“If God exists then every good endeavor, even the simplest ones, pursued in response to God’s calling can matter forever.” Timothy Keller

 

Dear Father’s House Family, 

 

In September of 2021, at the Grace International Northwest Regional Conference in The Dalles Oregon, the Holy Spirit disrupted my thinking and plans with a question “What could I do with a tithe of your town?”  I immediately knew He was not referring to money, but people.  Currently there are 8,593 residents in the city of Sutherlin, OR a tithe would be 860 people. God began stirring me to dream about increasing the impact we currently have on our city.  Realize, this is not simply about the size of the crowd on Sundays.  Frankly, numbers do not move me.  But watching people Encounter the presence of the Living God, Experience His goodness as He transforms individual lives and watching as more and more people are wanting to Expand His Kingdom with us - greatly motivates my wife and I and I know it greatly motivates each and every one of you too. 

 

The people God has placed in The Father’s House for this season is miraculous. A body of believers who love each other well, do life together, and fight to advance the Kingdom of God.  Truly, our church body, filled with faithful long time family, and new families God has brought from near and far.  We are being knit together as an end time army, called and equipped for such a time as this. We are to be a city set on a hill, a refuge in a time of unprecedented darkness. 

 

It is because of this God-given mission we are following Him into this great endeavor - The Gate Project.  It begins with an expansion of our facilities here at The Father’s House in Sutherlin. The 10,720 square foot addition will immediately increase our in-service capacity from 281 to 425 with easy growth opportunities to expand to over 700 with the completion of a balcony.  

 

The old sanctuary will be converted into a Children’s wing giving us the ability to minister to 100+ children each Wednesday & Sunday.  We will have the room to develop a Christian Pre-School and have the facility available during the weekdays to host at minimum a Home-School Co-op and possibly a small Christian School should the Lord direct us.  

 

Meeting places will be established for Bible studies, training and equipping in ministry, in life skills, etc.  We will have the capacity to better host regional Kingdom impact events. 

 

The Gate Project also includes the launch of the Southern Oregon School of Ministry in September of 2026 where we will help people discover, develop and deploy in their God-given assignments to multiply and expand the Kingdom of God on this earth. 

 

In this journey, three Scriptures have really captured the heart of God for this season.  Road signs pointing us towards the call and assignment of God. First, we began the year in Isaiah 54:2, 3 “Enlarge the place of your tent…stretch out the curtains…Lengthen the cords and strengthen your stakes for you shall expand to the right and to the left.  This is a season of expansion both spiritually and physically. 

 

Second, Zechariah 2:1-5 The young prophet describes a God encounter where he and an angel were measuring the walls that used to stand in preparation for the restoration and rebuilding that was happening in Jerusalem.  In that God encounter, a second angel instructed him that what had been there before, and what he could currently see were not the boundaries of what God intended to do.  That it was God alone Who determines where the boundaries shall be.  His plans were far greater than Zechariah and the returning remnant had in mind.  That He Himself would be the glory in the midst of the city. 

 

Thirdly, Genesis 28:10-22 we find Jacob describing the place he fell asleep as being the House of God - the Gate of heaven.  It was in this place where there was access into the presence of God, where the angels of God were ascending and descending. Ascending describing the access he had of taking every problem he faced on earth to the throne of heaven.  Angels then were descending bringing heaven’s answer into the broken world.  It was describing the access point where God’s will was to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

 

WE KNOW YOU DESIRE TO ADVANCE THE KINGDOM AS MUCH AS WE DO and we are encouraging you to spend time reading, and seeking the Lord out of these passages of Scripture. To thoughtfully and prayerfully join us in this great endeavor - The Gate Project. 

 

Throughout the Bible when God inspired a great building project, He always invited the people to participate.  In Exodus 35:21 for example, “And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.”   Would you and your family consider participating in the “141 challenge.”   I would also like to ask of you, who do you know that would love to support this kind of an endeavor to see Oregon experience revival and reformation?

 

This accomplishment will require a sacrificial offering of our time, talents and treasure but we believe if we are willing and obedient, we will see the favor of God empowering us each to accomplish a great work in our day - not just a building - but the reformation of a region and simultaneously an increase in the blessing of the Lord in and on our lives. 

 

You Belong Here, 

 

Pastors John and Kami Zumwalt