July 2008
Brothers and Sisters,
Peace and Good in Christ!
In Winter of 2006 we came to you with our needs to repair the hermitage. Much money was spent replacing the wood on the upper floor of the common center as planned in Phase II, as well as repairs to the prayer garden. We gave an update on how the money collected to date was spent in 2007.
We need your help now more than ever. A fire burned down our chapel and common center to the ground on April 28, 2008. We are doing our best during this interim period using quadplex 4 (a single family dwelling) as our common center (kitchen, dining room, chapter room and offices). As you can well imagine it is quite a squeeze! (see pictures under our What's New section).
We are covered for part of the rebuilding cost by our trust fund but it falls significantly short of what we need to rebuild. Our immediate need is for a new chapel, kitchen and dining room. We are looking at plans that will allow us to add office space, a library, an infirmary and classrooms at a later time when we are able.
The outpouring of offers to help with food, housing, and anything else has humbled us and made us grateful beyond mere words. Most importantly we covet your prayers. We plan to rebuild with stone and earth, and in a way that is environmentally "green." We humbly beg once again for donations from our benevolent benefactors. No amount is too large or too small and all is tax dedutible. Please help us rebuild the heart of our community.
In Jesus,
John Michael Talbot
Founder, Spiritual Father and General Minister
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage
FRIENDS OF THE HERMITAGE
Advent 2007
Brothers and Sisters, Peace and Good in Christ!
I pray that you’ll remember how much we value and rely on your prayers and Friendship. We are joined at the heart during this sacred season.
Last year, in the spirit of St. Francis we shared our needs with you, and you responded to our call. Thank You!
ACCOUNTABILITY UPDATE
I have a praise report for you: Because of the generosity of our Friends of the Hermitage, we have been able to raise $ 85,500! Much-needed purchases to provide repairs and upgrades/maintenance for Hermitage structures, included:
Heat Pumps for Hermitages: $24,000
Insulated Trailer 2,500
Walk-in Freezer 10,000
Used 1-Ton Farm Truck 20,000
Meat Grinder 500
Additionally, as we promised, we have used your donations to further develop our Monastery Farm projects. With God’s grace, these projects are moving us toward our goal of becoming more financially self-sustaining. Our pasture-raised chicken operation is the primary example of those projects. Your donations have enabled us to purchase:
Chicken Houses/Pasture Pens $ 6,000
Feed Tractor/Grinder 20,000
Two Grain Bins 2,500
Your gifts to us have made a tremendous difference, and we appreciate them. But we still have needs.
We still need additional funds to establish our poultry business. A large winterized chicken house will enable us to sell chicken/chicken products year round. A workroom adjacent to the refrigerator/freezer is needed so that we can make sausage or other chicken products. We desperately need improvements to the prayer garden, and replace the monastic family hermitage’s skylights.
We also need to build more housing for monastic families with children.
We remain faithful in our own giving through our support to Mercy Corps and Little Flower Clinic. But the vocational and financial crises of the Church in America continue to affect us as well.
Would you continue to help?
First, like most modern monastic communities, we need vocations – those who hear God’s call and say “Yes” to join us in living our radical call to simply live the gospel of Jesus. Would you continue to get the word out about our community? Maybe you’ll suggest to someone discerning a vocation that they contact us for information and a future candidacy visit? Or perhaps God is calling you to seek our way of life? Our monastery doors are always open to those who inquire.
And we need your financial support. Will you once again say “Yes” to God, and make a donation or pledge to help us?
I know that at this time of year, you receive many requests from worthy charities and ministries. Would you please pray about how God may be calling you to respond to our appeal?
Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas.
In Jesus,
John Michael Talbot
Founder, Spiritual Father and General Minister
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage
FRIENDS OF THE HERMITAGE
Little Portion Hermitage
350 CR 248
Berryville, AR 72616
Brothers and Sisters,
Peace and Good in Christ!
We have now been living our way of life at the Hermitage since 1983. That’s 23 years. We have been frugal in the way we have built and lived on this holy ground. Unfortunately, 23 years has taken its toll. We are now in need of serious repairs and maintenance. As good stewards, the time has come for us to examine how we are to maintain and sustain our way of life.
In the spirit of St. Francis we share our needs with you. We beg your help in radical gospel living in the monastic and Franciscan tradition. This tradition touches people of all faiths, and all Christians.
IMMEDIATE NEEDS
Phase I
Our immediate needs involve serious repairs and maintenance for the six original hermitages. We need to replace their heat pumps and skylights, and make additional repairs. The estimated cost for Phase I is $50,000.
