Housing, Volunteer Housing ($ NOT FREE)

Bunkhouse accomadations with heat and air (the pics on the website image a very nice facility! Check it out! Leslie T)

From the website:

We often get asked, ?Why is there a nightly charge to stay at Lagniappe?? or ?We can?t afford $20/night can you give us a discount?? Those are both great questions, let me try to answer them concisely.

Lagniappe Presbyterian Church is less than 1 year old. We are in a leased facility and have no membership, diaconate or board of elders. Our weekly resident attendance at worship includes local individuals, many of whom are paying mortgages on homes that no longer exist. Local giving to Lagniappe is almost non-existent. In church planting terms we are a ?seedling?. The facility which we use to house, feed and host teams is leased to our ?seedling? little church. We have lease payments, utility bills, insurance payments and staff/food costs that are necessary for us to keep the doors open to host teams. Most of these costs are fixed. In order for Lagniappe to be ?open? we must rely on the teams staying with us to help shoulder the expenses it takes for that to be a reality.

Question: ?We stayed with another church last trip and they only charged half of what you are charging, why is that??

We sincerely wish we had unlimited resources and could host everyone for free or for less. The primary difference between Lagniappe and an established church is that most established churches have facilities and membership. There is no cost to using existing buildings for housing and the membership is accustomed to giving and covering expenses like utilities- that just leaves food costs. With established membership other churches can have local volunteers cook or coordinate cooks for teams leaving the only cost being food. We have full-time kitchen staff who do ordering, preparation and planning for all of our meals. Our operation is on a much larger scale than the local church hosting a youth group of 20 for the weekend. At full capacity we serve over 1,000 meals per day (this coming summer we?ll do that for over 30 days in a row). That type of operation requires staff beyond what would be considered ?normal? in any church context.

Question: ?We are bringing youth who cannot afford the $20 per day, can we get a discount??

Please consider the above explanations and understand that we cannot. The $20 does not cover all the costs as it is. We presently have to raise funds outside of the per diem cost to stay open and fully staffed. We would ask that churches and other organizations raise funds locally to cover the cost. Asking Lagniappe to ?scholarship? individuals is like asking the poorest member of your family for a loan. Very simply, we don?t have it to give.

Question: If we can't raise the money, should we just cancel??

As odd as it may sound, No. We believe in grace. If, after exhausting all other avenues of funding, you just can't get the funds don't cancel, just come. We don?t want money to stop you from coming. God will provide for our needs. He has done so in abundant ways already. Please let us know that what you can provide and you won't hear another word about it from us. We mean it. All that we ask is that teams pursue all of their local resources before asking Lagniappe to host them at a reduced rate. Why is that? It is difficult for us to understand teams that could not afford to pay the $20 per day, but somehow manage for each team member to afford a night out for seafood for the team at a local restaurant. We love teams eating out and enjoying the culture, but please consider whether the funding question is a question of can't or don't want to before asking Lagniappe to provide housing and meals at a reduced cost.

Thanks, in advance, for your time, service and understanding,
Jean F. Larroux, III
Pastor