Putting Our Money Where Our Mission is

I will never forget the moment I first met Marc Ivanchak, the founder of WEGO. It was around the year 2000 and I was in high school. My pastor/dad wanted to drop by the WEGO office in downtown Cocoa Beach and asked if I wanted to tag along. I did and never could have imagined what God would birth through that quick stop. We walked into the back door of 163 Minuteman Causeway and straight into Marc’s office (which would later become mine…crazy). My dad quickly noticed a pillow and a blanket on Marc’s office couch. The conversation that followed became a giant fork in the middle of my road, forever changing the trajectory of my life.

“Are you sleeping here?”, my dad asked.  Marc answered with a “Yeah”.

“Why? I thought someone was renting a condo for you.”

Marc passionately responded, “I can support a whole orphanage with the cost of that rental condo. I’m more than fine right here. I want to put that money to better use.”

My dad asked the most important of follow-up questions, “Where do you shower?”

Marc responded with, “I got a hose out back. I used to do that when I was homeless. It’s not a big deal.”

There I was, a high-schooler standing in the corner, taking all that in. I knew I would either need to dismiss him as crazy or try to live a life like his. I chose the latter. Sacrificing my comfort for the benefit of the least of these seemed like a pretty easy call. On a side note, this experience is one of the main reasons I started Beggartown, a non-profit that existed to raise money for WEGO through music and merchandise. I gave 100% of our sales to WEGO because I knew Marc would put it to good use. WEGO has always had a beautiful legacy of sacrificial living and giving for the sake of Christ’s mission in our world. I pray this is something that I have and will continue to foster in this beautiful ministry.

The call for WEGO to choose hurting kids over our own personal comfort is still pumping in our veins and it has led us once again to put our money where our mission is. We are making some practical changes as we look for ways to better serve and strengthen our ministries in unreached and under-resourced communities. As of January 31st, WEGO no longer has a physical office space.  If you haven’t noticed, we have been greatly tightening our attention on our ministries in Mongolia and Nicaragua so a physical space in Brevard County is just simply not necessary. We are pullin’ a Marc and replanting that $900/month of rent and expenses into our ministries and the kids we serve, allowing us to be even better stewards of your faithful generosity. No more office means more water for the fields. Once again, a pretty easy call.

There are many more great things stirring within WEGO that I absolutely cannot wait to share with you very soon- some of which will give even more context to the office move. But for now, I thought it would be important for you to know why our Cocoa Village office has nothing in it and why we’ve moved the location of our monthly prayer gatherings. Thank you for faithfully watering the harvest fields with us through your love, support, and prayers! Please contact us if you have any questions about this office change. Or better yet, join us on a trip or come pray with us at one of our monthly gatherings!