Church Construction Application

Dear Pastor,

We are very excited that your church is considering a building project. Thank God for ministries with a vision to expand in order to better reach their communities with the Gospel of Christ.

The BBF Builders are a group of full-time missionaries and part-time volunteers who help individual churches save hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in construction costs by providing expertise and labor in the building trades. Our missionary builders provide the necessary organization and structure around which volunteers are coordinated. We can partner with a local congregation, assisting with nearly all of their construction needs. We don’t build the building FOR them but we help THEM build it. Can you imagine bringing volunteers from other churches to work on a building and the members of that project church not helping? Neither can we. Therefore, we request the involvement of the local congregation in projects we work on.

It is only through faithful financial support of churches that our construction missionary families are able to continue in this ministry. Some of our families have sacrificed their homes and live in RVs full-time. None of them have 100% of their needed support. If we help you on your construction project you will see, first hand, that they are very much worthy of mission support.

Even if we cannot be involved in your entire project, our team can provide assistance with your preliminary planning. We have been able to save churches many thousands of dollars when they consult us early-on in the process, even before they consult an architect or before the first shovel full of dirt has been moved. Many headaches have been avoided on projects when we were involved in the preliminary planning stages. We don’t claim to know any more than the next guy, but our team has nearly one hundred years of combined construction experience, much of which is church related. In whatever way we become involved in your project we hope to build a friendship that will last until the Lord takes us Home.

Many pastors have not considered how much time and effort will be required of them in a building project. Not only do we want to help you to be able to build, but to survive the process as well.

Any construction project can be overwhelming at times. It should go without saying but, the more time the pastor and church put into praying and planning the smoother the project will go. Everyone wants their project done as soon as possible; however, from years of experience in this ministry, God's timing is always best.

The following are areas into which you need to put much thought:

What are your realistic immediate and future space needs? Should your project be done all at once or in stages as the church grows?
What will the project cost? Have you considered the cost of land, water system, sewer system, fire sprinkler system, electrical fixtures, plumbing fixtures, pews, carpet, musical instruments, lighting design, sound system design, baptistry, pulpit furniture, tables and chairs, building permit charges, parking lot paving, water runoff and land preparation expenses, land surveys, architect fees, additional monthly expenses for added maintenance, janitorial, and utilities, and more?
What is the church’s financial capability?
How much will you have available for unexpected expenses and cost overruns? Unknowns can easily add 10% or more to the job, even on a medium project.
Does your state/city/county require an architectural stamped plan, building permits, zoning changes, fire marshal permits, and so on? What inspections are required during construction and at what intervals? What site preparation/foundation preparation will be required in your area of the country? Are volunteer labor groups even permitted to work on your building?

We have men that can help with all aspects of the construction; however, not every member of our team will be able to help on your specific project since we usually have several in progress at any given time. We will try to help you as much as possible.

All of our construction missionaries have RV’s so they can stay at or near the building site. They also have their own tools within their specific trades, even so, it may be necessary to rent/lease some tools and equipment during construction.

The following is a list of things you can consider doing for us if we are able to help you with your church construction project. We are missionaries and our ministry is to help churches. Therefore, no one is going to demand that you meet all these conditions. Some of the churches we have worked on could not afford to do all of these things, but they did what they could to help us. We believe open communication is the best policy and this is how you can be a blessing to us and to help us continue doing what we do:

Please ask your congregation to provide one meal per day for the missionaries, volunteers, and their families. This involves people from your church who are not able to help with the actual construction itself.
Please provide a place to park our RVs. The jobsite itself is preferred. We require a 200 amp (minimum) electric panel with 50 amp, two-pole breakers for each RV, at least one water spigot, and access to the sewer (one 3 or 4 inch cleanout is adequate). Typically, 3 or 4 RVs are on the jobsite at any given time, but sometimes more.
We need your church to pay the cost of travel each missionary family incurs in order to get to your community. This may be several hundred dollars each depending on the distance travelled.
Please consider providing the construction missionaries with a weekly incidental living expense while they are with you. We suggest $150 per week per trailer. Some of the missionary families with less of their monthly support raised may have a greater weekly need. Please consider each individual family’s needs.
Please consider permanent monthly support for the construction missionaries (not the volunteers) who help on your project. Once you get to know them you will realize they are worthy of support.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at any time. As we become involved with your project we need to look at your plans, location, and other items to see how we might be the most help to you. We have resources for certain materials at substantial savings, and can provide labor to accomplish certain tasks at significant savings. Experience has shown that we can usually save your church the greatest amount of money if we are included early in the planning process of your project.
Please contact us for a blank church construction application form by email.

In Service of The King,

The families of the BBF BUILDERS