2nd Monthly Update

Hey Everyone!

This is the second monthly update letter that we are sending out and A LOT has happened since the first update.

As many of you are already aware, about a week after we sent out our first monthly update, I was taken out of work due to an injury to my right elbow. We’ve been blessed, however, because it is a work-comp injury, and my medical bills are paid for and I haven’t missed a paycheck since being out of work. It took several weeks, but I was finally able to be seen for an MRI on Monday, July 28, and we found that there are no tears to any ligament or tendons in the elbow, pointing to it being a significant sprain. As such, I will be out of work until at least the end of August and am being referred to Physical Therapy.

I don’t mean to make this sound like I’m complaining, though, it’s actually been a real benefit to being out of work: I have been able to send many, MANY emails and phone calls to different pastors to begin the fundraising process (more on that later). Additionally, we were able to get a free website created. Eventually we will have a paid site, but for now, we do what we can afford, haha!

On that site, there is a calendar where you can see where we are going to be and what we are doing so you can keep track and pray specifically. As mentioned in the first update, Patricia and I will be going to a church just outside of Raleigh, NC in less than 3 weeks for our NAMB assessment retreat, and if you go to our website to the “Upcoming Events” page, and you can actually click on copy our events to your Google Calendar and set reminders to pray!

As to what happened in July (apart from emails and phone calls), Nathaniel and I went to a gathering of reformed Baptist pastors in Roanoke, where we were able to make some connections with pastors from all over Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland. Patricia and I also met with a pastor from Rocky Mount, and currently there is a plan for us to go speak at his church sometime in the first part of September as a fundraising visit.

For fundraising, we are OFFICIALLY taking donations, now! Thanks to all the hard work of Ms. Ricarda Davis at Westlake, we have a dedicated account for all donations to be held in trust for us until we move next year, and all donations are 100% tax deductible.

The best part? The giving platform that we are using gives 100% of all donations to us with $0 in processing fees! The plan is to transfer the giving platform account to us next fall, when we launch the plant. Until then, Ms. Ricarda will be dispersing funds to us. The reason we requested that Westlake hold the funds in trust for us is because we want fiscal accountability. We want all of our partners to know that we are using the funds given in a proper, God honoring way.

If you are able, please consider setting up your recurring monthly donation now. You would not believe the power of $50/Month when that's multiplied by two to three-hundred others. You can sign up to give HERE!

I will be teaching Bible Study in the Connections Class at Westlake every Sunday in August, so if you are close and want to spend a few weeks walking through the first Epistle of the Apostle John with us, come to the Sanctuary at Westlake at 9:30 AM every Sunday in August! In that same vein, Pastor Tom Walker (who I call “Pops”) invited me to come preach in his stead on September 21 and 28, so if you are close to Hebron Baptist Church in Concord, VA and want to hear me preach, come to Hebron at 11AM on those dates!

Finally, we are actively looking for pastors and churches to partner with, so if you have connections in a local church body that you think would be willing to partner with us, PLEASE send me some information for how to reach out to them!

Please continue to pray for and with us, especially as we continue reaching out to the pastors of churches we hope to partner with.

Thank you so much for your support, we love you all!

Blessings,

Josh Davis

Lead Planter, Borderlands FBC

Isaiah 49:6, Romans 1:16-17