A wall at the St.

Ann Hospital, which

will soon be restored to provide safe,
permanent homes for many of our
homeless neighbors

Restoration Sunday - december 11

TOTAL AMOUNT GIVEN TO CALLED

$1,683,856

$890,670

$626,554

RESTORE
HIGHLAND

RESTORE
ABILENE

RESTORE
THE WORLD

Pay off Debt

Auditorium Renovation
Welcoming projects
ADA Bathrooms
Marriage Ministry

$1,031,783
$612,846
$21,680
$15,881
$1,667

Total

$1,683,856

*Some figures include money allocated

but not yet distributed.

Housing Initiative*
Grace/Freedom/CMA*
Faithworks
TDA Mission of Mercy
School Initiatives
Restoration Week
Hailstorm Roof Repair
Thomas Backpack Project
Prison Sacks

$630,050
$104,463
$85,000
$21,825
$16,205
$12,000
$10,000
$6,126
$5,000

Total

$890,670

Building Projects
Water Wells
Racial Reconciliation
Eternal Threads
Come Before Winter
CenterPeace
Mission Bible Class
Change A Life - Kenya
Global Missions Initatives
Long Term Restoration*

$35,000
$16,000
$44,856
$31,800
$10,000
$5,000
$30,000
$18,840
$101,866
$333,192

Total

$626,554

In his book, A Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt refers to

the research done several years ago by a group who had
surveyed communes of the 19th century; they discovered that the ones that lasted had two common themes.
1)
They were religious.
2)
They asked for great sacrifice.
More specifically, they didnt ask people to sacrifice for
just the sake of the group, but for the sake of something
larger than the group.

Restoration Sunday - december 11

A Closer look
at Long Term
REstoration
Welcoming the Homeless in Brazil*
Crescimento Limpo
Trips to develop Partnership

$47,000
$25,500

Combatting Trafficking in SE Asia*

Missionaries
Partnering NGOs
Trips

$105,000
$100,000
$20,000

Peacemaking in the Muslim World*

Resources/Education
Investigating Partnerships

Restoring Highland - Epuipping

$10,000
$20,000

Some Cool Things You might

not have heard about
Roof repair for area homes

After the Hail Storm in 2014 that brought us baseball and softball
sized hail, many in our neighborhood were left with severely damaged roofs. Highland partnered with Abilene Damascus Road to
pay for three houses to receive new roofs.

$5,691

A Closer look
at Building Projects
Lima, Peru
Casa Paraiso

Itu, Brazil

Crescimento Limpo Repairs

Sanctuary Home
Highland Pavilion

$10,000

Thomas backpack program

$10,000

$15,000

One of the great challenges in church is that over time we, like every institution, begin a slow drift to focusing internally and making
sure our own needs are met.
First time guests become visitors who become members and
eventually we can forget what it was like to be new. We begin to
notice the legitimate needs that are inside our own community, and
slowly begin to lose sight of the needs of our city and world.
Martin Luther describes sin as curving in on oneself. This is how
churches sin, when we forget that the Church is called to be Good

A Highland Bible class began preparing backpacks of food for

low-income students from Thomas Elementary to take home on
weekends a few years ago. The program has grown as the need has
and it now prepares 51 backpacks a week for students to be able to
have food at home over the weekends.

news, not just for the people on the inside, but also those on the
outside, including those who will never be a part of our particular
church.
Restoration Sunday is our chance to lean into the Restoration
vision God has given us, and against the natural bent toward just
watching out for ourselves. We believe the Church is the only
institution in the world that exists for the people who dont belong
to Her. Now lets sacrifice together to be that kind of Church.

Views of the Vision

Top Left: One of the buildings on the St.
Ann property. / Top Right: Ryan Binkley and family. Ryan is leading Highlands efforts in the fight against human
trafficking. / Left: Highland pavillion
at Sanctuary Home in India. / Above:
Imam Samer Maltabaa, leader of the
Mosque in Lubbock, visited Highland to
teach about Islam. / Left: Worshipping
with people from the Itu Church in Brazil. / Bottom Left: Faithworks class picture. Bottom: A Restoration Week crew
visiting a house in Abilene.

