We Need Your Help, Urgent Need for Mosaic

I know it has been awhile since we have sent out a newsletter of any kind, I apologize for that but it has been busy. I know that often it seems as if we are sending newsletters asking for help, but please understand, when we do that, we do it because we need it, unfortunately, this one is no different other than the need is greater than ever before. We need your help and currently our funds are lower than they have been since my involvement with Mosaic. For example consider the following:

Current monthly income coming into Mosaic averages $850.

Our current monthly expenditures average: $1,667

Of the current expenditures, understand, I receive no salary, reimbursement or insurance. What income I bring in from various forms goes to Mosaic. 

Our expenditures for the last year has been substantially more than our income with the exception of 2 months. We have paid the bills in part by Mary Jane, my wife and I and taking money out of our retirement. We have greatly reduced our retirement funds.

Some ask why we are in the situation we are. When moving from our downtown location we had several individuals and families make a commitment to continue to support Mosaic. They could participate in another church on Sunday and still support Mosaic which meets on Saturday. At the time, we had approximately $2,000 pledged to us on a monthly basis which we no longer get as many of those pledging never followed through. We did have on average $675 a month coming in. Since January 1, 2014 however, due to the retirement of an individual and another family we have lost, that income has gone to $0. We had to dip into reserves and Mary Jane and I have provided the bulk of income since. Our reserves are currently depleted and we have less than $400 in our account.   

We realize the help we need could come about from one individual or many individuals who but the bottom line is, as of now, starting this month, Mary Jane and I will likely deplete our retirement funds to keep Mosaic afloat over the next months. Please understand, we know the ministry is worth it and are not complaining, we will continue to do all we can for as long as we can, but we need help. We know the ministry work we do is valuable. We want to meet our needs and exceed them regarding contributions. If we received $900 - $1,000 a month, or approximately $10,000 over the next year we can continue the ministry work we are doing. As you see, none of the monies coming in go to things like salaries or anything of that nature. While it would be nice to be reimbursed for the expenses we incur, weather it be travel or having basic insurance as currently I am not insured but we aren't asking for that. 

Why is this important? Let me illustrate by providing a link to one story about two individuals and also telling you about another individual, first though, let me tell you about Anthony. 

One night a little over a year ago my wife and I ate supper at a local sandwich shop in Old Town here in Wichita. Old Town is a part of town with a number of restaurants and a vibrant night life.  I first met Anthony on the way out of the restaurant as he approached me. I could tell he was homeless by his appearance. He didn't know me at the time and approached us asking for dollar.  He told me it was his birthday and he was honest, he wanted to buy a beer for his birthday. I appreciated his honesty and asked him if he had any idea what kind of work I was in, of course he didn't. I told him what I did and then told him; "I appreciate your honesty, here is a dollar." He smiled telling me if he knew it would have been that easy he would have asked for $2. I told him; "don't press your luck, you didn't ask for two you asked for one and that is all I will give you." I then asked him if I could pray for him, which I did and we went our separate ways.

As divine intervention would have it, Anthony later on came to Mosaic on a regular basis. We became friends and he was filled with questions. After about a year with Mosaic I had the honor of baptizing him a few months ago in our bathtub. He had once come with another individual who later requested to be baptized, also named Anthony, that Anthony never showed up for the baptism and later we discovered he had died on the streets. Unfortunately he isn't the only one we have worked with, sharing the Gospel that has died, there was Chris, Chief and others. 

