Strategic needs update...

From Director Lee Bradley:

2008-2009 Students and Staff

In the upcoming months, we will have six major strategic needs. Meeting these needs helps our school function smoothly. Three of these are ongoing needs and three are temporary needs that we will face only in this next year. All of these temporary needs are related to our building expansion and need to beautify our building and replace old furnishings. Please read the list below and see if God would lead you to help with any need that we have.
Download a printable copy of our strategic needs.

One-time needs in 2009

1. Floor tile. We will need to lay 440 square meters of tile on the first and second floors of our building. This will help us cover up the concrete filled-holes and the old tile that has been with us ever since Moses brought down the Ten Commandments. The cost for materials will be $5500. Looks like we may have a volunteer team come and do the work, which will save us a lot of money.
   Progress...
   
   
2. Paint. After plastering outside walls on all three floors of the school, our building is now a beautiful shade of gray. We need to paint to make this place look like a school instead of barracks for soldiers. The cost of the paint and materials will be over $3500.
   Progress...
   
   
3. Furniture. Much of the furniture that we have on the first and second floors was beautiful ten years ago, but now it is very outdated and plainly uncomfortable. We finally gave away the student couches because no one would sit on them anymore. The new bedrooms in the dormitory for married students lack mirrors, dressers and wardrobes. The kitchen tables have 25 chairs, many of which now have twisted or broken legs. It is time to replace them. The director's office furniture and waiting area chairs need to be replaced. The cost to replace all of this is going to be about $3000.
   Progress...
   
   
   1. Furniture for offices - $1000
      Progress...
      
      
   2. Chairs for dining room tables - $500
      Progress...
      
      
   3. Furniture for married student apartments - $700
      Progress...
      
      
   4. Furniture for student lounge - $800
      Progress...
      
      

If you cannot adopt the whole project, it is fine to take any of the four specific furniture needs and sponsor them.

Ongoing needs

1. Food. We feed our students three meals a day when they are with us. For them to eat in restaurants or cook for themselves is impossible. This brings us quite an expense every year, but we want our students to have good health so they can study without hindrance. Each month it costs over $700 to feed our students. We are seeking five or six churches or individuals to help us take care of this expense by pledging $100-$150 a month. Currently we have two churches that are committed to helping us in 2009. We need four or five others to join us for this monthly commitment.
   Progress...
   
   
2. Energy. This winter we will fill our tank with gas at least twice. With the rising price of fuel, we do not yet know how much this is going to cost, but anticipate that we will be buying at least 1000 liters of butane. We have electrical bills of $140-$200 a month. The total bill for the upcoming year should be around $3500, maybe $4000. We are looking for at least three churches to help us to the tune of $100 a month.
   Progress...
   
   
3. Student sponsorship. The cost of educating a student at ABI is over $7000 a year. The students pay approximately 8% of the costs, leaving us the job of raising over 90% of the costs. One of the ways we try to fill this huge gap is to find churches, Sunday School classes and individuals to buy "shares" in the student's education at a cost of $500 each. Last year we had $15,000 worth of shares bought, but this is far short of our needs. We connect a student with his or her sponsor so they can get to know each other and have a personal relationship. This year we would like to find at least 50 sponsorships instead of 30, bringing us up to $25,000 in needs.
   Progress...
   
   
4. Cleaning supplies. This is our least expensive strategic project. We call it "Cleanliness is Next to Godliness." This is the total amount of money needed to buy janitorial supplies for our school for one year. Last year it cost over $600 to keep our place clean. This year we anticipate an increase to $750 with the addition of another floor to clean since we have a new dormitory now.
   Progress...

If you have a desire to sponsor any of these projects, please contact us at the address below and we will share with you how you can get help us.

Albanian Bible Institute
K.P. 250
Durres, ALBANIA

e-mail:	jlbrad_62@hotmail.com
	ibsh@icc-al.org