Dear Friends,

By now you have probably heard of the Church Board asking me to Leave. This Letter will no doubt seal my fate with the church board in hopes of coming back... however, I care more about what God will say when I die in the not to distant future. When I refused to leave you may have heard that the Police Department was called to force me to leave... after thinking about it I suppose it is for the best I not come back for my own sanity's sake. I will be leaving Dodge City and moving to Wichita to be working for Center Industries. A old High School Friend Works for the Cerebral Palsy Reserch as a Case Worker. Please pray for my Success there.

Before I leave you, however, I would feel like I not have any closure with New Hope without writing you. It is still my belief that New Hope in Dodge City is a mistake and could possibly have the potential of causeing more harm than good. When I worked for Dr. Ketner I noticed that the volunteers were so involved with new hope they forgot to think about their own lives and needs. I can promice you that this happened to me, both in Colorado Springs and here In Dodge City within the last couple of months.

I belive that everyone needs and wants to contribute to society. To do this I belive that Work is the best way to do this. this is one reason why I'm against the idea of New hope starting up. I do not believe that we as a society should make it easy for the poor and homeless to remain that way. Food and clothing handouts, furniture giveaway's, and finding transiet's temporary shelter can only be a band aid, not curing the wound. why are they poor or homeless in the first place? I can tell you that it useally results in a lack of or mismanagement of finances or a problem with finding and holding down stable work - their problems may be due to a family issue or perhaps drug abuse.

I have never seen any real help given to any Client at New Hope. I am sure that volunteers and staff tried to help, but in the end, the client is the only person who can change. No amount of "love" from the church can help...in the long run, because in the long run, the real support structure is the family, not any one person in the church, and depending on the walk in client, not even God.

I also must raise the question of why Dr. Ketner is wanting so badly to have a New Hope. I supported openly him becoming your pastor so he would not have time to be a director. I think He is getting old, and he wants, now more then ever, to live close to his family. I also think that he doesn't ever want to retire from his mission work. I guess in this way I can understand why He wants a new hope here.

I am asking you to help me, the volunteer, and the client, and even the church too. I ask that you not be afraid of asking questions, and finding better ways of helping the client, not in some glorious short term solution that is easy to see, but the long run, that changes the client for the better but getting little reward from it. I am sure that it's possible that Dr. ketner could help one person without my knowing about it. I am conserned with Majority of clients and the program they go through, I am not conserned with the minority and I cannot belive the majority will be helped in the long run through New Hope. I'd love it if you prove me wrong, but I don't think it's possible.

Thank you for taking the time to read and to consider. I ask that you ask the board to allow you to read all the letters I wrote them conserning New Hope and Dr. Ketner. those letters will fully express my fears, if you're interested.

Thank you and God Bless, again, pray for my success in Wichita.

Sincerly Yours

David Owen