The church construction of Fr Onuorah came to a halt recently for lack of funds. We have just sent him two Gregorian Mass stipends (USD$1600), including one for Angela Martello (who posted on Cathinfo as Nadir), enabling construction works to recommence.

Here is what Father wrote to me on August 29:

"I wish to relate to you my discussions with Fr. Ortiz concerning our Church building project in Nigeria.
Below is what he requested from me last week:

Please send me a summary of your project.
What do you have now including faithful attendance, etc.
How did you purchase the building, specifically what do you intend to do.
Estimated cost of the project.
Add a few pictures of the actual building and the project blueprint.

And this was my reply to him:


SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT.

1. We have a small hall we are using as our Chapel but we may be thrown out from there very soon because the owner/donor has died 3 years ago, and last year his children and wife gave us quit notice to leave their father's property as soon as possible since there is no written agreement that it will be given to us permanently. We begged them to give us little time to get another place. They reiterated it heavily in February this year. This is what made us to begin to look for a piece of land to buy. Eventually in April this year we got this land which contains a church structure inside it under construction by the protestants.

The number of the faithful in attendance to our chapel is about 120 persons including children.  And we use to have new converts from time to time.

2. How we purchased the building is by appealing to people for assistance and we got unimaginable and amazing donations from people.

3. What we intend to do is to complete the structure already under construction inside the land. We intend to reshape it as a Traditional Catholic Church building. The architectect has has drawn the Church plan. Also we intend to possibly buy another piece of land close to it and add it for enough space since there is little space there. We were attracted there by the church structure under construction because it will be too costly for us to start Church/chapel construction from ground foundation. If we are able to roof it we will pack in there and be having our Masses and other Liturgical functions there even as other works will be going on.  This is because they may throw us out any moment.

4. Estimated cost of the project goes as follows:

From the level we are now to  completion of block work and concrete work leveling =$US17,000,

Roofing with wood = $US13,000,

Roofing with Iron =$US20,000,

To buy extra piece of land to have enough space =$US8,000.

We are soliciting for donations to build this Traditional Catholic Church for God. Any amount of donation will be very helpful and highly appreciated.  We do not intend to get all the funds at once but little by little from different persons..."

Attached are the architect's plans.

Please help Father spiritually and materially if you can.

So, here's the thing.  I'm sure that many here would be willing to give something, even if it's smaller amounts ... and the smaller amounts can add up to a very big deal.  But it's incredibly cuмbersome to send just a few dollars by whatever means may be available.  Could someone who's trustworthy accept smaller amounts by some kind of commonly-available money exchange system (PayPal, Venmo) and then once it reaches a certain amount (hopefully the $800 they need), then that individual could send the entire amount over instead of onsies-twosies.  Some people might just be able to give $5 - $10, which doesn't make sense to bankwire over or use some other similar means ... and they're probably deterred from giving.  If 80 people here could give just $10, it could take care of their immediate needs.  I, for instance, am a BIT more savy than, say, some others, about sending money, and have about $100 myself I'd be willing to contribute, but it's very unclear to me how to send the money.  And that proably goes much more for people who perhaps know even less about it than I do.

So, for instance, I know how to send money by PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, or Crypto.  But not even sure where to start here.

I would trust you, for instance, Plenus, to send you my share of the contribution, or perhaps send them to Matthew, who then can put them all together into a single pool and send them in a single transaction.

I'm guessing the info above might work with Zelle (haven't tried it), but then I'm not even sure if they would know what the money was for, etc.  And if it does work with Zelle, I'm not sure most people know how to use it or if it's even worth using it (given any fees) for a tiny donation, like $5 or $10.  So I think this is deterring the people who could perhaps give smaller amounts.

Looking online, I think that PayPal MIGHT work internationally, and that PayPal is available in Nigeria ... so couldn't Father set up a PayPal account?  If he could do that, it would be a breeze for most people to send him donations.

It's a good idea, Lad, and I will suggest it to Fr Onuorah.

However, the idea that many faithful would give small amounts to raise a handsome total, sadly, does not appear to be the case. The 'buy the Benedictines a coffee' fund raiser that I ran a couple of weeks ago which had PayPal and every other facility to donate, only found four donors...