Well, this is what we are currently seeing all around our building right now!  I’m thinking that I might pick one of these bad boys up so that I can fit in with all of the cool kids.  I wonder what type of gas mileage they get?

We’ve had some pretty cool things take place over the last month.  Now, we’ve still got a long way to go, but pretty much all of our meetings have gone fantastic.  We even had a huge answer to prayer in our excess dirt removal and actually have a couple of different people willing to take it off of our hands with no cost to us.

Here are the big items on our plate right now, and almost all of it is in the financial areas.  Our finance team is working over time to get all of this information together and correct so as to not hold up the project, but here is what you can be praying for:

• The City is requiring us to get a Bond for all of our site-work.  Bonds are really not a big deal, unless of course you’re a church!  Then it can become a real process.  Be praying that we can get this completed and ready to present to the City by the Board of Public Works meeting on June 14th!
• Our final architectural plans are almost ready to be submitted to the State.  This is the last major pre-construction hurdle.  Pray that the State approves and that the City signs off.
• Compilation of the last several years of financial records.  Think of it as doing your taxes…blindfolded!  Yeah, that’s kind of what this is like.

The 3 people who are carrying the load are Don Stewart, Jessica Seelye, and Nita Conaway.  Please be in constant prayer for them as I’m certain the numbers can get overwhelming at times.

Here’s the really exciting news: If all goes well with getting our financing in line, and there are no unforseen hiccups at the June 14th BPW meeting, we can apply for our LAP (Land Alteration Permit) and we can begin moving dirt.  So, let’s all pray that the big boy dozer’s aren’t just at our neighbor’s next month, but are roaming around our land too!

That’s all for now!

Dave

Well Team,

The snail pace of the pre-construction process continues.  We gave our site design (parking, sewer, storm water, ect…) to the City and they came back with some alterations, and we have re-submitted it with the areas they asked us to address.  So, the next phase is submitting the actual building/construction designs for approval.

I can’t tell you how anxious I am to begin seeing ground moving on our land.  All of the dirt mounds piling up on Worthsville Rd are just adding to my anticipation!  If you are as excited about us moving dirt as I am there are 4 things I’m asking you to do:

1. Pray!  Our biggest asset as we work through the submission, permit, and bonding process with the City are your prayers.  We believe that prayer changes things!  So, pray that our builder move quickly, that the City responds quickly and reasonably, and that everything would take place on God’s perfect timing.
2. Talk!  Share your excitement for the building with everyone you know.  Talk to them about what will be happening there, talk about how it will allow our Childcare, which by the way is awesome, to grow and impact more families.  Talk about the coffee shop whose proceeds will be used to help people who are hurting, lost, and lonely.  Talk about how our teen ministry will finally be able to have a space of their own.  In short, talk about it, build the excitement!
3. Commit!  Last year we presented the MOMENTUM project and many of you committed financially to give over and above your regular offering to make the project a reality.  If you were not a part of Friendship then and you’d like to know more about it and potentially become a part of MOMENTUM yourself then go to our dedicated website, read the information, watch the amazing stories, and commit to being a part of the MOMENTUM at Friendship Church!  If you’ve already committed, then let me say “Thank You!” and keep up the giving!
4. Invite! Once our building is complete we will have seating for 600 in the auditorium and our kids space will double.  As we build over the next year our vision of glorifying God as an effective and influential church isn’t being put on hold!  Some may say, “Where will we put more people right now?”.  That’s a great question, I really don’t know…but we’ll find room.  Lack of space will never be an excuse for us to stop doing what God has called us to do, and when the time is right God will let us know what the next step is.  Kind of exciting, isn’t it!

Just remember, when God’s people, pursue God’s vision, in God’s timing, we can expect God-sized results!

Dave

Some great news everyone!  I recently had a meeting with the City of Greenwood and the subdivision planner to the West of us.  As we all sat around the table attempting to resolve the domino effect that we were experiencing the subdivision planner came up with a fantastic idea that allowed not only us to move forward but also the subdivision!  That means that both of our projects can continue to progress, and hopefully without much further delay.

