eNewsletter March 2020

Metanoia Center Update

The building for the Metanoia Center saw tremendous change this month!  Two separate weekends saw 28 volunteers, and 15 volunteers, respectively tackle creating “A Home for the Metanoia Center”.  We also want to thank Victory Gospel Temple for opening their building to us to have lunch and more each weekend!

The first weekend we had a 5 ton capacity dumpster parked on the street in front of the Metanoia Center.   At 10 a.m. we prayed and then began the task of carrying out all of the “stuff” in the building.  We can tell you one thing for sure – rolled up carpet soaked with water from  a former dripping ceiling sure is heavy and does have a certain aroma!  The volunteer team ranged in age from 8 years old to over 75!  They were amazing as the dug in and tackled the job!   In 2 and 1/2 hours…

• The dumpster was full – nearly five tons of trash, debris, carpet, wet drywall, and more.
• There where no reported injuries.
• There were rumors of many sore muscles!
• Work began on the ceiling and the floor of the second floor.
• Neighbors and people walking on the street heard about what God is doing through the Metanoia Center.
• More than 80 hours of work was completed.
• And… 10 LaRosa’s pizzas were consumed.

The second weekend corona virus had arrived.  Phyllis and I decided to proceed with our going to the building and working, and letting our volunteers that know that we would be there, and they were welcome to come if they so desired.  And 15 volunteers came!

We picked up with where we left off from the previous weekend!  We had a new empty dumpster in place, this one with a capacity of 3 tons.  Again, in 2 and 1/2 hours…

• We finished removing the trash on the lower level.
• We gained excess to one of the mystery rooms and cleaned out all of the “stuff” there.
• Wet drywall began to be removed.
• Two furnaces form upstairs where uninstalled and readied for scrappers.
• Two walls in the downstairs where torn down and demolished making the downstairs so much bigger.
• Demolish work began on the ceiling and floor upstairs.
• And, lunch was gifted to us by Jonathan Crisp consisting of smoked chicken, pork, baked beans, home made buns and cole slaw. Yum!

Take a moment to visit the Facebook page of the Metanoia Center to see videos and photos from both weekends: https://www.facebook.com/metanoiactr/

Video

Below is a video created by Courtney Gille as a gift to the Metanoia Center.  Professionally developed videos can cost in the 1000’s of dollars – thank you Courtney for providing this video for us to begin telling the story of what God is doing with this building.

Metanoia Center from Courtney Gille on Vimeo.

Opportunities

We’ve posted new volunteer opportunities on the Metanoia Center’s website at https://www.metanoiacenter.net.   Please note that these dates are fluid dependent upon developments with the corona virus.

Prayer List

• Continue to pray for funding for the Metanoia Center.  We are reaching out to churches, individuals and foundations seeking $100,000 in donations, gifts and grants.
• Praise God!  Two matching gifts were exceeded in about a month – one matching gift in the amount of $10,000 and a second in the amount of $5,000.  These matching gifts, and the funds donated towards them, generated more than $30,000 in donations for “A Home for the Metanoia Center”.
• Pray for the end of the impact of corona virus.  The affects of this virus. the resulting quarantines, shelter in place, events and activities canceled, and jobs lost is having a huge impact on everyone in all aspects of life.
• Pray for opportunities that Believers around the world have during this time when many are living in fear and panic.