Special Edition Newsletter
Dear Guardian of Sanctuary of Hope,
One of the major goals of
Sanctuary of Hope Prayer Center is: “It’s possible to listen a soul into
existence.” With God and each other, we have been “listening souls into
existence" since Nov. 1st, 1996.
By providing a place where the love of God makes all things
possible, we have been able to reach out to an estimated 15,000 souls of all
faiths, world religions, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds.
Our dear friend, Mayme Brumskine said: “SOH
will provide a safe place where people can come and replenish their souls, walk
and enjoy its wooded natural setting.”
Where can people go when
they are looking for Hope?
One very
special place is Sanctuary of Hope, where God dwells with us (Romans
12:12). We have received incredible
blessings during our brief tenure. Your
guardianship has inspired the following:
Most of our weekends are
filled with at least two groups making retreats at our prayer center and more
individuals are coming during the week to use the retreat center as well.
We are able to offer a weekly prayer group
on Tuesdays and we pray morning and evening prayer each day, which is open to
all. We have monthly prayer support groups for persons affected by HIV/AIDS and
those recovering from an addiction and have recently formed two centering
prayer groups. The Eucharist is
celebrated twice a week. On weekends,
staff and guests are encouraged to attend religious services as their personal belief
dictates.
Our annual events such
as: a registered 5K race/walk course, a
concert for Music, Meditation and Movement, a Timeshare Raffle and a Praise on
the Prairie for Youth and Children, help us financially as well as promote our
retreat outreach. We have also received
grants and the finance committee is exploring other ways of bringing in
financial support.
In order to keep our mission
of extending the healing love of God to each other,
we have decided to replace
the 3-year pledge commitment, which ends this year, Dec. 2002, with an annual
pledge campaign that would be used for operating
expenses.
This annual campaign is called: “Guardians of Hope.”
This begins January of 2003 and will be
renewed each year thereafter.
In the spring of 2003, we will also launch a 3-year
capital campaign that would only be used for major, usually one-time
expenses. This would include renovation
of the buildings and grounds, repairs, equipment and some major programs.
The Guardians of Hope 2003 campaign
will be used to
help meet a projected annual budget for operating expenses of $175,000.
(Again this does not include capital
expenses. These will be addressed in
the spring.) To operate and maintain
this 27,000 square foot building and 32 acres, we have four full time paid
live-in staff, three full time live-in volunteer staff, three part time paid
support staff, and countless volunteers and helpers.
Salaries for the staff will again be maintained at a minimum
level of $81,800 or on an average of only $11,635 per paid staff member.
We pay $20,000 in utilities annually to keep
the building operating. We also purchase nearly $20,000 in groceries annually
to support individual and group retreats as well as staff and volunteer
meals.
We invite you to prayerfully consider what God may be putting in your heart to give
to Sanctuary of Hope as your pledge to our annual campaign for operating
expenses. You may want to consider the
following Scriptures: Psalm 121; 1 Timothy 6: 7-19; Matthew 6: 1-4.
With your prompt response, you will receive
an acknowledgment of our thanks and deep appreciation.
Know that we keep you deeply in our daily prayers
and always in our hearts.
May the Lord
truly reward you for all of your past generosity and whatever you can continue
to do to move this mission of prayer and retreat forward.
When we permit God to rebuild the
infrastructure of a person, then the infrastructure of the society will be
rebuilt as well.
Love and prayers,
Fr. Dennis Wait and the Board of Trustees of Sanctuary of Hope Prayer and Retreat
Center, Kansas City, Kansas
