Lufkin Street Ministries 2540
A Homeless Ministry and More Church Plant
Mission Statement:
To Know Jesus and to Make Jesus Known
Vision Statement:
To make a lasting difference in the community around us as we seek to make disciples who live on purpose, for a purpose.
Jason & Sarah Hollinger
913 Jefferson Ave
Lufkin, TX 75904
Overview
We seek to bless and provide for the homeless, victims of domestic violence, low income families and more. We will provide home cooked, healthy meals daily to those who are not able to provide for themselves.
Goals
- Provide a space for those in need to go during the day to shower, wash clothes, and enjoy a nice home cooked meal.
- Acquire one or more food trucks to travel to different areas of town to provide healthy, home cooked meals for low income families.
- Provide a space for a worship service that will be inviting to all generations to come and live on purpose and for a purpose.
- Bring on part-time staff and volunteers to help in the mission.
- Provide a safe, trusting and secure location for spiritual growth for those from all walks of life.
Jason & Sarah Hollinger. We first met in 1999 and married in 2001. Over the years our family of two has grown into a family of six. Our children are Emmaline (18), Aaron (14), Bryan (12), and Charlotte (9).
Jason spent 16 years in Youth & Family Ministry and then transitioned into Preaching Ministry and has spent the last 9 ½ years in this ministry field. During the last 4 years, Jason has also led/co-lead a homeless ministry.
Sarah has a degree in Social Work and will use this degree as a means to connect within the community and to also help in providing for the financial needs of our family.
Through it all, we have worked together in ministry and parenting, and this will continue on into this next season of ministry.
About Lufkin
Lufkin is a city located in Angelina County Texas. It is also the county seat of Angelina County. With a 2020 population of 33,959, it is the 108th largest city in Texas and the 1342nd largest city in the United States. Lufkin is currently declining at a rate of -0.27% annually and its population has decreased by -3.90% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 35,336 in 2020. Spanning over 34 miles, Lufkin has a population density of 993 people per square mile.
The average household income in Lufkin is $62,648 with a poverty rate of 20.39%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to $841 per month, and the median house value is $118,500. The median age in Lufkin is 33.5 years, 31.3 years for males, and 36.2 years for females.
Lufkin DemographicsAccording to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Lufkin was:
- White: 63.56%
- Black or African American: 25.26%
- Other race: 4.69%
- Two or more races: 4.07%
- Asian: 1.94%
- Native American: 0.46%
- Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 0.01%
Target Industries in Lufkin, TexasFive core industries are present in Lufkin, Texas: forest products, aerospace & military defense, manufacturing, medical, and food products. Each contributes to a local and regional economy with the capacity to welcome additional companies that have an interest in East Texas. Lufkin’s access to a vast amount of water – 74 million gallons/day – is a powerful differentiator for the city and for businesses that require this natural resource to fuel their operations.
Forest Products: Lumber manufacturing and production has an extensive presence in Lufkin.
Aerospace & Military Defense: World-renowned global security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin employs more than 250 people in Lufkin.
Manufacturing:
Manufacturing soars in Lufkin where numerous operations bring innovative solutions to the market.
Medical:
Award-winning healthcare institutions – including one of the nation’s premier cardiac hospitals – serve 14 counties, and provide cutting edge medical technology.
Food Products:
Pilgrims Pride, Holmes Smokehouse, and Atkinson Candy Company are produced in Lufkin and found at major retailers across the country.
(Source: https://www.lufkinedc.com/target-industries/)
Lufkin is also the home of Angelina College and Stephen F. Austin State University is a little over 20 miles up the road in Nacogdoches.
Angelina College is a public community college with its main campus in Lufkin, Texas. With over 60 areas of study to choose from, 9 off-campus centers, competitive athletics, and quality academics, there's something for everyone to love at Angelina College.
(Source: https://www.angelina.edu/#:~:text=Angelina%20College%20is%20a%20public,to%20love%20at%20Angelina%20College)
As you have taken the time to get to know the city of Lufkin and its residents, let’s now spend some the time getting to know more about the ministry that we have been doing for the last three years here in Lufkin and how we are seeking to grow this ministry and begin a faith community along with it.
