There is More Ministry To Be Done Now Than Ever: A Letter From Collide’s Founder and Director
At Collide, we see all the time the ways women’s lives are being transformed and impacted as they engage all the different programs and ministries Collide offers. Each year we have women reaching out to Collide for help who are facing addiction, struggling with suicidal thoughts, trying to fix broken marriages, dealing with the trauma of sexual abuse, battling depression, anxiety, and more. We have women coming to us from all walks of life, women outside the church and women who otherwise wouldn’t get help if we didn’t provide it. The number of requests for our Wholeness & Counseling program have continued to increase so much this year, that we’ve already had to create a waiting list about a month before the current national crisis hit.
Over the years, we’ve worked hard to become self-sustaining through hosting events and classes and selling merch online, but we still rely on the generosity of individual donors to be able to do what we do. In light of the current crisis, we are having to reach into our reserves and even after severe staff layoffs, we will soon be at risk to sustain Collide. Because this crisis hit us this spring when we were relying on a huge percentage of our yearly income to carry us through the year this is creating a huge deficit. This spring we had conferences, fundraisers, retreats, classes, merch sales, offerings etc that routinely sustain us and those are now all cancelled. As we look ahead and strategize as to how to sustain the important work we do, we are hopeful this cloud will lift for all of us, but unfortunately for Collide it will most likely lift near the summer months which are our slowest income producing months.
We know this crisis is affecting everyone. We are not only praying but we are currently creating online ministry tools that can invite people to collide with Jesus in the midst of anxiety, panic and fear. There is ministry to be done now more than ever. We have podcasts we are recording with therapists and pastors speaking into people’s worry. We have an online intentional parenting kit to ground families in faith rather than fear coming. We have blogs reminding people of God’s truth to all the fear that speaks lies. We are working around the clock here to minister to people in need while also trying to sustain and preserve Collide.
We’re sharing the financial position we’re in because we need people to stand in the gap for us. We need people who will give Collide funds to assure that we can bridge this crisis and come out ministering and changing lives when it lifts. Would you consider making a one-time donation so that the Collide story, ministry and life changing impact can continue? If you’re not currently able to give, would you consider sharing this post with someone, or directing people on social media, so that they can be invited into sustaining what we’re doing?
In doing so, when the fog lifts from this crisis, we can continue to move forward in stride and pick back up with a strong 2020-2021 year full of conferences, classes, in-house Bible study groups, leadership development programs, counseling program, online weekly podcasts reaching 20,000 people thus far with the love of Jesus, Bible study curriculum and books and all the other things we do to reach women for Jesus. We are so very excited about the ministry opportunities in front of us but we need your support more than ever to walk through to the other side. Thank you for your consideration. If you have any questions, please reach out to info@wecollide.net.
Praying for God’s Hand, Provision and Peace for all of us,
-Willow Weston and the Collide Team
Collide is a 501c3 and all donations are tax-deductible and can be made online by simply clicking here. If you would like to mail a check or cash donation, you can mail it to Collide 1416 N. State Street Bellingham, WA 98225.
