Why We Gather

• 60 families have been set free from slavery.
• Thousands of families suffering from the consequences of the economic crisis have been fed and clothed. From the Himalayan Mountains to the Bush of East Africa to the mountains of Haiti.
• A new school in South East Asia was fully funded for construction to begin in January.
• Funding for a school for the children of former slaves in Asia was fully met.
• School budgets for over a thousand kids in East Africa, Asia and Haiti have been fully funded
• Funding for an expansion for a Crisis Pregnancy Center was donated.
• Construction budget for a new church/ school in East Africa was fully met.
• Funding to assist in the work of fighting addiction at Place of Hope in Columbia, TN.

In total, over $400,000 has been raised to provide for these and many other projects since we started gathering again in June. Behind every project is a person. A person whose life is being saved quite literally.

The VAST majority of this money was raised during and because of a live gathering. When someone calls for churches to shut down, this is what they are shutting down. I understand that it’s not black and white, but I so wish those who blithely call for churches to shut down recognized that it’s not so simple. Shutting down a church during Covid has been framed as saving lives. But it’s not so simple. If Conduit had not met the past 6 months, there are real live consequences to the people behind the projects.

The virus is real. But so is starvation. So is the risk to young girls in Asia have who aren’t in school. So is mental health, addiction, suicide. It’s all real. Shutting down a church shuts this down.

Conduit is not alone in this. Our friends up the street at Gateway raised $40,000 in just the last 30 days from one initiative that will be invested in saving lives in Middle Tennessee and around the world. Our friends at Southview Church have joined us in providing freedom for slave families, as has Branchville United Methodist in Indiana. A small church in Northern California defied orders to not gather and as a result two more families will be set free in Asia.

We don’t gather without risk. We aren’t being cavalier about this. We aren’t fighting against the government, we are fighting for the most vulnerable among us. THIS is why we gather. This is why we will continue to gather.