
and/or introducing marriage. The Biblical message of "oneness" in
marriage is not only applicable but achievable. God wants marriage to
deeply satisfy and fulfill both male and female.
End Up!
The statistics on death are quite impressive, one out of
one people die! So the question is not if we are going to die but when. What
are you going to do with the rest of your one and only life? This is the focus
and application. This course also addresses practical planning for those left
behind when you celebrate eternity. These later years can truly be
"Golden!" This course will provide individuals an
opportunity to examine the hard life and death questions but taking the time to
do so will be rewarding. Undoubtedly, you will complete the course
having deeper clarity in how to live each day and the courage to live each day on
purpose!
Those taking the classes will pay a modest tuition yet to be
determined. Every ministry has to have a basic revenue stream. These funds will
run the program and pay the expenses on the facility and support staff. There
will be dozens of volunteer retired pastors, church leaders, professors and
other professionals involved. But there is one cloud that we must remove to
open the way for the sunshine.
We need to raise about $100,000 in seed money to fund this
to get us through until fall. We have had a small amount of money that has come
in from a garage sale but other than that we have been paying these expenses
out of our regular ministry funds. There are two reasons why this can’t continue to happen.
The first one is that the ministry already has plenty of expenses with
buildings, trucks and all that goes with that. The second thing is that I
promised the board of directors of Home and Away Ministries that I would
raise the money to pay for this!
Most of you know that I have not pestered you for donations. In fact, in recent years we only ask for help in paying for the licensing of
the trucks. It has meant so much to me personally to see family and friends
respond so generously. The downside of this is that I haven’t kept you well
enough informed about what is going on in the ministry. You probably don’t know
that we purchased a 19,000 square foot office and warehouse facility in
Waupaca, WI for Ruby’s Pantry. We have 8 distributions there and plan on adding
at least 12 more. We presently do a total of 39 food distributions providing a
hand up to nearly 9,000 families a month in the rural communities in northern
Wisconsin and Minnesota. We have 14 semi reefer trailers, 5 semi tractors
as well as five straight trucks, four of them reefers. Our basic cost of operation
is provided through the donations from the people who go to the food
distributions. 97% of the “guests” make the $15 donation. We also have had some
success this year from grant writing. We received a $2,500 grant from a company in
the twin cities, $10,000 through Hunger Free Minnesota that was provided by
Hormel, and $50,000 from the WalMart foundation. All of this money was used to
pay down on the $125,000 loan that we took out last fall to buy semi-trailers.
What a blessing this was!
Our MissionXpress program had an excellent summer as we sent
teams down to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and held over 55 services in
Spanish speaking churches in June and July. The altars were full and salvation
was received by many. It was a blessed time for all of the people who
participated. This year we hope to have a full summer slate of services. I will
be going down in January to meet with pastors and speak in 8 or 9 churches in a
week. If you and or your church have never been on a mission trip, MissionXpress
will provide you a mission adventure in 2012!
So, I am mailing out a few dozen letters to family and
friends asking for them to help with seed money for the Ministry Center in
Luck. I was just going to send out the letters to close friends and family but
then I had an idea. If I have friends and family who would like to partner with
our ministry this way, maybe you know someone like that too. So I am
asking you to prayerfully consider thinking about people that you know who may
be interested in helping with this project. It isn’t every day that we have the
opportunity to be involved in something life changing and of such great magnitude.
Today is my birthday. I am 64 years old. Some would say I am
crazy for doing what we already do without adding this to it. But I remember
what someone once asked, “What are you going to do with the rest of your one
and only life?” For me, I want to give back to God every breath I have for as
long as he gives me to carry out His work. This is an opportunity to do life
changing work that will touch the lives of literally thousands of people for
Christ for generations to come. And you can be part of this.
In His Presence,
Lyn