Ministry Milestones
Street Ministries 25:40
In 2018, Jason Hale founded Street Ministries 25:40. The two Jason’s, Jason Hale and Jason Hollinger, began to go around to different locations and serve the homeless.
Street Ministries 25:40 Becomes a Non-Profit
In 2019, the required documents are filed with the IRS for Street Ministries 25:40 to officially become a non-profit.
A Second Location
In 2020, after the Hollinger family moved to Lufkin Texas in September of 2019, a second location was established and is operating out of the Lufkin Community Enrichment Center. The LCEC is a non-profit as well and is run by Jason Hollinger.
Ministries for the Church Plant
25:40
The 25:40 comes from Matthew 25:40, which says, “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’” (New Living Translation). This verse goes a long way to define who will look to reach. Our community is in need of ministries or outreach opportunities in certain areas of town. We have certain demographics who are not being reached due to where they live or their inability to go to other places that offer some similar forms of assistance.
Food Truck(s)
We will be going around to feed in Lufkin and the surrounding communities to provide low-cost or no-cost healthy, home cooked meals for those in need. The food trucks will also have teams of prayer and discipleship leaders. We will send out servers for the food and those who will offer prayer to those we serve. This will give us two opportunities; we can serve them nutritionally and spiritually. This will also give us an opportunity to move from connections on the street to connections at our physical location. We will also offer training to any and all volunteers who choose to join us on this mission.
Physical Location
We will look to rent/lease a physical location where we will look to have the means to have washers and dryers and showers. Once those connections are made out on the streets and in the community, then we can take things to the next step to further help them begin to tell their forever story.
House Church
For the first 12-15 months, we will be meeting on the weekends in homes to meet as a faith family. There is something amazing that takes place at the table over a meal or just sitting in a circle of chairs discussing Jesus and life. The House Church approach will be the catalyst that serves to launch the entire church movement.
Small Groups
After our initial 12-15 months, and we begin a worship service at our physical location or somewhere else, we will move our small groups ministry to a certain time during the week. These will take place at homes or restaurants/coffee shops in town. Small Groups will play an important role in the future of the church. We do not want to lose that which originally attracted those who have joined us on mission. There is something to be said about the importance of moments experienced in the corporate faith family worship service, but it just cannot replace the spiritual intimacy of the Small Groups.
How-to Classes
We will reach out to different community and business leaders with special talents or business know-how to lead classes that will help to educate our community in a way that will help guide them on paths to better their future. We do not simply want to give a hand out to those we help, but rather, we choose to give a hand up to all we serve. We will look to teach sewing, cooking, financing, and anything else that can help further their potential to create and tell their forever story.
Healthy Meals
We will provide one or two hot meals per day at our physical location. We have made a connection with the East Texas Food Bank/Deep East Texas Resource Center to partner with us in this effort. When we think about how we bless those we serve, we look to a meal of first fruits. A feast that speaks to the value and worth of those who are eating the meal. And again, these will be table moments to form and grow true relationships. When those relationships are formed, we can better learn how to help guide one another in this journey. The DETRC (Deep East Texas Resource Center) has agreed to provide us with fruits and/or vegetables at least once a month. This will be in conjunction with another effort to feed the less fortunate when we will go to a local park on a Saturday to do our Homeless Feeds in the Park.
Hygiene
We already have a partnership that provides us with a variety of the daily needed hygiene items. We see just how important it is to be able to take care of yourself. We understand that, as we will try and help those we serve to land employment, having the proper hygiene in the beginning of these efforts is very important. This relationship will only grow all the more as we plan to have this particular ministry be on location with us at our new facility.
Church Plant & Ministry Timeline
Year One, 2024
Secure a physical location for the daily ministries of the registered non-profit. Acquire an enclosed cargo trailer. Begin House Church ministry. We will have a season of Mission and Vision casting. Bring on volunteer staff. We will also need to purchase tables and chairs and kitchen/cooking supplies. In our first year, we will look to begin growing a youth and college ministry through creating community outreach moments by empowering our young people to help in defining many of the areas we will serve.
