History of GOE Outreach Center
350 Rusche Ave., Creve Coeur, IL 61610
Past Updates on Building
Jan/Feb, 2019 | Work is still progressing on the building we purchased. The guest apartment is now ready and has already been occupied by overnight guests four times. The work on the public area downstairs is slowly but surely coming along. Before I bought the building, I knew that lots of work would be required, but I did not expect so many nitpicky requirements to bring everything up to code.
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There have been times I've been tempted to regret buying the building, but then I remember what I prayed. Before I sent out the fund-raising letter, I told the Lord that if He did not want us to buy the building, that I did NOT want enough money to come in to buy it. I told Him that if it was not His plan for us to buy it, then I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. Well, more than enough money came in to pay cash for the building, so apparently it was God's will for us to buy it.
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So far we have been able to pay for the remodeling as it gets done, but we still need donations to help us keep up with the bills as they come in. Once all the remodeling is completed, the maintenance of the building should be minimal, and I won't need to deal with building inspectors, contractors, and village officials. Instead, I'll probably be dealing with careless sinners and carnal Christians who wander into the new outreach center. Oh well . . .
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| DB
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Our Caretaker's apartment is now occupied by Chase and Amy Ray and their two-year-old daughter, Grace. They will be working in the Gates of Eden outreach center when it is ready to open.
Gates of Eden Headquarters in East Peoria, Illinois USA
Here I am standing in the new GOE office, in the area we will use for our mailing department. If you order some books or CDs or back issues of our GOE magazine, we can try out our new mailing department (Hint, hint).
Here is my Staff and my Research Assistance Department and my I.T. Department, Emily, sitting where she writes thank-you notes to GOE donors, records donations, and prepares bank deposits.
Past Updates on Building
Nov/Dec, 2018 | With volunteer help from our local congregation, we got the two upstairs apartments cleaned and remodeled. One of the apartments will be a fully-furnished guest apartment for out-of-town guests who come to visit us. We are currently in the process of furnishing this guest apartment, and expect it to be ready soon. If you are local and have items you would like to donate, contact me by phone.
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The other apartment is currently occupied by our friends from our local fellowship, Restored Covenant Community, for security, caretakers and help with the ministry work downstairs.
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The main room still needs to be remodeled as we are patiently waiting on contractors. The main room is finished, we will be open regular hours and will host various activities there.
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The only part of the building that needs no remodeling is my office space (Picture right). The most time-consuming part of this move is the sorting, organizing and arranging of everything -- which is a LOT!
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Just so you know, we have an overstock of my comic book series, Reverend Twistruth, Volumes 1, 2 & 3, so help us "test out" our new mailroom by placing an order! Click here to get FREE Shipping & Handling on any Reverend Twistruth comic books or music CD's while supplies last.
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Also, if you want to catch up on back issues of our GOE magazine, contact us to request those and we will also pay the postage to any U.S. address.
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Lastly, we appreciate all our wonderful donors for making our new GOE Headquarters possible and all continued donations for our continued improvements in this new endeavor!
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| DB
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Past Updates on Building Purchase and Clean-up
August 28, 2018 | Spent the day applying shellac-based primer to seal odors in guest apt. at our future Gates of Eden headquarters. Skipped breakfast & lunch, painted from 8 a.m. till 5 p.m., went home for dinner, then returned and painted another hour & a half to finish applying primer. Will probably start painting on Thursday or Friday.
​August 23, 2018 | Yesterday I spent some time at the building we bought, vigorously scraping old carpet pad stuck onto floor, then carried it downstairs, mopped floor & walls, and wore myself out. I was so tired I fell asleep at 10 pm, which is early for me. But then I woke up at 2 am and couldn't get back to sleep till about 5:30 am, then got up at 7 am. So I think I'm gonna take a nap before I start the day.
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August 19, 2018 | Started scrubbing & cleaning, getting ready to paint the 2 upstairs apartments today with help from Art & Anna Lu Cox, Jon & Andrea Brown, Chase & Amy Ray, Linda Molyneux, & Mike Belsley. Thanks to all who helped!
THANK YOU to all of you who donated! If you were thinking of sending a donation but never got around to it, we are still accepting donations to help with remodeling, etc.
