A Fifth Grader Who Wanted to Make a Difference

Eli Goodwin is in the 5th grade. He literally started attending Gateway nine months before he was born. He is just one of those kids you instantly fall in love with.

Eli and three of his friends from Lake Murray Elementary School decided they needed to do something to help the people of Haiti. Their first thought was to set up a lemonade stand. Marty, his Mom, suggested that lemonade might not sell very well in cold weather. So they settled on a bake sale. They asked their parents, friends and anyone who would help to bake items that would be sold to raise money.

This past Saturday, they set up shop on the corner of Wessinger and Dutch Fork Road. Eli’s sister and brother (Callie & Nic) were there to help as well.

As the day progressed, a steady flow of cars would stop and make purchases. There were a few times when no one was stopping so they would start packing everything up. Then another steady flow of cars would begin to stop.

At the end of sale, with all the goodies sold, they counted their money. They were hoping to raise about $100. Imagine their excitement when they realized they had raised $1,020!!! WOW!!!

By the way… a certain company is probably going to match their money. If that happens, that will translate into a small group of 5th grade students who dreamed of sending a $100 to Haiti to actually send over $2,000.

We dream big for God… then God shows up and makes it HUGE.

Hey Eli, this verse is for you and your friends:

“Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12, NLT)

Communicating Jesus’ love in a practical way

JESUS: And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me." Matthew 25:45 (NLT)

Jesus had a heart for the poor and he had a special place in his heart for children. We have an opportunity to share the heart of Jesus with a group of children.

Back to School Supply Drive: August 9 - 23

Gateway has taken the challenge to adopt a local elementary school in West Columbia and to provide school supplies for the children. We want to encourage these students by helping them to start the school year off right. There are 320 students in the school whose families do not have the resources to purchase school supplies for many of them it is a decision between buying food or school supplies.

George I Pair Elementary School is designated as an at-risk school due to the number of children who live at or below the poverty level. Ninety-two percent of children at this school are on free or reduced lunch. This means that 92 percent of the children in this school are from a family where buying school supplies is nearly impossible. Many of the children live in single-parent homes.

This is where you come in. This Sunday you can adopt a child by stopping by the Back to School Supply Drive table located at the worship center entrance. Pick up one school supply card for each child you wish to sponsor. Purchase a back-pack and fill it with the supplies. The average cost is $20 to complete the need for one child. Return the completed back-pack to Gateway on or before August 23rd. We will deliver the supplies on Monday the 24th.

Mary found a deal at Walgreen – $10 for 2 back-packs. So we are adopting 2 children for only $30!

This past Sunday 140 children were adopted for school supplies. We have 180 more children who need to be adopted.

We have a great opportunity to communicate to the children and their families in a very small but practical way that Jesus loves them and that we want them to have a great school year. If we go over our goal, we have a second school who has requested assistance.

Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do. Galatians 2:10 (NLT)

Blessing Others

NEWS FLASH – Our old campus is officially leased with an option to purchase by NewSpring Church of Anderson, SC. Pray that God will bless them as they reach people for Jesus!

All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. Acts 4:32

While in the process of turning our former facilities over to NewSpring, we have had the privilege of blessing other ministries. Today I met a church planter from Charleston at the old GBC campus. It was so cool to be able to give him two trailers loaded with chairs for his new church. It will save the church plant more than $10,000. That’s a lot of money that can be used in other areas of ministry.

It’s been like that since we relocated to our new location.

• Last week a pastor from Rock Hill got a load of stage lights.
• A local church was given all of our choir robes. (You probably didn’t even know that we had choir robes!)
• Several churches received musical scores for their choirs.
• CIU received carpet and chairs for their studio where Dan DeLozier teaches students in his communication program.
• Our staging from the old worship center is being used by numerous church plants all over Columbia.
• The first church planted by Gateway, North Point Church, received our old portable baptistery.
• Church plants have benefited from sound system components.
• When the government changed the frequencies that wireless microphones can use which required us to purchase new receivers, we sent our old system to churches overseas through Crossover Communications International.
• Office equipment, chairs and nursery equipment was given to a church plant in North Myrtle Beach.
• A local church received office furniture.
• Refrigerators and other pieces of kitchen equipment went to a local community ministry.
• Nursery equipment is being used by another local church.
• Christmas decorations went to yet another local church.
• A refrigerator, chairs, cabinets are being used in the Live School office.
• Even a local Boy Scout Troop received carpet and chairs.

I appreciate the Spirit of God in Gateway that allows us to share with others. In reality, it’s not even ours! It belongs to the Lord. We simply are passing the blessing along to others.