RESTORE HIGHLAND
Excited about
restore Highland
Restore Highland is more than just
a ministry or two. It is all the ways
Highland seeks to encourage each other
to grow more and more into the image
of Jesus to be a welcoming presence
to the stranger who seeks a place to
Ben Pickett
Discipleship Minister
belong, to learn to grow in our love
for each other, and to practice our faith
through acts of kindness to those around us. From children,
student and University ministries, to all the various ways
Highland supports spiritual formation and stronger marriages,
the Restore Highland portion of our vision is dynamic and
diverse.
In the last 18 months alone, weve seen some amazing ways
God has blessed us in this area. Weve witnessed the launch
of a new marriage ministry (Re-Engage), the launch of a new
ministry to Foster Families and Children, and a new Fellowship Ministry now supports hospitality each week. In addition
to the 45+ small groups and Bible classes for all ages that meet
each week to engage in spiritually-nurturing conversation
and practices, the adult ministries are learning about the new
Discipleship Vision that seeks to encourage adults at Highland
to become Holy, Fruitful, and Welcoming. These are truly
exciting times at Highland.

RESTORE HIGHLAND VISION INITIATIVES

Paying off Highlands debt.
Implement measures to improve the welcoming of visitors to our campuses,
including updating facilities, like our auditorium.
Offer creative, diverse, relevant, welcoming and meaningful worship experiences.
Connect Highland members to small groups, Bible classes and
ministry opportunities.
Grow to a church, across three campuses, of 3,000 souls.

RESTORE ABILENE
in abilene as it is
in heaven
Each week the body of Christ gathers
together in worship at Highland and we
join the chorus of voices throughout our
world and the ages in saying the Lords
Prayer. We pray for the name of God to
be honored, for the kingdom to come on Ben Siburt
earth as it is in heaven, and for God to Executive Minister
bless us with daily needs.
We believe that our Restore Abilene vision is God using his
faithful servants to answer this prayer for the people of Highland and for our neighbors in Abilene. Caring for the homeless
in our city and giving them a safe place to find peace, stability,
and life in community is part of the kingdom of God coming on
earth as it is in heaven. And the faithful generosity of the people
of Highland will help provide daily needs for our neighbors in
Abilene.
We are excited that the planning and zoning committee of
Abilene voted unanimously to rezone the St. Ann property so
that we can now begin the process of restoring the hospital to
build 32 or more apartments for the most vulnerable of our
homeless neighbors. The people Jesus loved and taught reveal
the kingdom of God to us. So in sharing life together, through
the restoration of Abilene, God will answer the Lords Prayer
for each of us.

St. Ann Property on Cedar St.

The St. Ann property will take a few years to fully complete and
yet when it is done it will provide homes for the homeless in
Abilene for at least 40 years. We are currently in conversations
with local nonprofits to help with rapid rehousing efforts to get
newly homeless families back in stable homes quickly. We are
also working on ways to help build a community of small individual homes for our homeless neighbors. Your gifts through the
Called campaign made St. Ann possible, and now your additional
giving on December 11 will give us the chance to turn some of
these other ideas into reality as we work to house the homeless in
our city. Your generosity will continue to help us to provide daily
bread in broader ways at CMA, it will help create new beginnings
for GED students and refugee students, it will proclaim the good
news of Jesus at all of Highlands campuses and in local jails and
prisons. All of these aspects of Restore Highland will be ways
God continues to answer our weekly prayer together.

RESTORE Abilene VISION INITIATIVES

Work to end systemic homelessness in Abilene.
Help students earn their GEDs through mentorships and financial aid.
Help refugee students integrate more successfully into the Abilene community.
Continue to work in the Freedom and Grace neighborhoods, and provide food
and opportunities to our neighbors through Christian Ministries of Abilene.

RESTORE THE WORLD

Joining the
fight against
human trafficking
We believe God is working to bring
restoration to those affected by human
trafficking. And we believe God is inviting Highland to join in this work of
restoration. He is inviting you. Law- Derran Reese
yers who can prosecute perpetrators. Global Ministries
Teachers who can educate and empower at-risk children. Missionaries who can make disciples.
Social workers who can help reintegrate victims into society.
Entrepreneurs who can provide traffickers and the trafficked
with business skills. People of prayer who will cry out to God
on behalf of the millions suffering. A church who will give generously to help prevent another person from being trafficked.
The Southeast Asia team at Highland, after completing a survey trip of numerous organizations and churches in Thailand,
Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, is currently prayerfully discerning with whom we should partner to help prevent trafficking. Please join us in prayer during this time of discernment and
begin imagining how God can use you to help restore the world
by combatting human trafficking.

RESTORE The World VISION INITIATIVES

Restoring the World by welcoming the homeless in Brazil.
Restoring the World by combatting trafficking in Southeast Asia.
Restoring the World by making peace in the Muslim-majority world.
Restoring the World by Restoring Highland.

www.highlandchurch.org