Year Two (12-15 months after months), 2025
Work toward purchasing one to two food trucks for the on the go food ministry. Begin our “how-to” classes. We will begin with a “soft opening” of our worship service that will last a few months. We are looking into this being on a Wednesday, Thursday or a Saturday night. As this is happening, we will still continue our House Church for the rest of the year. We will plan to take the next step in growing our opportunities for ministering to those with young families. This will be done through creating a team of volunteers who will minister to children, youth and our college students.
Year Three, 2026
The public launch is here! Begin to offer a weekend worship service at our already secured physical location, or if needed, look to rent out a separate space for the worship service. Rebrand our House Church model into a Small Groups Ministry that will meet in homes or restaurants/coffee shops during the week. Re-Casting of the Mission and Vision. Bring on part-time staff. The part-time staff, along with the volunteer staff, will be those who serve on our worship, children, youth and college ministry teams. With this, we will need the proper funding to pay those who will be the part-time staff and we will also need the funding to purchase audio/visual equipment. These will be things like praise band equipment, microphones, computers, and TV’s. We will also need to begin to look into more seating options for our future.
Year Four, 2027
Secure a permanent place for our worship service and non-profit ministry. Hopefully this can be done where we have been for the last three years, but no matter, it will need to be a space that allows us to continue to do what we’ve been doing for the last years and so much more.
Year Five, 2028
Reach a stage where we have a 75% financially stable ministry. Grow the paid ministry staff to meet the growing ministry needs.
Budget Needs
2024
Benevolence
$10,000
Physical Location (Rent & Utilities)
$48,000
Communication (Advertisement)
$1,000
Continuing Education for Founding Pastors (Conference and Travel Budget)
$3,000
Meal Ministry (We will offer one or two hot and healthy meals per day at our physical location. Plus we will have one to two monthly feedings at a local park.)
$9,600
Pastoral Salary Needs (Jason Hollinger will be fully supported by ministry and his wife,
Sarah Hollinger, will have a part-time job at another local non-profit ministry)
$65,000
Ministry Supplies/Needs (concessions trailer, tables, chairs, audio/visual equipment)
$10,000
We will continue to do ministry fundraisers as we have done for the last year plus to further our ministry reach and opportunities
Year Two and Beyond
As the ministry grows, we will assess future financial needs. This will come down to the cost of ministry items in future years. We will begin to determine the following year's financial needs by August or September of each year.
Our Ask of You:
Become Prayer Partners!
Become Spiritual Mentors!
Become on site partners with us in Lufkin!
Become a Financial Partner!
We are seeking a governance board to oversee the finances. This board would communicate with our treasurer here in Lufkin. For the time being, this will be my wife, Sarah. We would love for this board to also work with the ministry team that we will form here in Lufkin. We will form a variety of teams here as well, and those will be: Prayer, Discipleship, and Community Outreach Volunteer Teams.
Our Year One Need:
$135,000
We are currently working on securing grants to cover a portion of this need.
So What Are We Seeking From You and Others Today?:
We are looking to secure $135,000 per year for 5 years. That comes down to $11,250 per month.
Ways to support.
Monthly Supporter:
We are looking to reach this goal through splitting this up between 4 different churches at $2,812.50 per month/per supporting congregation.
Start-Up/Needed Supplies Supporter:
Enclosed Concessions Trailer with Cargo Space:
$6,000.00 is needed for this.
One-Time Supporters:
Any amounts are appreciated in this category. This could be done through a special contribution. I would make plans to come and preach on that day if needed.
Our Current and Future Numbers of Those We Serve:
Currently.
We make and serve no less than 25 sausage wraps and two pots of coffee each morning.
We just wrapped up a Christmas season where we blessed 7 struggling families with a box of groceries to make a Christmas meal. We reached out to Love INC (Love in the Name of Christ) to help in choosing the seven families that we blessed.