There are also other stories like a War Veteran, a Hero who was injured in Afghanistan, who played football for the University of North Carolina named Richard who was introduced into college football by teammate Lawrence Taylor. Then another homeless man who was a star football player at Kansas State and also played for the Kansas City Chiefs named Gracen who has grown spiritually. Richard is now living in his own apartment and we continue to reach out to Gracen who is active at Mosaic. He'll soon have a knee replacement and we have been trying to find a way to get him to move into Mosaic, so far it hasn't happened but we are praying for him, involving in our faith community.  I could also mention Dwayne (AKA as The Wolf Man) who came for over a year, faithfully contributed to Mosaic in every way he could before moving back to Oklahoma City. There are stories after stories of individuals who have been blessed by our work, work many of you have contributed to. I didn't even mention those who have lived here, some for brief periods of time like Su Mae who was trapped in a form of slavery in America. We took her in as she was referred to our program from the Wichita Police Department. We were blessed to assist her to get home to her community in China but her tears of appreciation prior to her departure, telling us in her broken English that she loved us made our contributions worth it. Without Mosaic there is no telling what would have happened to this woman who like others has been referred to Mosaic through the local police department. I haven't even mentioned some of the elderly in our neighborhood we have assisted with mowing their yards, fixing their porches and so forth at no charge. The truth is, some have sacrificed because the rewards are worth it. We realize, what we have done for the least of these, we have also done for Jesus.

In Luke 15 Jesus tells 3 stories in rapid fire succession, the story of The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Lost Son.  The stories end the same way;  telling us there are parties of joy thrown in Heaven when that which was lost is found. When looking at other passages like The Sheep and The Goats in Matthew 25, you can't help but feel blessed in knowing that we have been blessed to share the love of Jesus with those who are often rejected, among them the poor, prostitutes, the homeless, those in prison and so forth. There is so much more need, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, we need prayers but we also need finances. We have been blessed to have people who have helped, many of you reading this have been a part of that group.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you! We need more though, we need more churches like Central Community Church here in Wichita, more individuals, businesses, groups, whosoever. God has provided funds for our needs, through you. Wouldn't it be wonderful to do more and to see more Anthony's, Dwayne's, Jarvis's Su Mae's and others helped? 

You can contribute in one of various ways, prayers are always appreciated but for our financial needs, you can contribute one time gifts or you can make a monthly financial contribution in any amo  Realize that in your contribution of time and/or money, Mosaic is a 501 C3 organization and your contribution is tax deductible. We will also gladly provide a financial statement upon your request.

You can mail gifts directly to us at:

Mosaic

1249 N. St. Francis

Wichita, KS 67214

You can also give online at our web site: www.mosaicwichita.com  Realize this is a Pay Pal account and a small portion of these donations go for Pay Pal fees.

We also accept donations of food and other services, we always have ways volunteers can contribute.

We have 2 services a week, our regular Saturday Service where we serve breakfast from 9 AM, - 9:45, a worship and teaching time at 10 AM and lunch at noon. All or part of these are open at any time. Starting in October we are starting to host on Wednesday nights, starting at 7 PM, A Non Churchy, Jesus Following Gathering where we will discuss questions related to faith and spirituality in an honest straightforward way, pointing those participating towards the truths of Jesus. I will be sharing the teachings and discussion for this with Kasey Reusser. 

Thank you for reading this, praying for us and supporting us.

BTW if you want to know more as an example about two of the people mentioned above, Richard and Gracen, read the following link:

http://thevirtualpew.blogspot.com/2014/05/things-are-not-always-as-seem.html

Thank you and God Bless you,

Pastor Mike Furches

Mosaic and our other work is supported solely by the kind contributions of others. You can click on the donate button below to give any amount to this work that does so much more than just post articles on the net; I draw no ongoing salary from the church I pastor, Mosaic Wichita which is predominantly a homeless church; I am grateful for any small amount you can contribute to help with this ministry.  Believe me there is much more going on than most realize. I will also provide information to verify the ministry and income that comes into this ministry and work.  Thanks and feel free to share any material from The Virtual Pew, I only ask that appropriate credit is given and a link to the original site with the materials provided.

Click here to donate to Mosaic

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Now I get asked this quite often, Can we repost your blogs or articles? The short answer to that is, what an honor that you would ask, and by all means, spread the word. Here is our contact information

Mosaic
1249 N. St. Francis
Wichita Kansas, 67214
Email: mike@furches.org