Building Fund Letter
Victory Family Church
Reverend David Harbison
555 South Belt West
Belleville, IL 62220
Phone (618) 235-6373
Dear Friend,
Let me introduce myself, I am Pastor David Harbison, and I Pioneered and pastor Victory Family Church in Belleville Illinois. We were directed by the Lord to come here and start this work in 1991. We were faithful to heed Gods instruction and have been endeavoring to minister to our community as well as Southern Illinois ever since.
After having been delivered from severe drug and alcohol abuse, as well as growing up in an abusive family setting, it has been our goal to minister to all areas of human life. Since graduation from Bible College my wife, myself, and our entire family have devoted our lives to helping people, We have done this any many ways under the direction of the Holy Spirit. My family and I traveled through out the US conducting tent revivals, open air, auditorium, and church meetings. We have been from the gutter most to the uttermost preaching and teaching the Gospel to a lost and dying world. We have been blessed to watch God save thousands of souls over the years. For nearly five years we ministered from the suburbs to the rural communities and the inner cities of America. For 2 1/2 years we had given up our home completely and stayed on the road living in a 6 X 12 aluminum cargo trailer that we used to hall our tent equipment in. When the tent was up we had some place to live when it wasn't we didn't. This was not a burden to us for we were so blessed to be working in this great harvest field with God. As we remained faithful, God blessed and we purchased a 28 Ft travel trailer, we thought we had gone to heaven. We had air conditioning a kitchen, bed and most of all a bathroom. We had also worn out our first tent and purchased a new one. I remember one day as I was opening up the tent for an evening service and telling God how blessed we were and He spoke to my heart and said "you must continue to believe me for something, for if you don't use your faith it will grow weak." Little did I know that only days later He would tell me to pioneer a church in that town.
We started our church in November of 1991 in Hotel Meeting rooms then we went to a storefront, after which we renovated a warehouse where we are currently located. We have endeavored to stay sensitive to the Holy Ghost and let him lead us into the areas of ministry that God wants for us. We have been very strong in children's ministry for we realize the youth are the lifeblood of the church. We have done many children's outreaches like, neighborhood children's crusades, dramas, kids fishing derbies, reading programs, etc. Our reading programs have been a great blessing to many children in the community. Principals from community schools have instructed teachers with children having difficulty to send the children and their parents to us for help. In one particular case a girl had been held back a grade because she was at least a year behind her peers. After going through our program her parents had her tested at a Sylvan Learning Center and she tested 6 months a head of those same children. When we requested the teacher, principal, and even the school board about putting her in her normal class they refused. They said "we have never promoted someone after we had failed them and we will not start now". Once the school year started the same teacher that had failed the child with tears went to the Principal and said she was wrong and that this child needed to be with her normal class because she was so far ahead of everyone else. During are fishing derbies we have opportunities to spend time with children and allow them to experience the love of God through our many workers. We use dramas to present the Gospel to them in a way children can understand. There is an abused children's home that brings their kids out every year and these precious kids get to interact with adults that are full of the love of God. We award many prizes to the kids and provide them with a great time of fun and fellowship.
During one of our derbies we had a little girl that had been taken out of an abusive home. She was such a sweet little child but you could see the effects of abuse in her life, she would just stand there and shake, it was heart breaking. After spending the day with loving people she was able to relax. My son had won a bicycle and donated it back so someone else could win it. This little girl won and to see the expression on her face melted everyone's heart. A couple of weeks later she was placed in a foster families home and she wanted them to send us a picture with her and her bike in front of her new home. This is what we at Victory Family Church are all about.
We also have strong youth programs with sound bible teaching, youth crusades, monthly outreaches, parties in the park, youth camps, etc. We feel that the youth today needs the opportunity to receive a stable foundation for them to build their lives upon to catapult them in to the plan and destiny that God has for their lives. They are provided with opportunities to work together and learn how to build one another up which is crucial in today's world where so many are living selfish self centered lives.
For the adults-we provide vibrant preaching and very practical teaching to help people deal with the daily aspects of life. Encouragement for fellowship and developing relationships to build up and strengthen peoples lives is a high priority. We also conduct community outreaches such as tent revivals, an outdoor sporting program where we minister anywhere from 3 to 4 hundred men every month, and other special events as God directs. Our benevolence program has helped many over the years with food, clothing, electric bills, rent, medical, Christmas presents, etc. We have seen phenomenal things happen in peoples lives through the ministry of our church, but we have outgrown many areas of our present facility. Also we feel that it is time to stop paying rent and own everything outright. At present we owe no one anything. All of our assets are free and clear. We already possess 90% of what we need as for as equipment and furnishings for a new facility. It is time to build.
From the time we have been here we have been very strong in supporting missionaries and other productive ministries. We were very generous in supporting the work of God, many years giving over $20,000.00 annually supporting these works. We felt God telling us to get seed into good ground so that we could reap the harvest when we needed it, and now is that time. We are getting ready to started building a new building. We have purchased 8.8 acres of land and were able to pay it off in 18 months with God's gracious help. Now we must build the building. It will be 10,000 square feet and we will be able to do it for around $400,000. When it is finished it will be worth over 1.2 million dollars. We can borrow the money but we feel that we need to pay this building off as soon as possible so that we can continue to be a much greater blessing to our community. After praying about it I sensed the Lord showing me away that we would be able to pay for it in one year, and that is where you come in. God showed me that if we had 4000 one time gifts of $100.00 we would have the money to pay the building off. I was so excited when He revealed this plan to me, for this will mean we won't have to spend 3 to 4 thousand dollars a month for a building payment before anything else. So we will be able to do so much more to bless our community.
You may ask what do you want me to do? We would ask if you would prayerfully consider being one of the 4000 people that would sow $100.00 to help us build this building debt free. You may so "I can't afford to give that much". Any gift will help, and as we add up what comes in each time it reaches $100.00 dollars it goes to make up one of the 4000 one time gifts. We feel that this ministry is good ground and believe that anyone willing to support this endeavor will be greatly blessed by God for their generosity. We are a 501c3 nonprofit corporation and all donations or gifts are 100% tax deductible.
If you are interested in helping us with this project or would like to speak to me please feel free to call me. There are so many testimonies that I could share but do not have the time in this correspondence. But I would be more than happy too answer any questions or provide more information if you are interested. My numbers are: Office (618) 235-6373, Cell (618) 210-2650.
God Bless and I will be looking forward to hearing from you.
In
His Service, Reverend David Harbison
Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man came to seek and save that which is lost"