Phase II
Phase II funding would provide for repairs and to our wooden Prayer Walk,and to our Common Center, and Charity Chapel. This would cost us another $200,000. That brings our total for meeting immediate needs for repairs, maintenance and upgrades to $250,000.
SUSTAINED NEEDS
After we meet needs to preserve our way of life, we need financial help to sustain it. For us, this means developing alternative energy sources and expanding our earth-friendly income-producing projects. Monastic history tells us that monasteries have relied on benefactors to exist. The average hermitage generates only about 30-40% of their livelihood themselves. The rest comes from generous donors. As our community grows, we also need friends who help us in the same way.
FUTURE NEEDS
Phase III
In the near future, we need to build more housing for monastic families with children. We need additional guest quarters for our Domestic members, work-exchange volunteers and benefactors. We need to upgrade facilities at our Training and Retreat Center. We desperately need improvements to the building housing our Little Flower Clinic in order to continue providing medical care for the poor.
Long-term, our primary wooden buildings (Charity Chapel and the Common Center) will need to be replaced by stone buildings. Some monastics say that a
foundation is only secure when wood gives way to stone! The grand total? We estimate in the neighborhood of $3,000,000 to complete all three phases. That seems like a sizable fortune to me! Only through our trust in God and your generosity can we even imagine such an amount.
Beyond sustainability comes growth and outreach. Responding to worthwhile opportunities for ministry and corporal works of mercy is God’s will for us. These in turn attract others to our way of life. But meeting needs to maintain and sustain our way of life must come first.
WHY AN APPEAL NOW?
I still give all the proceeds of my JMT Ministry to the support of the community. But our aging facilities, coupled with today’s inflation, means I cannot support an entire community single-handedly. The community has become self-supporting in some important areas. We continue to research new ways of earning our living. We remain faithful in our own giving through our support to Mercy Corps, Little Flower Clinic, and the Nicaragua Mission. But the vocational crisis of the Church in America has affected us, too. Many come and go in our transient culture, making new long lasting income-producing projects difficult.
FRIENDS OF THE HERMITAGE
Would you help? We need donations, and we need vocations. We have established a “Friends of the Hermitage” Program as a new way for donors to actively participate in the monastic life of our Hermitage. (See details below.) Please pray about how God may be calling you to respond to our appeal.
We deeply appreciate our benefactors at the Hermitage, and offer heartfelt prayers for all of you as you face the rigors of living the gospel of Jesus Christ in the secular world. In this sense, our Hermitage exists not only for the monastics who live here, but also for the needs of the entire world beginning with you who support us so generously.
We also need vocations. A vocation is often a very personal and intimate thing between God and a human soul. But as St. Paul says: They cannot respond if they do not hear, and they cannot hear unless someone preach, and they cannot preach unless they are sent. Would you help us get the word out about our community, and suggest that those pursuing vocations contact us and make a candidacy visit? Or perhaps God is calling you to seek our way of life? The monastery doors are always open to those who inquire.
In Jesus,
John Michael Talbot
Founder, Spiritual Father and General Minister
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage
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FRIENDS OF THE HERMITAGE
YES! I want to help the Little Portion Hermitage by becoming a Friend of the Hermitage at the following level: (All donations are tax-deductible.)
___ St. Francis & St. Clare Level~ Donation of $50 to $1,499
___ St. Benedict & St. Scholastica Level~ Donation of $1,500- $4,999
___ St. Romuald & St. Bruno Level~ Donation of $5,000-24,999
___ St. Antony & St. Pachomius Level~ Donation of $25,000 or
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Friend of the Hermitage!
Name:______________________________________________________________
Address:____________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip_____________________________________________________
Telephone: ________________________E-Mail Address:____________________
You may use your credit card to make donations below or online at:
http://bsc.weship4you.com/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=8.
Card Number:_________________________________________________
Expiration:_________________
Amount:__________ One time___ Monthly___
Signature:________________________________________
SUSTAINED GIVING BY PLEDGE:
In addition to my donation (or as an alternative way of giving), I pledge the following monthly amount to help meet the ongoing needs of Little Portion Hermitage:
$____________ Payable to: Little Portion, Inc. on the _______ day of each month.
Please make checks payable to: Little Portion, Inc. and indicate “Friends” on your check. Return in the envelope enclosed. Thank you and God bless you!
Unless you wish to remain anonymous, your name will be placed in our Friends Book of Benefactors, which will be placed on our altar on special Feast Days. We will keep your personal information confidential.
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