Personal request...Help make a dream come true
Kevin Griesser
Hello everyone!
My name is Kevin Griesser, and I am the 1-800-SELL-NOW licensee in Louisville, KY. I know times are tough, and you don’t even know me, but I made a commitment to spread the word about this to everyone I can. We have a goal to get this project funded by Christmas this year. Here is the scoop. It’s kind of long so here is a short version (longer version below the line):
My father-in-law had a vision some 25 years ago to have a home where missionaries could come and stay while they are back stateside to get refreshed rather than having to travel house to house and returning to the mission field more tired than when they came back to get refreshed. Rick (my father-in-law) has been in a battle with brain cancer for the last 2 ½ years, and we are not sure how much longer he has. We are trying to make his vision a reality while he is still here to see it. Read my letter below or visit http://www.arefuge.org for more details and to make your contribution. Thank you for helping to make this dream a reality. If we all work together, we can make a tremendous impact.
Kevin Griesser
Have you ever come up with an idea to do something special, but never got around to it? Have you ever had a dream that could change someone’s life, but never took action? I did it once, and I almost did it again. Let me give you the background of the first time I failed to act.
I grew up in the house next door to my Grandmother. I literally went “over the river and through the woods” to my Grandmother’s house. Several years before she died, she made a donation to the Baptist Convalescent Center. The donation was her 50-acre farm. The dream was to see her farm become a place where those who needed rest and healing could come and find it. It was to be the finest retirement community in all of northern KY. There would be independent housing where those who could still care for themselves could take up residence on site where they could spend the rest of their life. There would be assisted care housing for those who needed limited help. And there would be a nursing home for those who needed total care. The final point of her dream was that she would never have to leave her farm. She could move from her house to the assisted care facility and from there to the nursing home as those steps were needed and remain on her farm until the day she died. Well, the Baptist organization did not plan well. They built some condo units for the independent living residents, and the project stalled out. A couple years later I got the idea that my Grandmother and this retirement community project could be a candidate for the television series, “Extreme Makeover Home Edition.” So I decided I would write a letter to submit her as a candidate. But a year passed, and I never wrote the letter. The next year, I thought about it from time to time, but I never sat down and put pencil to paper. One time I even printed off the application from their website. Another year or so later my Grandmother died in the off-site nursing home where she had been living since being unable to care for herself. I failed to take the necessary action to help her achieve her dream. While I will never know whether or not her dream would have ever been realized had I taken action, I regret not doing so.
For the last 5 or 6 years, I have known about the dream of another family member. Some 20+ years ago, my father-in-law, Rick Starr (a preacher for nearly 35 years), had a dream to provide a home where missionaries who were home from abroad could stay without having to travel from house to house. He also sought to connect them with necessary services like medical and dental check ups. He had done a great deal of research and determined that southeastern Louisville, KY was the ideal location to have such a home to service the greatest number of missionaries sent out by the Christian Churches. He envisioned this home being a place where those who were giving up the comforts of home to minister to the needs of others could take refuge in and be refreshed. In 2006, he accepted a role with an organization called Team Expansion, which trains and sends missionaries all over the world. His role was to help them develop a piece of property in southeastern Louisville, KY which would serve as the organization’s offices and provide a retreat and prayer center where missionaries could stay and have their families join them while they were “home” for a while. He was in a role where his dream could finally become a reality. Over the course of the next few months, the leadership of Team Expansion changed his role and the retreat center project fell by the wayside.
As a result, he and Debbie founded A Refuge (www.arefuge.org) as a non-profit organization to continue toward fulfilling this dream on their own. In June 2007 Rick was diagnosed with brain cancer after a thrown ball hit him in the head during a church softball game. In March 2008 he had surgery to remove the brain tumor, but because the tumor was in his language center, they did not remove it all so he could continue to preach. We were told that life expectancy for someone with his type of tumor is 2 to 5 years from the initial diagnosis.
In the last few months, his battle with brain cancer has grown more difficult and wearisome every day. The tumor is growing again, and we have no idea how much longer he will be with us. The night of October 17, 2009, I could not fall asleep. I decided that I would not sit back and let his dream die with him like I had done with my Grandmother. This time I WILL act. I WILL follow through. I WILL see this dream become a reality, and I WILL experience the joy of seeing this dream dramatically impact the lives of people I love. Here’s the plan.
The initial goal is to raise a minimum of $200,000 by Christmas 2009. The plan for doing this is to involve a massive amount of people who care about Rick, his family, missionaries, me or folks who simply need a good cause to get behind to make this happen. We are not targeting one donor to contribute the entire $200,000 (if you want to feel free to contact me). Rather, we are seeking to bless Rick through the sheer volume of people willing to help make his dream a reality rather than it simply being a financial goal. I think it will have a deeper impact on Rick and on the contributors if the masses make it happen. We will find 2000 donation units (individuals, families, churches, companies, etc.) to make a one-time gift of $100 (or whatever you can). These “REFUGE BUILDERS” will be the source through which Rick’s 25-year dream will become a reality in his lifetime! The accomplishment of this goal will have two major impacts. First, A Refuge will have it’s first home to house missionaries paid in full. The secondary impact of this accomplishment is that Debbie will no longer have to work a full-time job to financially support them or the ministry, thereby allowing her to focus on caring for Rick as he continues his battle with cancer. The second phase will be those who can contribute monthly to help pay the expenses of A Refuge.
Will you consider being one of our Refuge Builders?
There are two ways you can contribute – unfortunately contributions are not tax deductible at this time.
1) Online – visit www.arefuge.org for more info or to donate via PayPal or credit card
2) Postal Mail – checks payable to Rick or Debbie Starr, 23 Carter Court, Taylorsville, KY 40071
Thank you for your consideration,
Kevin Griesser