Partners in our Project

Development Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) have worked with many churches over the past several years including Mission Hills Church (“MHC”). MHC has been among the very best church organizations that Advisors has had the privilege to work alongside and in service for. There is so much real estate development expertise on this Building Committee that the Committee did not need Development Advisors to assist but instead chose to hire us anyway. Our job has been much easier to perform because of this experience and because of MHC’s excellence.

MHC is synonymous with excellence. MHC has an excellent congregation, an excellent staff and an excellent volunteer base.

Let us explain further.

MHC’s congregation is excellent. While I personally know many of the MHC congregants, the overall congregation is excellent because it trusts its leaders and has shown this trust by the monies it has raised money for its new building project and its affirmation in nearly unanimous congregational votes along the way. MHC can be proud that it is in the top-tier of congregations nationwide in fund raising as a percentage of its annual budget. MHC can further be proud of the average giving for its family units. This too is at the highest end.

MHC’s staff is excellent. The staff that we have worked most closely with (Keith Carson, Byron Johns, Mike Romberger, Tracy Snyder, Judy Lustig, Janet Carter, Rick Passwaters, Heidi Lopez, Kelli Tenneson) have all been very coachable and willing to take suggestions not only in real estate development, but in church operations and communicating with its congregants. Not enough can be said for Keith Carson’s commitment to excellence. Keith, you have been great to partner with and to serve next to (so far and we still have a ways to go!). You too Byron have shown an incredible passion to be excellent in all that you do.

MHC’s volunteer leaders are excellent. Very few churches have such skilled lay volunteers as MHC. MHC’s lay volunteers have been willing to step-up and invest countless hours of their personal time at the expense of their families and their businesses. In advance of the completion of this incredible project, let us acknowledge those individuals whose part has and continues to be invaluable to the success of this amazing project.

· To Steve Kugler for his practical insights, his great judgment, his construction wisdom, and his loyalty to those construction professionals who had previously served Mission Hills with its proposed building expansion and renovation;
· To Greg Markling for leading the original feasibility study, for his great design eye, for his persistence to refrain from cutting the building back in the face of a cost-cutting momentum, and for his constant encouragement to have faith that God will provide (He has!);
· To Andy Limes for his commitment to always finding the solution through persistent challenges; to taking the hard questions at the public forums; and to his willingness to take risk knowing first that God was leading;
· To Mike Williams who has invested hundreds of hours of legal leadership to offer his beloved church risk mitigation guidance in ways it would have never even considered—all at no cost to MHC;
· To Janis Kugler for her willingness to stand in the gap when and where help was needed (especially in finance and communications) and to work untiringly with a loving, positive spirit.
· To Kent McSparran for “leading the leaders” at a critical time when it appeared that MHC might have to postpone its new building project or start a new design all over again (until God showed otherwise);
· To Kurt Butler for his patience with a committee that simply did not appreciate what it takes to produce the sound and lighting effects expected by today’s church attendee and currently offered by other “competing” churches;
· To Jon Roberts for his willingness to reconcile the financial management systems and to oversee the project expenditures;
· To Gayle Christy, Rusty Crandall, Colleen McVaney, Connie Burton, Dale Schlotzhauer, Mark Gouin, Dave Wedin, Mark McComb and many others (sorry if I forgot you) who invested countless hours offering their wisdom and experiences to make the critical decisions that will make this new building creation a legacy facility for the next 65 years of this great church (which are its people!).

We are confident that God intends for this building project to be completed. Further, Development Advisors will continue to be involved until the completion and well after the scheduled move-in date of August, 2010.

Thanks for giving us the opportunity to be a part of and to work alongside this excellent organization.

Very Truly Yours and all for His glory,

Scott McLean and Tim Dreessen
Principals, Development Advisors, LLC

Excitement of Anticipation

Oh, the excitement of anticipation! Dreaming, planning, praying, and hoping are all words of anticipation that come to mind with this building. The anticipation of the grand opening celebration is something that is almost incomprehensible. I doubt the night before if I will be able to sleep. I am sure that there will be months of planning because of what God has done, in bringing us to a new building.

We are sure to see first graders running down main street just to get to their classroom first. We will also have families that walk in and stop to take it all in. We will also see mom’s and dad’s turning their head to the left and to the right trying to find the appropriate place for them and their children.

On that day I am sure there will be a great shout, “Praise to the Lord, Look at what He has done!” But in anticipation I am already shouting, “Praise to the Lord, for He is Good!”

Matt

Ground Breaking Ceremony - June 7th

Our ground breaking ceremony took place this last Sunday. It can truly be described as a celebration - a celebration of what God has done on this journey of relocation. The morning began with people gathering on the property for a worship service. The highlight of the service for me were the stories of transformation. We heard from a single mom and her journey of coming back to God. We heard from a young lady who had made a number of poor choices and how God got a hold of her life through these circumstances. Finally we heard from a family and how two the family members came to realize their need for God one day apart. Now that's something to celebrate! Our mission as a church is Transformed Lives. We want to see God work in and through us to bring people to Himself. God works in amazing ways and it was great to hear these stories.

After the worship service we all participated in the ground breaking together. Each family was encouraged to bring a shovel and share in the joy of this experience. The boarder of the new facility footprint was painted on the property and all of the attendees were spread out along this painted outline. At Pastor Mike's call of "1, 2, 3" each family put a shovel into the dirt. It was amazing to see this expression of unity and participation with people in attendance. As I was standing there watching people and envisioning this new building I thought back to the stories of transformation from the worship service. Because of these stories I was overcome with joy as I began to think about the possibilities of many more stories like these on this new site.

Over these next few months we are anticipating many more things to celebrate - we will continue to give thanks to God because of what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do in the future.

Prompted to Pause

In the business of a typical day, it is easy to get so focused upon the tasks at hand, and not take a moment to stop and give thanks to God for his provision and faithfulness. This past week I happened to be in-between appointments and driving by the new location when the Holy Spirit prompted me to pause. I don’t know about you, but so often it is easier to disregard this prompting and continue on with that next task or appointment. But, as Pastor Mike has said before, when you are prompted to do something good, it is probably safe to say that it isn’t coming from the devil! So, heeding this call to obedience, I steered my truck into Southpark, drove up on the site and pointed it to the southwest. It was such a glorious day, with blue skies, sunshine, fresh spring growth on the trees, and the majesty of the mountains in the distance, that I couldn’t help but feel inspired to praise Him. My prayer was heartfelt! I thanked Him for the provision of this land and the resources to build our new church upon it; I petitioned Him for our church to have an impact on the thousands of lost people surrounding this property, that we would be a lighthouse of His mercy and grace; I asked Him to continue to show us favor with Southpark and the City of Littleton; I thanked Him for giving me the opportunity to witness the movement of the Holy Spirit among us and prayed for continued unity of our body and the transformation of lives in Christ; and, I offered up my burdens and fears to Him and asked for His continued blessing. This all took just a moment, but I must say, a peace came over me that really gave me hope.

As part of my personal devotions, I’ve been challenging myself to memorize two new scripture verses a month. This month I chose two that really seem relevant to this situation:

Isaiah 25:1 O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

May I never grow too busy to stop and remember His promises!

Mark (Mission Hills Elder)