RESULTS

We had two primary goals for the Week of Hope:

Goal #1) to lead people to put their faith in Christ, either for a particular situation or for the first time.

Goal #2) to tap into the gifts and talents of those in the community to reach goal #1.

RESULTS:  GOAL #1

Here are the results based on the comment cards we received each at the end of each night's program:

323 people marked an "A", indicating "I Already believe in Christ, but I am putting my faith in Him tonight for a particular situation.

6 people marked a "B", indicating "I am Believing in Christ for the first time tonight, putting my faith in Him for my eternal life."

9 people marked a "C", indicating "I am Considering putting my faith in Christ for something in my life, but have not yet made a decision."

0 people marked a "D", indicating "I honestly Don't know if I will ever put my faith in Christ for anything in my life."

We also asked how people's "levels of faith" had changed from before they came into the meetings to the end of the night.

172 people indicated their level of faith had increased at least one or more points on a scale from 0 to 10, some going up one or two points, some going all the way from 0 to 10!

164 people indicated their level of faith had stayed the same, many marking 10 when they came in and 10 as they left.

2 people indicated their level of faith had decreased at least one or more points on the scale, (both of those on Sunday night when the focus was on our heavenly reward, not always earthly answers to prayer.)

RESULTS:  GOAL #2

We had over 200 people from more than a dozen churches involved in the planning, praying, organizing, playing, singing, directing, creating, decorating, ushering, greeting, lighting, sound and multimedia.  Click here to see a partial list of the people involved.

New songs were composed, poems were written (click here to see some), testimonies were polished, special music was prepared.  Dancers, singers, musicians of all flavors were pulled together and given a chance to perform for the Lord and those in attendance.

OTHER STATISTICS

Attendance ran as follows (including performers, greeters, etc.):

Average nightly attendance: 340.

Thursday: 325
Friday: 260
Saturday: 320
Sunday: 445

TOTAL ATTENDANCE:  1,350

Approximately 30% of attendees turned in comment cards each night.  Based on those cards, we estimate 1/3 or more were new each night, for a total of 700-800 unique people attending the entire event.

The attendees came from almost 20 churches in the immediate Streator area, and 10 additional churches in the surrounding area, for a total of nearly 30 churches represented.

Attendees who filled out comment cards came from the following Streator Churches:

1. First Assembly of God
2. First Baptist Church
3. Church of the Open Bible
4. St. Mary's Immaculate Conception Catholic
5. Central Church of Christ
6. St. Anthony's Catholic
7. Park Presbyterian Church
8. St. Paul's Lutheran
9. Salvation Army
10. Primitive Methodist
11. First United Methodist
12. Church of the Nazarene
13. Erven Avenue Baptist
14. Ransom United Methodist
15. Grace Community Church
16. New Life Christian Center
17. Calvary Baptist
18. St. Stephen's Catholic
19. Covenant Community Fellowship, Lostant

Attendees also came from the following surrounding churches:

20. Church of the Nazarene - Ottawa
21. First United Church of Gridley
22. Union Chapel/Spirit of Liberty - MO
23. First Assembly of God - Ottawa
24. Liberty - Bloomington
25. Meadows Mennonite Home
26. St. Columbo -Ottawa
27. Pontiac Bible Church
28. Hope Evangelical Free Springfield
29. First Presbyterian - Chenoa

BUDGET GOALS

Our goal was to raise over 50% of the funds from local churches prior to the event so funding would not have to be emphasized during the event.  We met that goal as area churches contributed 67% of the budget prior to the event.  The remaining balance was received during the nightly offerings.

The budget goal for the entire event was $8,000.  Total donations came to $8,489.  Thanks for various donations of time and materials, our expenses came in well under budget at $6,247.  The surplus raised of $2,242 is being donated to New Hope Pregnancy Center in Streator, as agreed to by the Ministerial Association and announced during each offering.

Amount raised from Streator Ministerial Association and area churches: $5,379.
Nightly Offerings: $3,110
(Thursday $461, Friday $205, Saturday $467, Sunday $1,997)

Total Donations:  $8,489
Total Expenses:  $6,247
Total Donation of Surplus to New Hope:  $2,242