IT'S OFFICIAL!

Yep - that's right...it's official! We signed our lives away yesterday for our $1.5M loan and the purchase of our new property on the corner!

God has been so good to us as a church. So many of the obstacles that could have slowed us down or stopped us didn't - thanks to God's grace & power.

I'm so thankful to the amazing Imagine Team for their leadership, encouragement, support, prayer, and friendship. This whole thing has been a team effort. Thanks everybody!

In addition to that, our Trustee Team really went above & beyond in helping us scout out opportunities, meet requirements, think through issues, and ultimately succeed. Thanks to Dan, Garrett, Mike, Pat, Nate, and Brian.

God also sent us an incredible Broker, Stan Ames, who worked for a small fraction of what he deserved. His generosity and commitment to excellence have helped us get this part of our Imagine Journey accomplished. Thanks Stan!

Now we get to jump into the next exciting phase of Imagine - making use of our new space. While we're not going to be developing the property right away, we will be making some changes to help improve the church's visibility on the corner and to maximize the space for community use. Stay tuned for our next steps on that!

PRAYER REQUESTS
Please pray with me as we continue on in our Journey:

1. Pray that God will continue to help us succeed. Let's rely on God's power to bring us the right opportunities, contractors, and His provision to get it all done.

2. Pray for each of us to experience God's financial blessings so we can continue to give generously. Because we each asked God for His leading on our financial involvement in Imagine, we can be confident that He has the plan to make it all work out! Whether you're experiencing hardship or abundance in your life right now, God knows and He will be faithful.

3. Pray that God will give us His heart for our community. I'm convinced that our biggest job is seeing our world and our community like God does, and acting on that vision. Ask God to show us as a church how we can best minister to the community as we begin our Imagine Journey, and how we can use what He's given us for His glory.

Thanks for praying!

Gabe

GOD IS GOOD!

Where do I start telling the good news about what God is doing through Imagine? It seems like every time I turn around there's another answer to prayer, another amazing circumstance, another miracle. What a great God we serve! I'm reminded of one of my favorite passages from the Bible - "With every bone in my body I will praise Him!" (Psalm 35:10).

It's been just over a month since we celebrated the beginning of our Imagine Journey on May 4th. On that day our church pledged $1.23M over the next 3 years toward Imagine. Since then, so much has happened! Let me share some of it with you:

OUR BANK LOAN WAS APPROVED!
On Friday, May 16th our request for a $1.5M loan was approved by Columbia Community Bank. The really good news is that the terms for the loan beat our best expectations! We are getting a great rate, great terms, and no prepayment penalties!

OUR FIRSTFRUITS OFFERING WAS HUGE!
On Sunday, May 18th, Westsiders partnered with God to bring in a total of $47k for our first Imagine offering. That was unbelievable! This first offering helps us get off to a strong start on our 3-year journey together.

OUR COMMITMENT IS GROWING!
Our new 3-year commitment total for the Imagine Journey is up to $1.33M! This is truly a miracle - especially because the projections were around $750,000. God has proven that His power isn't limited by our projections:)

PEOPLE ARE STEPPING UP!
One after another, people are stepping up to help above & beyond what we expected. Whether it be new commitments, extra prayer, exciting ideas, or free labor, God is doing His work through His people. Thanks for being so available to Him.

WE ARE REACHING MORE PEOPLE!
Just in the past 2 weekends, 8 more new friends have come to know Jesus as their Savior @ Westside. Plus, on June 1st we were pleasantly surprised with 17 new believers being baptized! That's what Imagine is all about - Helping People Find & Follow Jesus.

CAMPUS IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BEGUN!
You'll notice some new shingles at Westside. That's because we just had the roof replaced on our Community Center. The original roof (28 years old) was showing serious signs of wear, and needed to be replaced badly. What's so cool is that we only had to pay for the shingles, and even that price was discounted. That means we only paid a total of $6,800 for a brand-new roof on our Community Center. Thanks to God for the generosity of Rufus Aylwin & Aylwin Construction, who donated the labor for this great project. As a bonus, the Worship Center roof was replaced for no charge (apparently there were some defective shingles & Rufus is a stickler for quality!). Check out the time-lapse video to see this project in action.



Stay tuned for what's next - God is good!

Gabe