The Open Door Mission
July 2010 UPDATE
Dear Friends and Prayer Supporters,
This will
be a longer update than usual, because I want to give you the information so that you can understand our current situation
and also be able to explain it to your family and friends. So, I apologize in advance for its length, and thank you
for your attention!
You may have heard the news that the Madden Hotel, in which we rent a storefront, is
being sold to the Glens Falls National Bank. This means that in approximately 90 days we must have vacated the premises
and found a new place in which to do the mission.
We agree that something must be done regarding the on-going
problems in Glens Falls which seem to center around some activity in the Madden; however, the expressed course that some appear
to prefer for us to take is to have The Open Door’s meal programs locate in a local, downtown Glens Falls church(es).
This proposed solution is not acceptable to us for a number of reasons.
Whenever someone moves into another’s
home or space, there may be grace for a short-term, but after a couple of weeks there arise increasing areas of conflict which
result in damage to the relationship between the 2 parties, as well as the work that each one performs. In no way would
we want to have our relationship with any church damaged, and we do not want to be limited from doing all that God has called
us to do.
In addition, we currently use the entire basement of our storefront for immediate daily access
to provide the meals and emergency assistance which characterize the majority of our current ministry outreaches. There
would not be sufficient availability for these vital stored goods in any church.
We truly believe
that God wants us to remain a separate entity even in physical space, since identifying permanently with any one church will
most definitely reduce our volunteer base, as well as limit our entire operation. We have never become a church for
the specific reason that we operate as an outreach arm of ALL the local churches and organizations to the less fortunate of
our community. That particular defining characteristic and motivation would be subverted by sharing space with an established
local church.
We greatly appreciate the offers of the local churches in offering space; we would desire to
simply utilize such an offer in an emergency basis only and seek a different permanent solution. Also, these local churches
may be able to supply some services and address some needs which we are unable to meet, such as day showers, laundry facilities,
mailboxes, etc. We are in the process of discussing these possibilities with church leaders in the next few weeks.
PLEASE PRAY for wisdom for us as we listen to the Voice of God and hear what He wants us to do. We wholeheartedly
desire to move in His timetable to His location, and He is faithful to show us clearly His will. The property at 178
Warren Street in Glens Fall still appears to be the best viable option, where we could be fully operational in our expanded
programming by October of this year. We would, however, need an increase in operational finances as well as capital
contributions to accomplish such an upward move.
The City of Glens Falls has offered to assist us
in this endeavor in the following ways:
· Help with grant writing
· Encouragement of sources of on-going income for our housing component
· Coordinate a meeting with prominent business and community leaders in
Heritage Hall to help promote our capital campaign
We are greatly appreciative of these offers and efforts.
May God bless you for your partnership with us in reaching out to our community’s needy people.
Sincerely,
Bruce
Chaplain Bruce D. Hersey
Executive Director, The Open Door Mission
