Answers!

As many of you know as we have been pursuing a property in Sparta and we have had a lot of bumps in the road that needed to be straightened. One of which was with the State and determining what they will categorize us as and the requirements that will come along with that title. After getting the County Inspector and State in communication we did confirm that we would be zoned as a Boarding or Rooming House, which was exciting news to us last year because of its minimal requirements but as of this year it now requires sprinklers systems, fire walls and fire and smoke alarm systems. These kinds of renovations cost tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.  In simpler terms; out of our budget ;)

So what’s next? We spoke with the State further to discuss our options at this point to stay out of the high costs of the commercial realm and yet make it possible for us to get up and running. After many discussions and a little negotiation ;) We will be able to take in two families at a time; any more would put us into the commercial realm.  This was a huge blessing to find out we could take in two families at a time as for a while it seemed as though we would only be allowed one. I am learning quickly that you just have to ask the right questions ;) God is so good!

We are beyond grateful and excited for the opportunity to possibly be able to provide two families with such a healing and beautiful home for them to come to and be theirs to use for a season of healing and growth.

Even though this was one of our biggest hurdles to sort out it is not our last. Our proposal is near completion. I will be presenting it to the Property and Purchasing Committee December 14th and hope to be presenting it to the Monroe County Board the end of December for approval. Please keep this in your prayers as they will be the final say. Also please keep our committees in your prayers as they have much work ahead of them. Thank you again for all your prayers and support.

We are counting our blessings one by one and as the birth of our loving Savior approaches we couldn’t be more humbled by His love, grace and guidance. We wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!

Blessings,

Sojourners Journey

Katie Bennett

Founder and President

Homeless in High School

The burden  and the urgency of Sojourners Journey continues to grow greater...

http://www.wxow.com/story/15933209/homeless-in-high-school-where-can-kids-go?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6410592#.TrGxPOQWGhU.facebook

http://www.wxow.com/story/15921916/homeless-in-high-school-part-one

Sneek Peak

“O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below – you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.” 1Kings 8:23

   Our meeting last week regarding the farm house out at Rolling Hills went very well. I would like to start by giving a big thanks to Cathy Abbot who joined us as a support and advocate for the community. She was incredible! I hope one day to have a presence like her and an ability to speak as she does. We are blessed to have her support and her service in our community!

   The meeting consisted of a few things; I shared with the committee a little bit about Sojourners and our hopes for the program. Cathy spoke extensively on the issues and history behind homelessness in Monroe County and Gene Treu helped present the option of our tenancy at the house. We answered a few questions but it seemed as though there was little hesitation and only a few loose ends to be taken care of and looked further into.

   Following the meeting Gene called me back to inform us that the committee had made the final decision to move the Forestry and Zoning offices and that the committee had approved us to move forward on getting estimates on the renovations that we would need to make the property functional for our use. If we determine that those numbers work well for us (as we foresee they will) we will then present to them a proposal that we will need to bring froward to the Monroe County Board for approval. Upon their approval, the property would then become ours to use!

   I find myself awestricken at what God is accomplishing. We definitely are seeing the fruits of your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for us as we develop this proposal and seek it's approval. We also ask that you would pray for our need of individuals to serve on our new committees. We are blessed with so many willing hands but are in need of a few more. Attached I have posted a little sneak peek of the property :) Thank you again!

Blessings,

Katie Bennett

Founder and President  

Moving Full Force!

Hello Friends,

Well it has been about 6 months since our last update. It is definitely due time! We have had a season of a lot of discussion and decision making and are moving forward full force! I'll start with some of the milestones we have accomplished our the past few months.

The first thing on our agenda as a new board was to schedule a visit in May to Hope Gospel Mission in Eau Claire. Hope Gospel is also a shelter that offers emergency shelter as well as transitional housing for both men and women. Hope Gospel has been a huge source of wisdom through this entire process and we as a board thought it would be good for all of us to go and see first hand what we have before us. We had a wonderful day of education as well as fellowship. It was a great way to bond as a board and create a vision and passion within each of us. It was a blessed and insightful experience!