We also served a free Christmas meal to well over 100 people; both the homeless and the struggling.
We gave out Chick-fil-a gift cards, beanies, gloves, hand warmers, fleece blankets and more in drawstring backpacks to some of our homeless.
2024 and beyond.
We have held quarterly homeless feeds in a local park in both 2021 and 2022. This has gone up to once a month in 2023. We’ve already secured a partnership for vegetables from the local Food Bank. We have options of beef and lamb and hog from another source. Then we have a local Pilgrim's Pride Chicken that provides us with plenty of chicken from time to time. Lastly, we have a partnership with Holmes Smokehouse to provide us with sausage for our wraps and sliced sausage for other meal options.
Our future efforts will require financial partners. And our growing efforts will likely lead to more growing needs. As we do more, more will be required of us. With this, we will also look to grow our influence and make our presence more widely known then it already is.
IN CLOSING
Due to budget cuts from diminishing attendance and church contributions, my wife and I were let go from the church where I have ministered for and where my wife served as Secretary and Custodian for the last three plus years. We have felt God’s calling to venture into the world of non-profit community outreach and church plant ministry. We are currently developing partnerships where we will grow our current non-profit, the Lufkin Community Enrichment Center, into a resource center for organizations that work with the homeless, the struggling, veterans, victims of domestic violence and more. We also have organizations that we will work with to help our people with a hand up and not a hand out. As we transition into becoming full-time domestic missionaries, we need your help to do real church in the real world. We walk the streets and the trails. Our efforts of giving a hand up will be seen in how we will partner with local organizations like The Legacy Financial Institute (they help to give financial training), The Mosaic Center (Christian Women’s Job Ministry/Training), The Men’s Fieldhouse (Christian Men’s Job Ministry/Training), The Family Crisis Center of East Texas (Women’s Domestic Violence Shelter), House of Compassion (Homeless Ministry), Blessing Bags for N.A.C. (Homeless Ministry) and iServe365 (An organization that provides much needed supplies for Angelina County and beyond).
We have, in the works, plans for a new transitional housing center. This will serve as a space for those we help with a hand up and not a hand out to get to a healthy place in life. We have local low income housing options, but the waiting lists for these places are 1-2 years. We are applying for grants for the transitional housing as well as our non-profit, but this is something that could take a few months to a year to receive. This is why we are seeking support from you. As we receive the grants, we will adjust our financial needs.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Jason M. Hollinger or Sarah Hollinger at:
Jason’s Cell 325-330-0830
Sarah’s Cell 254-977-2210
Email [email protected]
Help us to give a hand up and not a hand out!
Help us by becoming…
Prayer Partners!
Spiritual Mentors!
On site partners here in Lufkin!
And by becoming a Financial Partner!
Jason M. Hollinger
Lufkin Community Enrichment Center, Executive Director, Co-Pastor
Lufkin Street Ministries 25:40, Ministry Leader
Sarah Hollinger
Lufkin Community Enrichment Center, Secretary/Treasurer, Co-Pastor
Jason Hale
Lufkin Community Enrichment Center, Vice-President
Street Ministries 25:40, Founder (Jason is based out of Rockdale, TX)
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’” (Matthew 25:40, NLT)
You can support us through the link above or by sending a check to:
ATTN: Jason M. Hollinger
Lufkin Community Enrichment Center
711 N. 2nd St
Lufkin, TX 75901
(Makes checks payable to the Lufkin Community Enrichment Center.)
You can also support us by purchasing items from our Amazon Wish List at the link below.
ATTN: Jason M. Hollinger
Lufkin Community Enrichment Center
711 N. 2nd St
Lufkin, TX 75901
(Makes checks payable to the Lufkin Community Enrichment Center.)
You can also support us by purchasing items from our Amazon Wish List at the link below.
Here at Lufkin Street Ministries we have two organizations located out of Lufkin that we partner with; Clay Mason with Mission of the Way in Trinidad, Colorado and Jason Hale and Street Ministries 25:40 in Rockdale, Texas. Click the links below to learn more about the efforts in those two locations.