Dear Alive Family,

First and foremost, thank you for supporting the mission and ministry of Alive. Your faithfulness over the past years and especially in the past months has kept our ministry Alive. After acting very quickly to convert almost all of our ministries to an online format, our mission stays the same.

There are many testimonies of changed lives from those who are part of Alive and also in our community. We were able to help our neighbors with food and bills, many are rising to the challenge of teaching and discipling their children, leading or hosting small groups, and helping their neighbors. Almost everything has changed, and continues to. It is true with our finances as well.

At our October family meeting, we shared that through August, giving to Alive Ministries was slightly ahead of last year. Pre-COVID we were averaging about $83,000 per month in general giving. From March until August, we had an average of $74,000 per month. In response to that change, we as a board, with the help of the staff, cut our budget significantly to present a balanced budget at our family meeting. We budgeted a new average of $78,000 per month. Unfortunately, our giving has dropped dramatically in the last 2 months. In September, our general fund giving dropped to $57,000 and in October it dropped to about $50,000. This puts our budget about $50,000 short in just the last two months. The board and council representatives are working hard to discern a plan of action that will determine what the next steps will be, should giving continue to decline, or what can be added back in if giving returns to former levels.

It is clear that we cannot continue to spend above revenue for very long, so please pray with us about how Alive will respond; how each of us can help answer this challenge, and for wisdom for our leaders as they continue to plan for the unknown. The finance team is continually reevaluating our status when each month end report is prepared, and we are committed to keeping you informed.

As always, if you need help during this COVID season, please let us know.

In his service,
For the Alive Board Finance Team,