Following our visit to Hope Gospel we pressed froward in re-evaluating our Vision, Mission and Belief Statements per the advise of Dan Adams the Program Director of Hope Gospel. This is something we put much time and effort in and have been working on since June and is complete! We are excited to begin to share the fruits of our labor! ;) Following this entry I will be posting the final drafts of each statement as well.

The other items that were high on our priory list were determining what we wanted our program to consist of and a FACILITY :). I will first start with talking about the program. Some of the decisions we made regarding the program was that it would be a minimum of one year in length with the option of being longer on a case by case basis. Our hopes are that in the future we can provide a 30 day emergency program as well but due to the higher regulations and expenses of having such a program, this will be placed on hold. We will be serving women of any age who have children between the ages of 0-10. We also determined that our program would be based on the behavior model to effect life change as opposed to the disease model. We believe that our behavior comes from what we believe. We can change behavior by teaching life truths. The disease model treats the behavior as part of a disease and it can only be changed by force of the will. Finally and most recently we have come up with our program goals which is a nutshell of what we want the program to look like and then our up and coming Program Committee will be determining the goals, timeliness and curriculum of each area. Here is the rough draft of what our program will consist of:

1. Share the Gospel with every individual.
2. Provide a safe, stable home environment, including shelter, food, and clothing.

3. Spiritual Growth-

a. Personal Devotions

b. Bible Study

c. Regular Church attendance

d. Spiritual Gift discovery and using your gifts

4. Building Relationships

            a. Mentors

            b. Boundaries

            c. Conflict Resolution

5. Life Skills Training

            a. Parenting

            b. Finances - Check book, banking, savings, etc.

            c. Resume’ and Interview skills-local business exposure, job shadow

            d. Home management/Daily Planning

            e. Domestic skills

            f. Rent smarts

6. Work Requirement

7. Personal Development

           a. Health - hygiene, diet & exercise

           b. Healthy Self Image

           c. Education - require GED, tutoring

           d. Leadership skills?

           e. Gift discovery

8. Counseling

           a. Mentor
9. Incentive program - pay security deposit?, furnish apt.?

Ok, now for the fun and exciting details of our facility status! :) Recently we have been approached with the idea of possibly renting a house. It is currently used for offices. They are in the process of making a move out of the property and determining it's possible new use. The idea that was presented to us and that we are in the process of pursing is that we would rent the home for $1.00 a year as long as we do the needed remodeling and upkeep of the building. Which will require some money but not nearly as much overhead as building or purchasing a new property up front. We do have some hoops to go through before this could happen. I well be meeting with the with a Sub-Committee of  The Monroe County Board October 12^th to present to them who we are, what we are seeking to accomplish and why this would be not only beneficial for us but them as well. Please be praying for this meeting as well as for me as I prepare myself and have some fears of inadequacy in speaking. Our prayer is that God would be in control and that His will would be accomplished.

In closing as you can see we have come to a point were we are going to need some more hand and very soon. Praise God!. Our goal is to have our committees up and running by sometime in November. We have the following committees that we will need people to help serve on:

Program Committee:

This committee will be in charge of determining the goals, timeliness and curriculum of the program.

Business Planning Committee:

This committee will be in charge of creating our business plan which will entail figuring out how much money we will need to raise now as well as determining our future one year, five year, and 10 year goals.

Fund-raising Committee:

This committee will be in charge event planning and creative thinking on how we will raise the funds to function as a ministry.

If you feel led to serve on any of these committees we would be blessed by your servants heart. Feel free to call or e-mail me and I will get you in contact with the right individual. We also ask if you know of anyone who may be a good fit that you would please pass this information on to them.

Thank very much for your continuous prayer and support! We find ourselves at awe with what God is doing!

In Him,

Katie Bennett

President/Founder

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

Our New Mission and Vision Statement

Our Mission:


To provide a temporary home and life-changing environment for mothers and their children who have no place else to go.


Our Vision:


We see mothers and children given the opportunity to meet Jesus.
We see mothers with a desire to start a new journey, founded on Christ, becoming     confident, self-sufficient assets of the community.
We see mothers receiving education and developing skills to build a healthy, well-balanced life.  
We see mothers and children establishing meaningful, lasting relationships.
By empowering mothers we will affect change in the community now and for generations to come.

