Welcome to our first installment of the Nehemiah Blog! The elders at Highlands Bible Church want to provide regular updates on the Nehemiah Project, the natural outgrowth of the Nehemiah “Fund.”
What, you ask, IS the “Nehemiah Project?” Welp, it is the project to expand the current facilities of Highlands Bible Church (HBC). Such a massive project comes with tons of questions like: What will that look like? When will it all happen? How long will it take? How much will it cost? Where are we now in the process? What are the next steps? How can we pray? This is the place where we want to answer as many of those questions as possible. [Also, please note, that as we do not yet have a signed contract on any potential properties, we are not giving any specifics on potential properties in this public blog. Specifics have been/will be given at Member Meetings and of course in answering any of your questions directly.]
That being said – where are we now? What is going on?
If you missed the January 21, 2024 member meeting, Piero gave an update on where we are now and some recent developments. The Nehemiah Team has been faithfully looking at just about every available property in the Vernon area and every one of them seemed to have the same common issues – either they were too expensive (the real estate market is CRAZY!), or there was something about the property that wouldn’t work for us. Additionally, we have always been aware of a local property that would be perfect for our needs, but in previous conversations with the property owner, the price was too steep for us. We feel strongly that we want to stay in the Vernon area and as close to our current location as possible.
After praying for a bit on the situation, Piero reached out to the property owner and surprisingly, he said he’d like to sit down with us and talk. It was a very positive meeting and we even ended the meeting in prayer and a mutual desire to make a deal work. This is a major answer to prayer and a huge encouragement. It seems that God may be lining up the pieces for us!
Last Saturday morning, the elders got together for a prayer walk around the property. What an encouraging time it was – to think…God might allow this to happen! The elders were praying for God’s discernment, wisdom, leading, and clarity in the next steps. What an overwhelming thought to think that we might be building something to be a Kingdom outpost for decades to come.
So, where does all that leave us? What are the next steps and how can we pray?
Here are some rough next steps and how you can pray.
- Len has a meeting with an architect this Thursday, February 1. The goal of the meeting is to start to talk about what we are looking to do. We are looking to see how feasible the options are – advantages/disadvantages, timing, and hopefully ballpark costs.
- The property owner is finishing up some engineering surveys on the property which should be done in the next few weeks.
- Once we have some clarity on #1 and #2, we will meet with the property owner and bring him up to speed and if all goes well, start to talk about a potential offer to buy the property.
- If he seems receptive, we’d then talk to our current building owner and start to talk about what it would look like from their end.
- Depending on all the above, we’d start to have some building plans drawn up.
Needless to say, this is a massive project that will take the next few years. We foresee handling this in phases – for example: Phase 1: Fundraising and buying the property. Phase 2: Fundraising for construction. Phase 3: Construction, etc. Each phase would have full member involvement and approvals per our bylaws.
Please pray for this whole process as we get rolling, we serve the God of limitless resources, and our sole purpose in this is to be as diligent (and bold) as possible to bring glory to God as we make and mature (more) disciples of Jesus Christ!
If you have any questions – please don’t hesitate to reach out to me (MikeRuel@HighlandsBibleChurch), or any elder.
Praying for God to strengthen our hands to do the work,
Pastor Mike for the elders
“And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.” (Nehemiah 2:18 ESV)
