A Time to Build

Several weeks ago NorthStar Church voted to embark on a building project. This is something that has been in the works for years. The dream of building a new building for a Southern Baptist church in this area predates the the planting of NorthStar. Since the land was purchased major new neighborhood developments have sprung up around the property (satellite image). The road just south of the land has become a major thoroughfare, and they built a Wal Mart nearby!

Since the beginning of NorthStar plans have been made, funds have been solicited, the neighborhoods have been prayer-walked and surveyed. We had a meeting with the city of Hayden to get a special use permit. Still, after setbacks along the way, the dream of an established, church-owned place to meet seemed just out of reach.

Well, now we have a set of plans and we have enough money to get started on them. God has provided us with funds to complete the "shell" of a building. Our roof, windows and exterior walls will all be in by next spring, barring any major interruptions.

For those of you who have followed our work here and care about NorthStar it is important to know that we are still in very great need. This is a major step of faith for our congregation. We believe that God is going to provide the funding, materials, and labor that we need to complete the interior of the building. Our people are committing to give sacrificially for the completion of this building and to use it as a tool for God's glory in North Idaho. As we approach the end of the year I'm asking you to start planning now for how you can be a part of what God is doing in our church over the next year.

First of all, if you live in the area and are looking for a great church, come check us out. God is giving us a passion for his glory, knowing him, and offering hope to this area and the world. We would love for you to be a part of that no matter what our building or location is.

For everyone else, the main thing we are asking you to do is remember us in prayer. I am so thankful for those of you who have faithfully been praying for God's work here. Some of you have been praying for us for over four years now! I'm so grateful for churches like FBC Houston, MS who have added us to their ongoing prayer list. It is very encouraging to know that fellow believers are interceding for us. We will be giving continued prayer request updates at Life in the Big Potato and at northstarchurch.us. If you'd rather receive email updates or "real" paper copies let me know in an email.

If you are itching to come help build our interior you can put together a group of skilled labor and volunteer through Baptist on Mission. See their website for more info. By the way, our summers are awesome. Don't believe me, just look back at some past blog posts.

And finally, if you have a large pile of cash sitting around that you don't know what to do with, we would be happy to help! We are asking God to provide for the rest of our building expenses. Estimates are still dependent on a lot of other factors, but we are guessing between 200 and 300 thousand dollars. We hope to fulfill as much of that as possible through our church, but since Idaho isn't known for high wages, and we already operate on a "faith budget", we are asking friends of the church to consider joining us in giving toward this project. So if you are doing your year-end tax evaluation or you are setting up your 2011 budget we would really appreciate it if you could take us into consideration. One-time or monthly tax-deductible gifts can be sent to:

NorthStar Baptist Church
Building Fund
1604 W Lee Court
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, 83814.

If you have questions about the details of this project please contact me by email at bennett (at) northstarchurch.us

Comments

  1. We are praying! So excited for what God is doing in Idaho, through your family and church body!! We have got to figure out a way to come visit...I wouldn't call us skilled labor, though, unless you're looking for a new logo or bulletin design :-)

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  2. I'm on board to pray for you guys. I'll come looking for specifics on how to pray and what to pray for.

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