The Little Church On The Hill
 

Picture the little church (synagogue, mosque) on the hill. Every week its tiny congregation of faithful worshipers shows up for service.

There are only 100 of them, but they are devout. And every week every one of them puts $10 in the collection box. With that $4000 the little church pays all its expenses every month. It even has money left over for a picnic one Sunday a month! (Everyone in the congregation also donates five dollars for the picnic, of course.)

Now picture that same little church, again with that same little devout congregation, but this time everyone in the congregation puts $10 into the collection box once a year.
 

No more little church.

The abandoned building is bulldozed, to make way for a new Wal-Mart. By the way: the big church on the hill would encounter the same problems if it chose to operate under the same arrangement.

This is us. We have a tiny congregation that donates nine dollars a year. That has to change.

According to the calculations of our magnificent Executive Director, Greg Morkovin, we can begin to make our expenses soon if all those who are able, in our tiny congregation, donate nine dollars per month. Instead of nine dollars per year. Greg is in a position to know this, since he has been donating everything necessary to keep us going, above and beyond what the congregation donates. This makes him very good at math.

Now we have, up to this point, given all of you your passwords for year. If you're like most of our colleagues who have opted to donate when they signed up, you still have at least several months to go on your password.

We are asking you to now make yourself a new password, and donate another nine dollars, and then do so on a monthly basis.

That will really help us.

But we would also like to make it clear that if this puts any financial strain on you, or even emotional strain, we don't want you to do it. We're asking for a donation, and for your wholehearted support, not making a requirement. This is a request.

What we're actually asking you to do is take another step forward to joining us in our fight against disease. And this is, in reality, more of an emotional step, a statement of your intention, than anything else, because you may already be completely in support of us. You may forward our e-mails, tell your friends about this, and do a great many other things to help, including winning against your disease if you're using immunics to clear one up. You may even have, in the past, donated several hundred dollars.

Also, donating nine dollars per month may not mean much to you -- may not feel like a statement to you. And if you see some other, more powerful statement, an action that you can take, we'd like you to do that as well. We'd like to take this opportunity to ask you to do everything in your power to help us, because we need all the help we can get.

And don't worry; we won't have any negative judgments about you if you don't instantly reregister under our new arrangement. Because we know that you're making your own arrangements in your own way and that's fine with us. And we're grateful for what you've already done. And if you registered without donating, and can't donate, you inspire us. We thank you for Being. Just your presence means a lot.

We just don't think that Greg should keep picking up the tab, or the balance of it, as he has been.

If you would be so kind as to help us with a larger pledge than nine dollars a month, or if you would simply like to donate once beyond your monthly pledge, click here.

Bayard Barnes, an elder of WHUM
A few things about our ministry