Hopegivers Board of Directors Meeting Minutes March 17, 2017 Meeting Location: Conference Call Board members in attendance: Dr. R Austin, Vice President and acting Chair Dr. C Holdorf Dr. R Chandler, Treasurer Dr. D Cheek, Secretary Mr. P Fleming Dr. L Aultman Dr. J Struecker Dr. J Stallings Dr. T Alford Dr. D Byrd Dr. S Thomas, President Absent Board Members: Mr. D Banner Ms. J Nolan Mr. S Thomas Emeritus Board members in attendance: Dr. W Greer Mr. D Westover Mr. N Gray Mr. R Godwin
L Lombardi, COO attended Welcome and Prayer: Dr. L Aultman welcomed the board members and then opened the meeting with prayer elaborating on Psalm 25. Secretary s Report: To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in You I trust, O my God. Dr. D Cheek let everyone know the minutes from the last board meeting were in the board book. If no one had any questions he called for a motion for the minutes to be approved. Dr. D Cheek moved to approve the minutes Dr. J Struecker seconded the motion. All were in favor Haiti Report: Dr. D Cheek gave the report on Haiti. Dr. D Cheek recommended a new orphanage that we support in Haiti. The young man who runs the orphanage has been his interpreter for 4 ½ years and recently took on some abandoned children that no one was helping. This orphanage houses 14 children age 6 and under. We are supporting one orphanage with older (teens) orphans and one with children in the middle age group. We need to raise $500 a month to help him feed and educate them. Mr. P Fleming knows and has worked with this young man and confirms that he is a very solid person. Mr. P Fleming made a motion to move forward with supporting this new orphanage Dr. T Alford seconded the motion Dr. D Cheek added that things in Haiti are so different then they were a few years ago. We are succeeding in ministry there where it just didn t seem to work in previous years. He appreciates the support of the Board There are several trips to Haiti this year. Two trips in June one is a vision trip. We have 50 people going in September young people who will do sports camps. We are doing the same kind of trip in November. The specific dates for these trips are in the Board Book.
Treasurer s Report: Dr. S Thomas let the Board know that Dr. C Holdorf was passing the treasurer s baton to Dr. R Chandler. As outgoing treasurer he asked Dr. C Holdorf to say a few words. Dr. S Thomas asks for a vote to remove Dr. C Holdorf as a signer on our bank accounts and add Dr. R Chandler as the new treasurer and as a signer on our bank accounts. Dr. L Aultman moved that the motion be carried Dr. D Cheek seconded the motion All were in favor Dr. C Holdorf said he really appreciated the team at Hopegivers working so hard to improve the reporting. We made good progress toward efficient and accuracy and I am certain that the progress will continue under Dr. R Chandler. Dr. C Holdorf believes this is a good season for a change. Thank you for taking on the responsibility Dr. R Chandler. Thank you for being willing. I am also certain that you are much more qualified. Dr. S Thomas asked Mr. N Gray to pray for Dr. C Holdorf and his transition with NCF as well as the transition from being HGI treasurer to Dr. R Chandler being the treasurer. Dr. R Chandler proceeded with the treasurer s report. He thanked Dr. C Holdorf for working with the donor software to make sure it gave numbers that would be meaningful to the Board. He intends to be in Columbus in the next 4 6 weeks where he will spend a couple of days working with staff on the budgets and forecasts. It looks to me like all things are in good order. The numbers for Haiti were confusing from 2015 to 2016. After talking with Dr. D Cheek, I understood the drop in funds from one year to the next. Some donors decided to give directly to Haiti rather than go through the HGI office. We don t know the reason, but Dr. D Cheek is watching this pattern and hoping to stop this from happening with future projects in Haiti by having people we are supporting sign an agreement (MOU) that will hopefully stop that. Dr. D Cheek added: I don t want to have total control, but our donors need to feel confident in what we are doing with their gifts and not have strategic partners going to the donors on the side asking for more money. When I meet with staff in 4-6 weeks, I will be setting up goals or at least creating forecasts for fundraising goals that we can clearly track monthly to see how we are doing. We will bring that forecast to the board in the next quarter.
