2008 Annual Report

2008 Annual Report

The Lord says in Jeremiah 17:6-8 “Cursed is the one who trusts in man…But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”  Sometimes I feel as if life will overtake me, will I get burned in the fires I am fighting, will the economy ever turn around and give us all relief, but God reminds me to keep trusting, stop worrying, and run this path He has for me.  And then I get excited as He starts to remind me of His faithfulness over this past year, all the miracles we have experienced and how He is not finished yet.

Because of all of you, the best customers in the world, God provided a livelihood for 46 individuals, 40 spouses and approximately 79 children.  We worked with 450 vendors, 238 customers, and 39 repeat customers.  Our customers are the life of the company, the water God provides that keeps our leaves green…and how graciously you have shared your lives.  Not only have you given us the opportunity to provide services to your home or commercial property, but you have shared your resources by repeatedly stocking the donation room, gift cards for our employees, food for the Backyard Bible Club, a glass of ice water on a hot summer day and positive feedback that encourages our men to keep on keeping on.

Thanks to your support of Grace Klein, you also contributed to a ministry of love, grace and hope as God miraculously sent 10 of us to Capetown, South Africa, 1 to Zambia, 4 to Swaziland with 3 of our customer’s families (come join us), 8 to the Sherriff’s Ranch, 14 to a family in need in Birmingham, AL, and 11 for distribution of donations.  As many of you know, our customers and friends donate a variety of food, clothes, shoes, toys, toiletries, furniture, etc. that God allows us to match up with individuals or organizations that are in need.  Together we are sharing the love of Christ with a hurting world.  Thanks to First Baptist Church Andalusia (Not intended as a shout out…I grew up in this church and they still love me.) for the many donations from individuals, the Women’s Mission Union and Andalusia Community Bible Study, as your gifts filled tubs of supplies for the villages of Africa. On our trips to Africa, necessities were in a carry-on so that we could take two 50 pound containers per person which calculates to 1500 pounds of supplies. In Africa we lead soccer camps, assisted in medical clinics, distributed supplies, taught Bible study classes, and of course construction work.  Our folks were hilarious.  Some had never flown before and the flight process is around 22 hours one way.  We learned how to work together without having all the right supplies, enjoyed the slow paced lifestyle and worshipped together without an institutional church.  Two of us even got our hair styled in a local township.  A highlight for us from the Capetown trip was rebuilding a home for a man that was intoxicated, belligerent and unappreciative while we were there and then later receiving word that David had accepted Christ and has become a leader in his community.  In 2008, donations were also shared with some of our employee’s families; a precious lady and autistic child in their first rental home (This opportunity was coordinated by several State Farm Insurance agents); Christmas gifts for our staff’s children; Pathways Women’s Center; several adopted children; The Sheriff’s Ranch; furnishing an apartment for a single father; residents and staff of Ridgeview, Lakeview Estates, and Rittenhouse Assisted Living; individuals who reside in Woodward Estates, Bella Vista, and Greenpark Mobile Home Parks; books for Central Park Elementary School, and Christmas for many homeless children.  God provided wrapping paper for over 400 gifts.  Want to help wrap?

Friends, God is at work among us and I cannot adequately explain how this donation room facilitates ministry in our community.  We meet people like Ms. Betty who had no gifts for her daughter for Christmas until God sent us to her, another Mrs. Betty now with Jesus that we helped alongside The Branches senior adult class at Brookhills, the man who told us that God sent us to him as he was out of work and had no food, and Ms. Francis who has been an inspiration as she struggles with health conditions, has two plugs that work, and no heat in these freezing temperatures.  God provided her a heater!  What you do matters.  That couch you have, the food in your pantry you keep meaning to eat, those craft supplies on the top shelf of your hall closet…it can be used to love the poor and strengthen the weary in Jesus’ name.

Here at GKC, God continues to provide enough to maintain a minimum of 40 hours for our employees in this floundering economy, a perfect safety record with no worker compensation injuries reported, miraculous protection of one of our guys as he would have been electrocuted if the project foreman had walked up a minute later, the privilege to work alongside amazing, gracious people.  We had an exciting year in the local community sponsoring a baseball team, 17 of us volunteering with Compassion International at a concert and of course Christmas parades.  This year, we participated in the Chelsea and Alabaster parades and even won first place in commercial entries with the scenes our HR Manager’s wife designed and painted.

However, we have suffered great loss this year…the sudden tragic loss of our gutter installer, the loss of parents and grandparents of our customers, the prayers for you who have lost their jobs and those struggling with addictions, the brutal diseases of Alzheimer’s and cancer suffered by several of our customers and vendors, the houses that need to sell and all that money lost in the stock market.  The list could go on and on as I think of each of you and your specific situations.  We had a company vehicle in the shop almost every week and took a huge hit on fuel price increases and insurance rate hikes.  Jason was even bitten by a dog.  We are not without hardships, but we know the One who will carry us through.

Wow!  It has been a full year.  We have had our ups and downs, but by God’s grace we are still standing.  And God willing, we will put one foot in front of the other and do it all over again in 2009, only hopefully better.  Thank you for your trust in us and for making this mission possible.  We want to represent each of you well, and to be a business that exists to bring glory to Christ.  Let us know how you are and the miracles God has done in your lives in 2008.  Please visit our website at www.gracekleinconstruction.com and send us a message.  Let us trust only in Christ, have no fears and continue to bear fruit.

Working with all my heart,

Jenny Waltman

President, Grace Klein Construction, Inc.