The Narrow Path Ministries is moving right along! As a Board of Directors, we can feel the hand of God on the ministry and on us, every step of the way. Through everything we have done, we have asked God to open doors if this is what He wants to happen, and close doors if He didn’t want this ministry to go forward. Every time we take a step forward expecting the process to take a long time, God amazes us with the speed at which things have happened!
In the middle of February, we had our first “meat & potatoes” organizational meeting where we selected members for the Board of Directors. In March we approved the ministry’s bylaws and filed for incorporation with the State of Florida. We officially became incorporated on April 1, 2024. Following that we applied for and received our Employer Identification Number (EIN) with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
We spent the rest of April and May slogging through the lengthy application process with the IRS to become a non-profit organization, opening a bank account, and obtaining a post office box. It took us weeks to go through all the IRS paperwork to determine what all the “legalese” meant, but we finally got it nailed down with some good advice from some trusted friends, got it filed, and we became an official non-profit 501(c)(3) organization as of May 30, 2024, back dated to the date of our incorporation. We had expected the approval process to take several months at a minimum, but from the day that we filed the paperwork until it was finished, was less than three weeks!
During the months of March, April, and May, we also chose a ministry verse, a motto, developed a vision, mission, and statement of faith for the ministry. We had two friends design some amazing logos for us from which to choose. We have created business cards, an informational brochure, and began putting together a presentation to take to area churches, businesses, and civic organizations. We had our website developer put together a wonderful website, which is still being added to as we move along the path God has placed before us.
The choice of Replicate Church in East Milton as our home-base church was made. This will be where the students will attend weekly Sunday services, when not out speaking to other churches. We have met with city and county leaders, other local churches, and the sheriff’s office to let them know what we are working toward. All of them are excited and encouraged us to keep going, because they realize the need for drug and alcohol rehabilitation services in Santa Rosa County is great! We have also met with some rehab facilities in the tri-county area to gather ideas and advice from them. They too, are eager to see us up and running soon.
Now before us is the task that seems monumental to us: fundraising. We have been crunching numbers and our dream is to raise one million dollars to purpose build a men’s and women’s facility on twenty acres in the Milton area. We pray that God will bless us with those funds so we can design functional facilities to accommodate both programs in addition to transition facilities.
Our desire is to not just reach the addict for Jesus Christ, but to reach his or her family, too! Our goal is to not only strengthen and equip the men and women that God brings us for the program, but to strengthen and equip the families to work together as a family unit as God designed families to be.
We are excited about what God is doing for the ministry! We pray that as you read this, God is tugging on your heart to Join the Journey!
To join the journey or for more information contact:
Thomas Olsen, Ministry Director
448-234-3221
thenarrowpathministriesfl@gmail.com