by Bong Magno
It was in 2008 when GSCC embarked on a plan to go forward into our church’s future of having our very own place of worship. Many of the members at the time were excited as pledges for the building fund were made by each family. Although there have been uncertainties in what it will take to accomplish this goal, one thing is certain, that God is on our side and He will provide.
From the inception of our church when we held our Sunday worship in several of our members’ home, we have remained at our current place of worship for more than 5 years. And since then, we have been constantly reminded of our building fund drive during the announcement portion of our Sunday’s service. Fast forward to January 2011, Pastor Oyette provided the congregation reasons why it is important to seek out and grow; that we must maintain a spirit that invokes Christian growth and maturity. He illustrated this by comparing our church to a growing plant that needs a bigger pot to continue to flourish.
With the surge in GSCC’s attendance since 2008 and expansion of different ministries, it is becoming apparent that our church is in definite need of room. Coupled with Lifegate’s building requirements of their own, there have been occasions where booking a room has been a challenge. Recently, GSCC has put together a group of people to scout for a prospective place where we can gather and worship as well as accommodate ministries who need to use the facilities.
Last Sunday, Pastor Oyette provided us a sermon on Nehemiah and what he did to accomplish the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall. In comparison, he spoke of GSCC’s building needs and what must happen to acquire a building of our own. The opportunity that God is giving us is at hand. The possible new church site has been identified.
The property is located in Milpitas and has been used as a gathering place by a Christian seminary school. Currently this building is for sale at $1.125 million. As of March 2011, according to Bro. Romy, our current building fund stands at about $60k and to qualify, we must put in $300k for a down payment. A number of banks have turned us down, reason being GSCC do not have sufficient denominational backing and inherent riskiness of being a young church. However, Heritage bank gave us a conditional approval on financing 70% of the loan. This means we as a church must come up with the 30%, thus the need for the $300k. No doubt that it is a daunting figure, but our God is a mighty God. As Pastor Oyette mentioned before, our God works in a different economy. On another positive note, the group who owns the property is favoring to sell to a Christian organization . This group understands how difficult it is to receive a building church permit from the city of Milpitas, and thus favor in handing over their property to an organization such as ours.
As Pastor Oyette closed with his sermon, he directed us to take this challenge as an act of faith in God. To continue to pray as a congregation that our vision is realized according to God’s plans for GSCC. Everybody needs to take a step forward in committing their faith and abilities to overcome the challenges that lie ahead. More than ever, we must stand together to seek God, give Him the glory and fulfill His will.
