what's our story?

This church community has been together for many years but the idea of this new space was more recently born. It developed out of both need and abundance, and a desire to do good better.

In 2013, the Bethesda Gospel Mission's boys home in Kerala, India was on the verge of being shut down because of a change in the laws governing children's homes. The local government was pleased with the work being done at BGMBH but simply couldn't allow the mission to continue without owning its own property. To further protect India's children from being taken advantage of, the government passed a law that required all homes to be owned(not leased) property of those funding them. This was a good and necessary improvement to the system but an expensive cost for a small mission. We decided purchasing a piece of property would: 1. not put kids out on the street 2. reduce long term costs 3. allow room to expand for more boys and girls. 

It was a no brainer, except for the funding. Who had that kind of cash? Not us. But we did have land and a building. If only there were some way...

By the end of 2013 we had finalized the sale of our church property to fund the mission. Many would consider a church closing its doors a failure or worse, the ultimate failure: death. We agree! And it is through death that new life springs up from the ground!

Realizing that a building comes with costs and typically church buildings remain empty so many days and nights, we decided that our next building would be different. This would be a multi-purpose space: one that could be used throughout the week to accomplish our mission in a much fuller way. We always believed that we should "seek the good of the place we live' and 'focus on the good, true, just and beautiful," but what if we could do that with our space? Honoring the neighborhood's past and investing in its bright future, we bought the local theatre: a place which has grown and changed with the community since the beginning. And while the name's gone through many changes: First The Texan Theatre, then the Mesquite Opry, and most recently Clara Walker's Rodeo City Music Hall, the space has stood the test of time, breathing life and arts into downtown Mesquite. Just as others have in the past, we want to infuse goodness and beauty into the world through this neighborhood gathering space.