Send checks to Gates of Eden, PO Box 2257, East Peoria IL 61611-0257, or donate via PayPal by clicking the Donate button. And, Thank You! DB
July 17, 2018 | Signed the papers today and got possession of this building to use as Gates of Eden headquarters, office, mailing room, outreach center, house of study & prayer, with a guest room upstairs. This will replace the 7' x 12' room I cobbled together in the corner of my garage, which has served as the International World Headquarters of the Gates of Eden Ministry for many years. With help from GOE readers, we were able to pay cash, did not need to borrow. THANK YOU to all of you who donated! If you were thinking of sending a donation but never got around to it, we are still accepting donations to help with remodeling, etc. Send checks to Gates of Eden, PO Box 2257, East Peoria IL 61611-0257, or donate via PayPal by clicking the Donate button.
| DB
Fundraising Goal Met!! $30K
June 5, 2018 | We have reached our goal and we are starting the process of purchasing the property. If you still want to contribute, it's not too late, because we will need money to refurbish the property and get it ready for use. We thank all of you who have donated to help us reach our goal through your generous giving and your prayers. Thank you very much!
| DB
Original letter from Daniel sent out to Subscribers of the GOE Botkin Bi-Monthly with details:
April 10, 2018
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Daniel Botkin to GOE Readers:
Let me get straight to the point. This is a fund-raising letter. I do not normally write fund-raising letters, I just ask readers to send a donation of any size at least once a year to stay on my mailing list. That policy still stands, but now I want to raise funds for another GOE project.
Because of my inexperience with writing fund-raising letters, this letter will not have any fake yellow highlighting, or fake blue underlining, or fake hand-written notes in the margins to make you think that your copy of the letter was marked with felt-tipped markers by me personally, just for you. This letter is just straightforward typed text with a photo.
The building in the photo is for sale. I would like to buy it to use for the GOE headquarters, office, mailing room, and outreach center. It is located at a busy intersection at a four-way stop approximately a mile from my home. It has one room (15' x 20') that is big enough for an office and mailing room. There is another larger room (22' x 33') that I would like to use for a Beit Midrash/House of Study & Prayer, and as an outreach center. There are also 2 private apartments above the space. I'd like to have one apartment occupied by someone(s) involved in ministry work, and leave the other apartment vacant for out-of-town visitors & guests.
I started GOE in 1995. I have been faithfully cranking out issue after issue of my bimonthly magazine and traveling to different places to speak. All these years I have had to use my home as our headquarters. I tell people that the international world headquarters for the Gates of Eden ministry is a 7-foot by 12-foot room that I cobbled together in a corner of my garage. I think some people have closets bigger than that. Since this room functions as my office, prayer room, mailing room, and library, it is quite crowded. My books and papers overflow out the door and into my garage, which is likewise getting very crowded. I would love to transfer all this stuff to a different location.
I guess you can't write a fund-raising letter without talking about money, so let me talk about money.
All the money that comes to the GOE PO Box, or through PayPal, and all the money that is given to me as offerings when I go places to speak, and even money from the sales of my teaching CDs and books, is all put into the GOE corporate account. The money does not go directly into my pocket (unless a donor tells me that the money is a personal gift for me, and not for the GOE ministry).
For some years, I have taken only $250 per week for the ministry work I do, regardless of how much money comes in through the mail or through my speaking engagements or through book and CD sales. As a result, we have managed to save a considerable sum of money in the GOE account. However, we'll need around $30,000 more than we currently have if we are to buy this building.
Before writing this letter, I spoke to the people at our local congregation to get some idea of how much involvement I can expect from them if I buy the building. I don't want to buy a building that is going to set empty and unused, I want it to be used. A good number of people have responded positively and are looking forward to being involved.
I do not expect to die anytime soon, but if I happen to give up the ghost before the Lord returns, I expect my family to continue the GOE ministry after I am gone. My son-in-law, Andrew Eades, is a very good Bible teacher and worship leader, and his wife (our daughter Betsy) is very capable and efficient about practical matters, as is our daughter Emily. I expect them, along with others, to keep GOE going as a ministry if I happen to die.
I could probably borrow the $30,000, but I do not believe in borrowing. If you want to help, send a check in the enclosed envelope. We will hold off on cashing these checks until we have gotten the amount we need. If we fail to raise enough to buy the building, we will take this as an indication that it is not the Lord's plan, and we will return your check.
This letter is also going to the many prison inmates on the mailing list. I know that inmates are not in a position to help financially, so I ask them to just pray about this matter.
If you have questions, feel free to contact me. Phone (309) 698-9467 or email me at danielbotkin49@gmail.com