Dr. R Austin moved to approve the treasurer s report Dr. W Greer seconded it. Dr. R Austin asked if the $5k or $6k he sent for motorcycles get slotted for the bikes in 2015. He said that he thought the funds might have gone to general funds. He sent $16k this year and wants to make sure they went for motorcycles. Dr. S Thomas asked L Lombardi to check on it and get back to Dr. R Austin. President s Report: 1. The India audit is in the board book. I want you to know what happens to the money when it gets to us in India. If you have any questions on the audit, please let me know. 2. Dr. R Chandler, Dr. R Austin and Dr. J Struecker all recently came back from Burma and India. I would like them to briefly share their thoughts about their trip. a. Dr. J Struecker: I was blown away by the sincerity of the believers and how they are willing to suffer martyrdom for the faith. I also watch as people we send into India come back with India in them! b. Dr. R Chandler: I never thought I would ever travel to Orissa where in 2007, 90 churches were burned and 350 homes were destroyed as an attack against Christians, but that is where I went this time. These believers are bold. We baptized 12 believers outside the church in front of many non-believers who were working in fields all around us. Incredible faith and boldness. c. Dr. R Austin: I am excited about how FB spread the word about funds needed for motorcycles for the pastors in India and how they helped bring in the $16k. When God wants to provide He does it His way. I was surprised at how many raised their hands to receive Jesus at the breakout sessions. I thought they were all Bible students! The 19 who raised their hand to receive Christ were relatives of the students who came to see them graduate! Again, God s way and in His time. Thank you gentleman! I loved having all three of you travelling for the ministry! 3. We have two positions open for the Board. I would like to recommend Mr. J Cornelison. Dr. L Aultman, would you please share about your relationship with Mr. J Cornelison? Mr. J Cornelison travelled with me to Nepal and to India. He is a member of our church, a Deacon in our church and on the finance committee of the church. He would be a wonderful addition to this board. Dr. L Aultman proposed that we have Mr. J Cornelison join our board
Dr. R Chandler seconded the motion. 4. Dr. S Thomas shared that we had 429 Bible School graduates this year. Every one of them went into full time ministry. We were able to distribute 67 bikes, but we need you to pray that the Lord provides for the rest of the students to get a bike. 5. One of our orphans died this past month. Once the Lord brings a child under our care, I am always in prayer that nothing happens to them until AFTER they have given their heart to God. I think it is a fair prayer, especially when I read the Old Testament. While the Israelites travelled in the desert He preserved their health He can do the same for the orphans. 6. We do need teams of doctors to come to India. The children need physicals. 7. We have established 58,317 churches since 1960. We are compiling a list that will show the name of the pastor, the number of churches that pastor has established and the number of believers in the churches. 8. Moving the HGI office: Dr. J Struecker and I have discussed ideas about how this could come about on a couple of occasions. I would like Dr. J Struecker, Dr. R Chandler and Dr. R Austin to meet with me and determine if this would be a good move for HGI and for Calvary. a. Dr. J Struecker added that Calvary wants to expand their elder care and is considering purchasing the HGI property as a possible solution to their expansion. Whatever we do will be beneficial to HGI and to Calvary. 9. A school that the board approved for us to purchase ($10k annually for 10 years) we decided to drop because the timing is not good. Our funds just won t allow us to make those annual payments at this time. 10. The Prime Minister is moving full speed ahead against Christian organizations. Compassion International is now completely out of India leaving nearly 200k children with no support. 11. We have three more Emeritus Awards to deliver. 12. The next Board meeting is July 28, 2017 at Dr. D Cheek s home. Thank you for opening your home to us again this year. 13. Dr. D Byrd, would you please close this meeting in prayer? The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 am