As a teacher, I always hoped that my students would go “above and beyond” what they thought they were capable of doing. Many times,students have asked me if they could do more than what was assigned. Go figure. That is what we want from all our children…taking the next step past their comfort zone.

That is how I see our new beyond campaign. We are taking the next step beyond our comfort zone to make Westbrook better. We are doing more to make room for more people at service. We are doing more to have more classrooms for the children in Kingdom Avenue. We are doing more to have multiple diverse services under one roof, and we are doing more to make sure that the large number of people who don’t know Christ get acquainted with Him.

I met Mont at a Thanksgiving Eve service about two months after Westbrook was planted. I have been attending Westbrook since then – two months short of 14 years. Services were held in the library of Oak ViewSchool, and the children met in designated classrooms. It wasn’t perfect, but it made a world of difference in my life. I have seen physical changes to our current building result in spiritual changes in many lives…mine being one of them.

I realize that it’s not the structure that made those changes, but I also know that it didn’t hurt to enlarge the existing building to make way so that all the other things could fall into place.

Ephesians 2:21-22 says, “In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His spirit.”

“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.” (Luke 11:23

By taking this journey together, we are being joined collectively for the greater good. It will be OUR building where the Word of God is spoken and practiced. It will be OUR building where the weak can become strong, and it will be OUR building in which we will be able to praise God for making everything possible.

I am extremely excited to see beyond become a reality – a building, built together, with all that we desire it to be. It WILL make a difference. It WILL change lives.

Sandy Swinkunas - Beyond Co-Chair