RACINE â Life doesnât always go as planned, particularly when the year is 2020.
For Oak Creek residents Anthony and Kathy Balistreri, pastors for 22 years at Stand on His Word International Apostolic ministries at Washington Avenue and West Boulevard in Racine, 2020 has been a year of trusting in God to provide.
On Jan. 15, the couple closed their Arise Christian Bookstore to facilitate a planned relocation of their business from its longtime 2,200-square-foot parking-challenged quarters at 3312-14 Washington Ave. in Uptown to a spacious 10,000-square-foot storefront at Piggly Wiggly-anchored Badger Plaza shopping center, 4003 Durand Ave. The subsequent Wisconsin arrival of the global COVID-19 pandemic turned the Ariseâs planned February move into an epic 11-month journey of faith. Arise opened in its new Badger Plaza location on Tuesday, Dec. 8.