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Thirteenth Edition - August 2008
The Bridge
Finishers Project

3303 S Lindsay Rd
Suite 108
Gilbert, AZ 85297
 
Ph. 480.854.4444
 
 
Contact Our Staff:

Don Parrott, President/CEO

Nelson Malwitz,                             Chief Innovation Officer

Paul Erdmann,                    
Chief Operating Officer

Tom Adelsman,                  Director of Church Partnership Network

Paulette Fitch,
Executive Assistant
Agency/Profile Relations


Larry Rus,
Agency Relations Director

Renee Ladd,
Assistant to the President

Colleen Erdmann, Bookkeeper
 
William & Amy Stearns,                          Training Associates
 
Director of Coaching Network

Bill Poff,
Web site development


Meet the Staff

AZ Staff

Here is the Finishers Staff based in Gilbert, AZ.
L to R : Tom Adelsman, Colleen Erdmann, Paul Erdmann, Renee Ladd, and Don Parrott
 
Coming Events
 
Click on these links to find more information about each event.
 
Missions Fest
Seattle
                    
Seattle , WA
October 3-4, 2008
 
Pasadena, CA
October 17-19, 2008
 
Dallas, TX
November 7-8, 2008
 
Atlanta, GA
November 14-16, 2008
 
Portland, OR
January 16-17, 2009
 
Quick Links
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Bridge serves to keep you connected with the amazing ministry and impact of Finishers Project.  We welcome your feedback, so please call or write. 
Finishers Movement Among Other Nations
 
The initial focus of The Finishers Project at its launch in 1998 was to help connect mid-life adults in North America with significant global impact opportunities for ministry. In the last few years over 1200 have been placed in full time missions while many more have gone short-term and more still are in active transition. However, the commission to make disciples of the nations was given to all believers worldwide. In recent years we have seen dramatic growth in the sending of cross-cultural workers from countries previously referred to as mission fields.
 
Believing that cooperating with the kingdom efforts being initiated in other countries is God-honoring and a wise use of resources, under the leadership of the founder, Nelson Malwitz, Finishers has become involved in assisting those efforts in appropriate ways. To that end we have seen God open some amazing doors and develop unique projects to provide more workers for the harvest.
 
Australia: 
 
Finishers has cooperated with Second Wind in Australia to establish a ministry similar to Finishers, but aimed at their own people. The web-based matching tools used by Finishers have been installed on the Second Wind website enabling them to connect adults with kingdom opportunities. As the Lord of the Harvest sends out his workers, he is directing workers from Australia to countries where he is not directing as many North Americans, locations such as Myanmar and the South Pacific Islands. We are in talks with leaders from Britannia, Canada, England and New Zealand to replicate the matching service in each country.
 
Africa:
 
Another area that has a keen interest in mission is West Africa, especially Nigeria, where 20 percent of all Africans live. Their vision is to recruit, train and deploy 50,000 believers in 15 years time, into North Africa and the Middle East. 
 
Finishers Project built websites for the mission associations and mission agencies in Nigeria and Ghana. Our purpose is to enhance their efforts to communicate a missions vision in those countries and assist them in connecting their missionaries with appropriate missions roles in North Africa and the Middle East.
  
An understandable reality to the missions movement in Africa is the lack of financial resources. For this reason, Finishers is working to assist leaders in setting up mid to large sized enterprises in agriculture and water projects to fund their missionary movements.
 
Latin America:
 
Latin America has the luxury of having a mission industry association, COMIBAM, to cover all of what they call Ibero-America. This includes those in Spain, Portugal, Central and South America as well has Hispanics in North America.  Finishers is partnering with COMIBAM to install a multilingual matching website that connects people with Latin American sending organizations. Interestingly, the Latin peoples have a particular interest in serving among Muslims. The Lord has placed in their heart a desire to serve in this part of the 10-40 Window.
 
Asia:
 
Finishers Project has developed a website designed to gather profiles of people in western nations for matching people with a heart to make a difference for God with organizations that are operating in restricted countries in Asia. This is an unprecedented opportunity to penetrate areas resistant to the gospel.
 
Middle East - Iraq:
 
Nelson recently returned from Iraq where he gathered information about how to participate in nation-building activities from proposals that are being generated by USAID, the military and Iraqi nationals in all 18 provinces. The vision of Finishers Project is to help connect Christ-followers from North America with opportunities that are being funded by USAID and Iraq. 
 
Summary
 
Praise God that He is involving the nations to go to the nations in his ultimate plan to fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the seas.
 
Helping Boomers with their Parent-Child Relationships
 
How do you have those heart-to-heart conversations concerning when an aging parent should stop driving or hire a caregiver? One provider has found that fully one third of adults have trouble communicating with their parents about sensitive subjects related to aging. They suggest that when a person turns 40, or their parents are 70, this type of conversation needs to start. One of the key reasons behind this type of dialogue is to help keep seniors safe from misuse of medications, self-neglect, accidents and other issues that can be prevented through better communication.
 
From the Finishers perspective, we believe such adult-to-adult conversations also need to take place regarding the possibility of future missions-related roles. This communication needs to be on a peer-level relationship, while at the same time listening to and respecting the parent's concerns and issues. To abandon them and not listen is not an appropriate option for us. There is no one correct answer for this issue. Each family needs to seriously seek out the communication times and manners through which they can arrive at the correct answers for their situation. The important issue is to dialogue together, not just assume all will be well because we want to serve the Lord with our latter years.

 

A Couple of Event Reminders -

Dallas Finishers Forum:  Our next Finishers Forum will be November 7-8 at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship, 4141 International Parkway, Carrollton, TX (Dallas area). Have you attended one yet?  If not, we highly recommend it!  Make plans now to be part of this dynamic weekend. If you have attended, who do you know in Texas that should be there?  Here's the registration link:http://www.finishers.org/texas/reg_tx.php
 
The Journey Deepens Retreat:  Two events are planned -- one in Pasadena, CA, and one in Atlanta, GA. These weekends will deepen your relationship with Jesus and help you explore what it is like to be a missionary, discover whether a missionary or sender role is God's fit for you, and connect with mission agencies. Click on the links on the left under "Coming Events" to learn more or to register. 

Don's pic
  
 
  Don Parrott  
  CEO,The Finishers Project