Build Part 3 — Arise & Build!

“Let us Arise and Build!” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

Nehemiah 2:18

You are invited to watch this brief introduction video from Father Stavros before reading today’s reflection.

Good morning Prayer Team!

The Old Testament book of Nehemiah tells the story of the children of Israel being challenged to restore Jerusalem after they returned from exile in Babylon. In Chapter 2, Nehemiah approaches the King about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He uses courage, strategic planning, cooperation from the people and reliance on God’s favor in initiating this project. Building it back up was going to be a spiritual and emotional gift to the people. Nehemiah announced the plan with faith, and the people followed with theirs. In Nehemiah 2:18, we read, And I told them of the hand of my God which had been upon me for good, and also of the words which the king had spoken to me. And they said “Let us arise and build!” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. Of course, immediately after this, Nehemiah and the people were questioned about what they were doing. They were ridiculed actually, with the words “What is this thing you are doing?”( 2:19) Nehemiah offered an answer with humility and confidence in God, as he said “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we His servants will arise and build.”

Serving the Prayer Team community has been a labor of love for more than 10 years. I treasure the opportunity to share Christ with you through this ministry. I am so grateful to God and to you! Many of you are parishioners at my home parish of St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Tampa, and many of you are not. Though we are an online community, it is dynamic and intimate, as I share personal anecdotes and experiences with you, I receive emails from you, and often I meet visitors to Tampa who introduce themselves to me as Prayer Team members. What a gift to have an extended community across the world!

However, as you know, I’m not just the author of the Prayer Team messages. First and foremost, I am a parish priest.  I have served the St. John parish for over 20 years and by God’s grace, we have grown to more than 400 families and continue to grow. This poses a problem, albeit a good problem to have. Our parish has outgrown our facilities: we desperately need more seating to fit everyone in our church, we don’t have adequate parking, and much of our campus needs updating.

Over the past couple of years, our parish has cast a vision for our community, calling it Arise & Build, using today’s verse from Nehemiah 2:18 as our inspiration. In addition to the church expansion and campus improvements, we are planning to renovate our existing educational building into a new ministry building to house our administrative offices, meeting rooms, and classrooms. One of the most exciting additions to this part of the plan is to include a sound studio, where we can bring the Prayer Team to life as a podcast! At the end of the reflection, you will find links to an animation showing the scope of the project as well as some renderings.

The estimated cost of our Arise & Build Capital Campaign is $7.8M. With a lot of hard work, we have raised over 63% of our goal. We have taken a prayerful approach to our campaign and have asked every person willing to consider a financial gift to do the same. Any gift, small or large, is received with prayer and gratitude, with the understanding that sacrificial giving is an act of faith and trust in God. The prayer is that each offering from one’s sustenance will be blessed by God so that one will never be without sustenance.

The Prayer Team is a ministry I offer with love, joy and gratitude, to God and to you, and I hope by God’s grace, to continue to do so for many years to come. After prayerful consideration, and with humility, I pose an important question to you, the Prayer Team readers: Will you join us as we Arise & Build? I ask this with humility, as it is out of my comfort zone. I am a parish priest, not a fundraiser. It is with this same humility that I respectfully ask that you consider a financial gift to this project, helping to make our plans a reality. As the author of the Prayer Team, and leader of this online community, it is a joy to invite you to participate. What a privilege it would be to dedicate the sound studio in honor of the Prayer Team!

If you are able to give, you may utilize the donate button HERE, go to our website www.ariseandbuild.com, or simply use the provided QR code. Checks are also welcome, made out to St. John Greek Orthodox Church, with “Arise and Build” or “Capital Campaign” on the memo line. Our goal is to have all commitments made by Palm Sunday, April 13.

Please do not make any donations via the Prayer Team PayPal button. PayPal donations go directly to the Prayer Team ministry and not to Arise & Build and are not tax deductible. All donations to Arise & Build should be made HERE for tax deduction purposes.

One of the cornerstones of this project has been to pray in person, in front of the icon of Christ, when receiving a donation of any amount. I am committed to this throughout the project. When offering these prayers, I am filled with humility, gratitude, joy and respect. For those of you who are out of town, it would be a privilege to offer the same opportunity for you. On April 30, a Paraklesis is scheduled, with the intention of praying for every donor by name. A link will be sent to our livestream service so you can watch, hear your name being offered in prayer, and pray along with us virtually.

Just as the prophet Nehemiah led with confidence and trust in the Lord, I have no doubt that with your help and the help of others, God will guide this project to completion, that our St. John community and the Prayer Team community will continue to prosper, and that we will Arise & Build to His glory.

With our printed materials we mailed to each parishioner, a prayer card was included that we asked every person to commit to offering daily. I ask you to offer this on our behalf, that we cover our project and our work with prayer, asking for God’s guidance, provisions, and blessings on this undertaking.

We praise You, we bless You, we give thanks to You and we pray to You, O Lord, our God. Guide the Arise & Build Capital Campaign by Your Holy Spirit, so that through our work, we may bring You to others and others to You. Sanctify our community, all those who serve in it, and all those who are served by it. We ask Your blessings on those who have contributed to it and those who are considering doing so. Bless our church leadership, our priests, our Parish Council, our ministry leaders and the Arise & Build committees. Through the intercessions of the Holy Theotokos, of St. John the Baptist, the patron saint of our parish and all Your saints. For You are He who blesses and sanctifies all things, O Christ our God, and to You we send up glory, with Your Father Who is from everlasting and Your all-Holy, Good, and Life-giving Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Thank you for your prayerful consideration to join us in our Arise & Build Capital Campaign.

With love in the Lord,

+Fr. Stavros

Please visit our website, ariseandbuild.com.

If you have any questions, please click HERE to contact us.