Windward at Leeland

By Hardie Frankel, Winward Committee Member

Today I received the 2025 Presbyterian Women Birthday Offering brochure. One of the annual recipients is the Presbyterian Disaster (PDA) Volunteer Host Site, Windward, the housing facility at the Leland Presbyterian Church in Leland, Mississippi. This project almost didn’t get funded, but God had other plans. You see, Windward might be a project of the Leland Presbyterian Church, but it is so much more.

In 2023 the Leland Presbyterian Session was reading Spiritual Leadership for Church Officers, A Handbook by Joan S. Gray. We were praying for ways that our congregation could be a vital congregation in our community and how God could use us to be his witnesses. At that time, we all determined that we were more of a “rowboat church” than we were a “sailboat church.” However, all that changed in a matter of months when an F4 tornado passed south of Leland and devastated the communities of Rolling Fork and Silver City, as well as, anything in its path. Members of the congregation sprang into action with other people in Leland converting our local community center into a temporary shelter for anyone needing housing. Residents in Rolling Fork and Silver City did not need the shelter, but the volunteers working with the cleanup did. The Leland Presbyterian Session had their monthly meeting and discussed what would happen after the shelter closed. We acknowledged that we had largely unused classrooms in our educational building that could easily be converted into bedrooms. Maybe that could be our way of helping for an extended period of time. After a bit more discussion, we admitted that it definitely sounded like God wanted us to “raise our sails.” Since we were going to step out in faith, we decided to name the project Windward after the sail that is always turned closest to the wind so that we would continue to remember whose project this really is. Within weeks Leland Presbyterian became a PDA host site.

 At the Presbytery meeting in March of 2024, Rev. Ann Kelly was asked to share what Leland had been doing in response to the devastating tornado. When Lauren Rodgers, Ministry Engagement Advisor for Synod of Living Waters heard Ann say that “the LPC disaster response committee desired that Windward would be a long-term mission that would last beyond this particular disaster and that it would draw mission teams to the delta far into the future,” she encouraged Ann to tell us to apply for a PW Birthday offering, which supports capital improvement projects. Immediately, Ann came back home and told the Windward committee about the grant opportunity. The committee got together and started dreaming about how God would use us and our desire to assist those in need. We determined that to be able to provide a comfortable place for volunteers we could use an additional 1000 square foot expansion to our educational building. That would allow us to add permanent showers, toilets, a small kitchen/dining and laundry space. Stephanie Patton, assisted by other committee members, gathered the needed information to complete the paperwork. We got multiple letters of support and mailed off the application that had been bathed in prayer throughout the process.

Since 2021 I had been serving on the Creative Ministries Offering Committee (CMOC) as the representative of the Synod of Living Waters for Presbyterian Women National Board of Directors. I was supposed to have been replaced in 2024 but that, for some reason, didn’t happen. Because of a conflict, I was not able to attend the annual meeting in person, but did attend the CMOC meeting via Zoom. This committee is the one that awards grants. Because Leland had submitted a grant application, I wasn’t sure that I should participate, but the committee moderator assured me that I was wanted.

The way the grant evaluations work is that each committee member reads and ranks the grants (1- do not fund, 2-maybe fund, 3-definitely fund) and then the PW staff assigned to the committee will tally the rankings and put them in order highest to lowest. The grants with the most votes will be discussed and the amount of available funds will determine how many are awarded. Over the past few years offering contributions have been dwindling, so the CMOC has not been able to fund as many grants as they have previously. This year, 30 grant applications were received. Each project was worthwhile and all would benefit many needy people. I told the Windward committee that we had some stiff competition and that we might need to look for other funding sources. Although I thought I was prepared, when I opened the CMOC file to see the projects that were in the running for funding, I was sad to notice that Windward was not on the list. Even though I was disappointed, I was still confident that Windward is something that God desires for Leland Presbyterian to pursue. As the CMOC committee worked through the “top 12” list, there was only one project that the entire group could agree to fund. There was money left over, but not enough to fully fund another project. That is when the treasurer shared some additional news. In 2023, one of the grants that was funded had not used all of their money and if we wanted, we could vote to use that money to add to our available funds. That was great, but we still had not chosen a second recipient.  Then a new member to the committee said something like “Can we consider one of the grants that didn’t make the top ranking? If so, I would like to consider Windward. Years ago, I lived in that area and there are always opportunities for mission. Would you be agreeable to that? And is there someone we could contact to speak about the project?” The PW staff member said that this was our committee and we could do what we wanted. The committee moderator turned to me and said, “Okay, Hardie tell us about Windward.” My mouth fell wide open (literally and figuratively) and all I could do was say a silent prayer of thanksgiving. When I got my composure, I shared our hopes, prayers, and desires for Windward. After a lot more discussion and many tears of joy on my part, the committee voted to fully fund Windward with our ask of $150,000.00!

This grant won’t completely fund the project, but it will go a long way toward making it a reality. The faithful giving of our PW sisters will cover the construction of the building, electrical requirements, and a portion of the plumbing. We’ll be using other donated funds to complete the project. This is the power of prayer and an example of the body of Christ caring for one another. Obviously, through this experience God was reminding me, and maybe all involved, that what seems impossible to humanity is not impossible with God. May we never underestimate the power of prayer and may we remain ever ready to set our sails with the Holy Spirit.