|
"We exist to see the lost saved and the Church changed for the glory of God!"
|  |
Melanie and I want express our heartfelt thanks for your interest, your prayers, and your support in 2014.
Throughout the year a graphic displayed on our website stated: "Help us reach all we can in 2014." As you see here, nothing has changed for 2015. The mission is still the same and it has been since our genesis in 1983.
Whatever avenue we take to achieve it, the goal is to challenge the Church to hold and follow God's Word and to reach unbelievers with the only answer and hope - the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
So, with only three days left in this calendar year, allow me to look ahead and point out a few areas where we need your help in accomplishing our two fold mission.
As I was considering what to write in this letter Melanie urged me to let you know of some of the more pressing and urgent needs that we are dealing with on a daily basis.
(1) After several years of productivity both of our industrial sized printers need to be replaced. We use these units to print high volume, quality jobs such as brochures, product artwork, my booklets and Take A Stand! Journals, and my two self-published on-demand books. Our assistant, Steve, has done a marvelous job and replacing parts and has nearly become a certified repairman over the last few years but the units we are currently using have printed upwards of 500,000 pages each and are in need of retirement.
(2) Also showing signs of failure is our DVD/CD disk printer which imprints label information on the hundreds of DVD and CD titles we produce each month. As our video ministry grows so do the demands on this unit. The list price on this unit alone is almost $2000.
(3) Along the same lines, we really need another high speed DVD/CD duplicator too. As we continue to expand our outreach we must increase our capacity which will in turn increase our efficiency.
(4) Looking ahead I can tell you that video production is going to become more and more a part of our ministry outreach too. With that in mind, I need to add two 24" high resolution displays for video editing.
(5) I am also personally in need of a more powerful, high capacity laptop computer to meet both the demands of my seminar presentation graphics and our expanding video editing and production.
Please understand that none of these items would just be "nice to have." Every one of them is needed.
The total for just what I've listed here - which is over and above our ongoing budget needs - is around $12,000. That's big money to us but just a drop in the bucket for God!
Here's what we are currently praying for:
- One-time year-end gifts to cover these extra expenses I've listed above.
- A 50% increase of monthly donors to be a part of the ministry in 2015 and beyond
- We are praying too that God bring us partners interested in after-life-on-earth estate giving to increase the longevity and long range outreach of Take A Stand! Ministries. For this, we have made arrangements with a financial adviser to help interested parties become aware of the many options they have in estate giving and with gifts of property, stock, etc. to help us Take A Stand! (Interested?
Please write me here.)
Lastly, we are actively seeking those who may want to gift Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards air points to us. This would aid us in reducing our increasing travel expense. (This is becoming a critical need for Melanie, our assistant, Steve, and myself to travel to conferences and churches without draining the ministry. Again, please contact me about this.)
We are truly indebted to God's people who over the years have been moved to help us in both large and small ways. In essence, we are in joint ministry with those who have planted in the section of God's vineyard He has given us custody of.
We are watching expectantly for God's will and guidance as we continue teaching the church how and why to defend the faith and as we expose the fruitless days of darkness just as His Word commands. Thank you once again for your support, for your prayers, and for your partnership with us as we watch and wait for Jesus, our Blessed Hope!
Until then, we'll be here contending for the faith and winning a harvest of souls for the Kingdom of God.
Maranatha!
