The House of Presence was built as a support facility to house those people helping us fulfill our mission. We intended for people staying there to pay towards the support of the house while they were doing their mission work. This was a missionary guest house.

The HOP as a guest house

At the moment, the house functions as a guest house for Ministry of Presence supporters and those helping to run Elizabeth Place.  In the near future, marketing the HOP as a guest house will no longer fit the overall mission as children fill Elizabeth Place.  Having guests at HOP will not work unless they are there to promote the children’s needs.  We will find that while our facilities seem large, it may quickly become small as we welcome children.  Our guests must be dedicated to the mission of raising good, productive children and youths.  Having a clinic is a critical part of this vision.

While guests are at the HOP, we do need some financial help.  Expenses for cleaning, laundry, security, electric service, cooking, transportation, phones, internet, etc are real costs to the house.  The Ministry of Presence is not in a position to cover the costs alone.  When one person stays there, additional costs are incurred. Guests, temporary residents and everyone who is accommodated come with costs.  With proceeds from the Sabon business and a small monthly stipend from a generous donor, we have been able to cover the security, minimal electric and maintain the property.  Many other expenses from the construction of Elizabeth Place are real costs that continue to increase as we implement our new vision.

We continually work on developing relationships that support the HOP and EP overhead on a monthly basis in the future.