What We Believe

SCRIPTURE

We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as verbally inspired by God, and inerrant in the original writings, and that they are the supreme and final authority in faith and life.

2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:21

GOD

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

1 John 5:7; Genesis 1:26-27; Hebrews 1:8; Psalm 110:1

CHRIST

We believe Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, was born of the Virgin Mary and is true God and true Man.

Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:31-35; John 1:1, 14

MANKIND

We believe man was created in the image of God; that he sinned, and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also a sinful nature. We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born gain of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God and members of His Church.

Romans 3:23, 5:12; Genesis 1:L27, 31; 3:6-24; Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 53:6; Ephesians 2:3; John 1:12; Acts 20:21

SALVATION

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice; and that all who believe in Him are justified on the basis of His shed blood. We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into Heaven, and He now is High Priest and Advocate for us.

Romans 4:25; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21;1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 4:14; 1 John 2:1

CHRIST’S RETURN

We believe in the personal and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Titus 2:13

JUDGMENT

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting, conscious punishment of the lost.

John 5:28-29

Our Board

Katie Bennett as President

This is all very new for me but I’m very blessed that God has provided very experienced individuals to come along side me and help me in this endeavor. I am first a wife and a mother of two beautiful children. I have been a business owner and property manager for 8 years. I have a two-year degree in Finance and have some experience and education in the mission field through Youth With a Mission.

Pastor Matt Miklasz as Vice President

Matt had served on the Community Benevolent Board of Stanley, WI for six years. He is currently the Senior Pastor at Faith Evangelical Free Church of Sparta. Prior to his service here to our community he served as a pastor in Stanley, WI for 15 years. While serving here he has had the opportunity to counsel many people, often single mothers who have shared their struggles. As a result Pastor Matt has grown very passionate for this cause. Pastor Matt is very experienced in speaking, leadership and in carrying out vision. We are excited to have him as a part of our team!

Judy Stanek as Treasure

Judy is a wife, mother and a very devoted and active grandmother. She has owned her own Title business since 1996 and does all the bookkeeping of her business. Judy had the opportunity to serve on the Town of Wells Comprehensive Planning Commission as Secretary and also served as the Secretary of The Village of Kendall Water and Sewer. Judy has been involved in fundraising for the schools of her grandchildren. She has a tremendous heart for her family and her community. She will be a gem to this organization!

Dr. Judy Potter as Secretary

Judy served our community as a Surgeon for 28 years and served as the Medical Director of the Sparta Clinic for 16 years. She also helped start the Sparta Area Christian School and served as a board member for 15 years. Judy had been a single mother herself and has a huge heart and desire to give even more back to the community now that she has retired.  She is an incredible woman with immense wisdom. We are very grateful to have her as a part of the team!

Rachel McPherson as a Voting Member

Rachel is a devoted wife and a mother of five wonderful children. Rachel has also served on the board of The Sparta Area Christian School. She is very active in her church. She runs the Assembly of God’s Children’s Program and has also planned and organized several events and other programs. Being a mother and knowing the importance of giving a family a strong and stable foundation to live off of has given Rachel a burden to help young unwed mothers break the cycle. We are blessed to have such a servant’s heart as a part of our board.

Safe Keeping

We have an update on the property we were pursuing located on Image Ave. We found out last week that it is no longer available at this time. The owner has taken it off the market for now due to signing a two year lease with a military family. Although this is a shut door for now we strongly believe it is still much in the running. This may just be God giving us the time to get all our ducks in a row and has placed it in safe keeping for us for the time being. We also believe that this means we should keep our eyes out for something else too, He may have even a bigger and better plan in mind than we could ever expect or imagine. In either case we are really excited to see what God will provide, because he WILL! :) So please place this on your prayer list as we continue to seek His will. 


Thank you!

Praise!

Today I received a long awaited call from the Fire Protection Specialists, regarding whether or not we would have to install a fire alarm system as well as a sprinkler system at the property we are possibly pursuing. Being that those who will be apart of our program will be staying in the house longer than 30 days, they will be considered "familiar" with the premises therefore there will be no requirement for not only a fire alarm system but a sprinkler system as well! This is HUGE, and will save us THOUSANDS of dollars! It seems to be another door opened. God is good.... All the time! Thank you all for you prayers, keep them coming!