The Breakthrough Benefit

It has been awhile since I have actually written anything in this blog so here I go with some thoughts.

It is the busy time of the year at Breakthrough. Last Friday was our benefit. It is always a great feeling for me when I see the ballroom at the Hyatt Regency on Wacker filled with 1,000 guests, the big stage with media screens on each side, the beautiful centerpieces, the lighting, and especially the Breakthrough youth choir on stage sounding better and more confident every year.

I had 12 minutes to speak, although I think I stretched it to about 15. When I sat down I thought of all the things I wished I had said. I failed to tie into our theme, which was that when something is healthy it grows and needs to be repotted to remain healthy, and I didn't even mention the Family Plex, the next project in our 2010 plan. I wanted to talk about the 7 graduates from our Youth and Family Services program who entered college this fall, in a community where fewer than 5% have a college degree and nearly half drop out of high school.

I did get the opportunity to introduce Alice, a woman who has been freed by God from a thirty year addiction to heroin and all of the other things associated with life on the streets. She is very courageous about giving her testimony because she is so grateful to the Lord for restoring her. She has a beautiful story.

Dr. Joseph Stowell spoke. He was wonderful as always.

Since this was our largest event of the year we had high expectations for what we would raise financially. We were trying to meet the Kresge Foundation challenge to finish our five million dollar capital campaign and finish our building renovation project. We needed to receive $500,000 in gifts and pledges to get to 4.6 million. When we get to 4.6 the Kresge foundation will give us the last $400,000. We raised $378,000, which is wonderful, but it fell short of our goal. Now the challenge is to come up with that $120,000 shortfall so that we can get the building built without having to cut into our general operating funds.

While fundraising for the ministry never ends and can be burdensome at times, it is also an opportunity for us to find new friends who will get behind what we are doing and experience the joy of giving with us. It is a real test of my faith and I am praying that God will show us what to do.

Anyway, it seems ridiculous to complain about raising $378,000! That is a ton of money and I am grateful. I was reminded by a friend that God usually supplies the manna way... just enough for today. That is what keeps us on our knees and utterly dependent on the Lord day by day.

Of course, right after the benefit, when we were struggling with what to do about the shortfall, and I was feeling like maybe this job is too much for me and I should hand it over to someone more capable, I heard about a CEO position with a global orphanage ministry that would pay three times my salary! I have to admit, I was tempted. But I love Breakthrough. It is not a sacrifice to stay. For now, I know this is where I am supposed to be.