A TIME FOR THANKSGIVING
The psalmist encourages us in our walk with the Lord to “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalm 100:4).
‘Coming Out’ Ministries has many reasons to be thankful to the Lord. Every one of you are a reason, for your prayers and support are vital to the success of our mission. And we have our own personal testimonies of the Lord’s goodness and mercy and patience, infinite love and power. We have thirteen years of ministry for which to be thankful as the Lord has sent us around the world with the good news of His saving power from sin, even that of the LGBT+ nature. We’ve seen many people making their decisions to leave behind the “old things” and allow all things to become new.
Yes, we do face much opposition from both within and from without. But greater is He that is with us than he that is against us. As one door closes, two more seem to open before us.
That being said, we now have another amazing reason for which to praise the Lord with thanksgiving. And it all started at the recent CTL3 event and week of spiritual emphasis in Berrien Springs back in September.
The housing arrangements for this event fell through for the speakers and members of our ministry. So new and last-minute arrangements had to be made within the Village Church membership who graciously provided all the accommodations we needed.
I had the privilege of staying in the residence of a lovely couple who made me feel very much at home for the 10-day period we were there. In that amount of time, we became very good friends and had many good conversations. One of those conversations involved a property that needed to be sold that had been the law office of the late former husband of my host. As it came up several times in conversation, I began to ask questions.
“Where is it located?”
“How much are you asking?”
She indicated that if we were interested, she would negotiate the price, because she would really like for ‘Coming Out’ Ministries to have the building. It would be a legacy to her late husband. As we continued conversing over the few days, we both became more and more excited about the possibilities. In the middle of the week, we finally saw the building and its location and really became excited. It is located right at the main entrance to Andrews University and with very prominent signage, as it is right on the main road through Berrien Springs.
We shared the information with our Board Chairman who scheduled an immediate visit with the owner. In the meantime, several of our group had a walk-through. It is the perfect building and the perfect location for a long overdue physical location for our ministry. It would afford space for small conferences, private visitations, a library of resources and room for storage. The building would be highly visible and easily accessible to faculty, staff, students, and visitors coming to and going from Andrews University on a daily basis. It would offer us the opportunity to work closely with the University in addressing the many issues surrounding the LGBT+ ideology and agenda, from a redemptive perspective.
There were other offers to purchase this facility and for more than what was asked of us, one offer from the university itself. However, our host the seller really wants ‘Coming Out’ Ministries to have this building and to have a very visible presence in Berrien Springs, as stated earlier, to be a legacy to her late husband.
God’s timing is perfect, and His ways sometimes past finding out! We are happy to inform you that we are now under contract for the purchase of this facility and are scheduled to close on the purchase in early January.
So, we have launched into a fundraising campaign, and here’s where you might be able to be an added blessing. A pledge has been made for this purchase of $100,000.00 as a matching fund. Any donations that come in between now and the end of December will be matched up to that amount, with an additional $25,000.00 should we reach that goal (needless to say, this donor is very inspired and anxious to move forward). 3ABN is airing our story on 3ABN Today and working to help us raise the funds. We know the Lord will bless, because we know He’s the one Who led us to this opportunity in the first place.
If you would like to be a part of this exciting project, your donation can be made online through our web site: www.comingoutministries.org.
Or, you can send it by mail to: ‘Coming Out’ Ministries, POB 107, Tilly, AR 72679
We invite you to join us in “Entering into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: being thankful unto him, and blessing his name.”
May God bless you!
Ron Woolsey
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“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, From the north, and from the south” (Psalms 107:2-3).
