COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS
We’ve compiled a list of common questions and answers for your convenience. Browse on through here! If you can’t find what you’re looking for, get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.
If you're looking for more information on any of the ministries we've mentioned or about being a ministry partner, check out the Links page for links to pretty much everything.
WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING?
Andrew has felt a calling to serve in youth ministry since his time in high school, spurred on by Life Action Camp. This incredible opportunity that the Lord has placed before our family will have Andrew serving at Relevant Church as the Youth Coordinator. This position means he will be working to develop curriculum for the YTH Wednesday night services, as well as for the other events hosted to reach the students in the community, and to teach the youth-age (12-18) students with a team who also has a passion and burden for seeing younger generations come alive for Jesus. In order to create the opportunity for Andrew to reach a 40-hour work week, he will also be taking on the role of Operations Director - caring for and managing the facilities at the building. With Andrew's skillset, he will be an asset in this role as well, making sure our building and property is well-prepared for welcoming home the prodigal sons and daughter. As for Delaney and the kids, the kids are now attending a local Montessori school part-time, which opens up the time for Delaney to be able to serve with Relevant Church in multiple capacities.
WHY DO YOU NEED SUPPORT?
Relevant Church in Niles, MI is a church planted in southwestern Michigan back in 2018. After the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 forced them online, Pastors Muta and Christine were tasked with re-planting Relevant Church in 2021 when numbers had dropped below their original plant size. Since then, Relevant has about doubled in size annually - numbers that are unheard of with a church plant! That being said, while the numbers are growing quickly, giving takes an average of 10 months to catch up to actual numbers of church attendees, so our church is trying to accommodate and serve double the amount of people with half the number in funds. Because of this, and because of our previous experience support raising, we made the decision to partner with Relevant Church as support-based staff so we could help serve the community in Niles without creating an extra drain on the church's financials. This is a huge step of faith for us, but we recognize the importance of helping to build the kingdom of God through the local church and firmly believe this is what God has called our family to. The giving system at Relevant for us is the same setup as at Life Action previously - we have an account that has Andrew's name on it where funds donated for support to our family are stored and used to pay out a check to him, only with Relevant he receives a check twice a month rather than once a month. A financial gift of any amount is a huge blessing to our family, but as much as we need and appreciate financial supporters, your prayers are needed even more. Even if you do not feel you can support us monetarily right now, don't let that stop you from being our Ministry Partner! You can sign up for physical and/or email newsletters on the links provided via the About page to keep up with what's happening and join alongside us in prayer.
HOW DOES MONETARY SUPPORT GIVING WORK?
When you decide to support us, either with a one-time gift or on a monthly basis, the money technically goes to Relevant Church. If you write a check, you include "Andrew Stargel" on the memo and it will get deposited into an account we have through the church. When you give electronically on our giving link via credit card or EFT, the money is automatically sorted and put into the same account. Then, instead of us being responsible for managing our own income and balancing our support on our own, the church writes us a check biweekly using the funds from our account. If you prefer to give personal gifts, that's okay, too! We are also allowed to accept checks or cash given to us directly that don't go through our account with the church.