The Greater St. Louis Homeless Fund The Greater St. Louis Homeless Jesus Fund is a special fund created to guarantee the continuation of 24 hour emergency assistance to those without a home. It is a community effort to see that 1411 Locust, the Greater St. Louis’s only emergency walk in shelter continues to be there for police departments, hospitals, churches, and other institutions that are involved in helping individuals in their time of need. Throughout the night New Life Evangelistic Center at 1411 Locust is open for abused women and children, homeless veterans, stranded travelers, and anyone else who finds themselves in need of emergency shelter. Not only is the 1411 Locust facility the only place now available to those who are facing emergency situations, but it is also home to over 50 individuals who are a part of the New Life Evangelistic Center’s residential training program. The Greater St. Louis Homeless Jesus Fund is a special fundraising campaign to raise the $200,000 needed between now and September 21. These funds will be used for electrical and plumbing repairs, along with the replacement of windows at the 1411 Locust building. The cost for these renovations is $75,000. An additional $90,000 will be used for the pretrial preparations for the Federal Trial in the 8 th Circuit Court being held September 21, 2015. New Life and its Federal Lawsuit have resulted in the granting of a Temporary Restraining Order. This has stopped the City of St. Louis, until October 15, from forcing New Life to reduce the number of people it provides shelter for at 1411 Locust to 32. If New Life Evangelistic Center wins the trial scheduled for September 21, not only will the city have to refund NLEC’s legal expenses, but NLEC and all churches will have the right to follow the Biblical teachings of providing hospitality to everyone. If you search the records you will see that New Life Evangelistic Center is the only remaining major organization, which is not under government control, providing services to the homeless. It has maintained its religious freedom by not taking city, state or federal funding. This religious freedom has allowed New Life to develop a holistic program that meets the physical, mental and spiritual needs of those it serves. It is imperative that New Life Evangelistic Center continues to maintain its strong legal defense for religious freedom. Please pray for the $90,000 that is needed at this time to prepare for the historic trial in September. This amount is half of the $180,000 that would be needed each and every month if NLEC could not house the homeless and those in its residential training programs at 1411 Locust. New Life would then have to then provide alternative housing, which would include hotel rooms for the up to 300 people it serves each night. This could easily cost over $180,000 a month. We must not allow this to happen. Not only would this result in major expense, but would destroy the Christian community now existing at 1411 Locust.

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The Final Project involves the Homeless Jesus in St. Louis, MO. Statue to be placed in front of the 1411 Locust Street Building.

PROPOSED Dedicating the “ Homeless Jesus” sculpture by Timothy P. Schmalz at a location in St. Louis that would create the greatest evangelical impact, both initially and perpetually. Therefore, high visibility and pedestrian traffic is preferred.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURE A visual representation of Matthew: 25, this sculpture suggests that Christ is with the most marginalized in our society. The Christ figure is shrouded in a blanket with His face covered. The only indication that it is Jesus is the visible wounds on the feet. The life-size version of the work has enough room that someone is able to sit on the bench. The sculpture will be cast bronze metal measuring 36”h x 84”l x 24”d.

PURPOSE This sculpture has primarily a two-fold purpose: Raise awareness of the marginalized, challenge and inspire society to be more compassionate and charitable and to act upon that . Lift the spirits of the marginalized as well so that they might see Christ within themselves. All of this, for centuries to come…

ABOUT THE ARTIST Timothy P. Schmalz is a world-renowned sculptor of Christian themed works from Saint Jacobs, , , and has a true vocation for creating sacred Art.

“I am devoted to creating artwork that glorifies Christ. The reason for this devotion, apart from my Christian beliefs, is that an artist needs an epic subject to create epic art. I describe my sculptures as being visual prayers. When I create a three dimensional sculpture in bronze I am quite aware that it will last longer than myself. I realize I am between two things that are much more durable than myself: Christianity and bronze metal. It is between these that I have developed a subtle appreciation for what Saint Francis meant by “instrument”. Creating art that has the power to convert. Creating sculpture that deepens our spirituality. Attaining these two goals describes my purpose as an artist.” Timothy P. Schmalz.

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Pope Francis blessed the five foot model on Nov. 20th 2013, touched the foot and called it “a beautiful piece of art.” Mr. Schmalz donated the model to the Vatican Archives. Since that time the sculpture has been covered by news outlets across the world. When Schmalz saw Francis touch the sculpture, he said, "I thought well that's just it, this sculpture is symbolically representing what he's doing. He's out there touching the homeless people; he's reaching out to them every single day." Visit this link to see News\History: http://www.sculpturebytps.com/press-and-major-projects/

The bronze cast of the sculpture will cost $33,000 and delivery will be approximately $2,000.

When Tony Frey, Secretary/Treasurer for Timothy Schmalz is asked, “Would it not be better to spend money directly for the poor?” He answers, “At first blush this seems reasonable, even obvious, but more careful consideration reveals this question might misunderstand the proposal and is a bit short sighted.”

“First, it is not our intention to take resources already dedicated to helping the homeless and reallocating them to this.”

“More to the point, the question does not account for the immense impact and longevity of the message this sculpture will have on society. One cannot put a price tag on art’s power to touch, disturb and inspire the heart, and churches the world over can attest to the centuries-old legacy of that claim. Throughout the ages the Church has been a major benefactor of art because of art’s power.”

“While $35,000 could do much for the poor today, this bronze sculpture will last for centuries, and continue to inspire generosity long after we are gone. It is like a priest or minister giving the same sermon 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. While we will never know the actual dollar amount of the generosity it inspires, it is not unreasonable to think that it need only move one wealthy person to see Christ in the homeless for its dollar cost to be covered. The truth is, over centuries, it will likely move tens of thousands, if not millions of people, to be more charitable. Point of fact, this sculpture has already inspired patrons to form philanthropic funds (of far greater value than the sculpture itself) that support outreach to the marginalized in two major cities that we know of thus far.”

“We can also look at this through the lens of the powerless: those who roam the streets, sleep on benches and feel the vast chasm between them and the glorified Jesus we typically see depicted. In addition to inspiring the wealthy and powerful to be charitable, maybe this sculpture’s greatest power will be when it allows the marginalized one who sleeps on a bench to see himself or herself in Christ.”

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Please earnestly pray for the success of the Homeless Jesus Fund. Those who partner with New Life Evangelistic Center at this critical moment in the lives of the homeless by sharing a gift of $2,000 or more will have their names placed on a plaque in the lobby of the 1411 Locust building. In addition they will receive a 10”L x 5”H x 3”D replica of The Homeless Jesus and an autographed copy of the book Welcome Them Home by Larry and Chris Rice. Those caring individuals who partner with NLEC by sharing a gift of $200 or more will receive the Homeless Jesus Statuette plus a copy of the Welcome Them Home book.

Your prayers are deeply appreciated at this time.

For more information and to give a memorial please call Dulce at (314) 881-3218 or e-mail: dgaede@nlecstl. org or write at P.O. Box 473, St. Louis, MO 63166.

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