At this point we have to get back with our engineers to change some of our drainage and road issues and hopefully be able to work with the subdivision in creating a great timing solution that works for both of us.  So, as of right now, our engineering firm is beginning to work on the layout.  Once that is done we will present that to the City and get an initial approval to apply for a land alteration permit (basically allows us to start moving dirt).

The unfortunate part of all of this is that this process has caused us to be about 4-6 months behind our initial desire of breaking ground in December.  The positive part is that this is allowing us to get to know more of the people involved in the project and be able to build positive relationships with them.  In fact, I’d like to give you a few names of people who will be influential in the ongoing progress of our project and ask you to be specifically praying for them.

• Paul Claire (Subdivision Planner)
• Mark Richards (City Engineer)
• Paul Peoni (Assistant Engineer)
• Bill Peeples (City Planner)

All of these men I’ve been able to get to know throughout this process, and I can tell you that I am personally praying for them, and I’d like you to join me.

Well, that’s all for now, keep praying hard and I’ll keep you up to date as things progress!

Hey Team,

Wow, I’m simply amazed at how our MOMENTUM series went, and I’m in awe of how excited and supportive everyone is of the project.  For those of you who don’t yet know, we did reach our goal of $600,000 committed to the project over the next two years, and on our Big Give Sunday 25% of that amount came in, that’s just astounding by any measure!

Our hope was to break ground still in 2013, unfortunately do to some circumstances beyond our control that have recently taken place we will need to delay the groundbreaking a little bit.  We are still hoping to be able to get started early in 2014 if we can make some pieces move the way we want.  Here’s the skinny on what has happened and how it affects us:

• First thing that happened was that a Greenwood resident, East of us on Worthsville Rd, is fighting the Eminent Domain ruling.  This has put a six month delay on the construction of Worthsville Rd.  This does not affect us…directly, but as you’ll see below it has a pretty substantial domino effect.
• Because the City of Greenwood has had to delay the project for six months, they’ve chosen to start on the West end of the project across 31.  Again, this has no direct impact on us…but wait!
• The subdivision directly to the West of us across Emerson Ave needs to tie into the new storm water system that the City is building into Worthsville Rd, BUT that is also being delayed, so the subdivision has also decided to delay starting.  Now, this has a direct impact on us because our current drainage goes onto the property they are building on so they were going to have to take our drainage and connect it to the new City storm water system.  They also were going to bring Emerson up to a County Road designation (thicker pavement and a little wider lanes).

So, because all of this is delayed, that places all of the improvements (road, drainage, moving of utilities, etc…) squarely on our shoulders, which if it stands will mean a potential increase of $250,000…yes, that’s six figures!

We are in the process of working with our construction team to determine exactly what it might cost us, and if there is some way around, or some way to work with either the City or the subdivision to find a positive solution.  So, be praying very, very hard that God gives us a clear path and gives us precise directions!

 WARNING, SPIRITUAL APPLICATION COMING!!!

 As I think about this process I can’t help but think about the verse I began Sunday’s message with:

 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. – Proverbs 24:24 NIV

Rarely can we trace a path of ruined life back to one ‘huge, monstrous bad decision’.  Granted, there are some of those, but more often then not it’s a small decision, that leads to another, and another, and another.  Then one day you find yourself in a place you never wanted or intended to be, and it often impacts other people.

This gentleman who is fighting the City is not going to win.  If it were for a strip mall or another parking lot, yes he would have a small shot, but no one has ever won an Eminent Domain case when it involved a road.  So, not only will he lose his case, but he’ll also lose his money for the lawyer, which means the money that he would have gotten for his property will be significantly diminished or he could lose it all together.  His decision also affects all of the people who would benefit from the new road, the people who would be purchasing the new homes, the guys who would be employed to build those homes…well you get the picture.

Moral of the story folks, every decision and every choice matters which is why Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:16;

“Watch your life and doctrine closely!”

 Keep praying for God’s best team, because it’s on it’s way!!!