Current monthly income coming into Mosaic averages $850.
Our current monthly expenditures average: $1,667
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 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:
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
Click here to read about, and order the book, The Keystone Kid
Mike Furches on Faceboook.
Click here to visit Mosaic Church where Mike is Pastor
The Virtual Pew
Hopefully you will consider a gift to Mosaic.
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
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
Click here to read about, and order the book, The Keystone Kid Mike Furches on Faceboook.
Click here to visit Mosaic Church where Mike is Pastor
The Virtual Pew
Hopefully you will consider a gift to Mosaic.
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
