by Romy Roque
About a couple of years ago, GSCC Board of Elders started a campaign to raise funds for a building to call its own. Even with the economy in turmoil these past years, GSCC family has been very generous and faithful in their giving to beef up the building fund. The fund continues to grow. We all know that this is possible only because God’s hands are working in our midst. This world’s economy is no match to our Lord’s kingdom .
As our Lord continues to faithfully bring leaders, teachers, preachers, and many other talented workers to His church, it is no surprise that spiritual growth is being experienced. And of course, with such growth comes increase in church members and ministries. With this accelerated increase in members and ministries, the need for space is becoming a huge challenge. The need for GSCC to have its own place to grow is imperative.
This year, the BOE ventured into the possibility of purchasing a church building. A couple of buildings in Milpitas with selling prices of approximately one million dollars were identified . The BOE concluded that with its current income, GSCC should be able to afford mortgage payments of up to a million dollars. Armed with this knowledge, the BOE approached several banks were for a loan.
While many banks did not entertain the idea of granting a loan to a church entity, we found one bank that was willing to assist us. Although this bank is open to helping us, GSCC still has several hurdles to overcome before it can secure a loan. The bank is willing to loan GSCC up to 70% of the building value. This means that GSCC will need to come up with about $300,000 for the down payment. The preferred path of course is for GSCC to raise funds to cover the down payment and purchase the building on its own. Since we are only two years into our fund building, the bank is willing to make personal loans to anyone who is willing and would qualify for the 30% as one option. It doesn’t have to be one person, but could be several people. The loan would be under these individuals and GSCC would still make the loan payments. We praise God for some candidates who have stepped forward, but we are still short of the amount we need for the down payment. We are also actively looking at other options such as talking directly to the banks or owners of the buildings to see if they would be willing to undertake the loan for GSCC.
We thank the GSCC family for continuing to be faithful in their support and giving towards the building fund. We continue to pray that God will provide for our need and that GSCC will one day soon have a place to call its home. “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” Exodus 40:34. We thank God for what He is about to do!
