"THANK YOU!" GIVING FRIENDS!

“THANK YOU, GIVING FRIENDS!” We don't say that often enough, but we want to be sure you know how much we appreciate your faithful support for our missionaries. AND ESPECIALLY TO ALL OF YOU WHO FAITHFULLY AND CONSISTENTLY GIVE TO THE GENERAL FUND – THANK YOU! We need and appreciate ALL your offerings to our missionaries...but your offerings to the General Fund keep our missionaries on their fields of ministry. Our General Fund offerings supply our missionaries’ “DAILY BREAD” - “BREAD & BUTTER” – “SIMPLE BARE NECESSITIES” – “KEEP THE LIGHTS ON” – how else can we say it to emphasize how fundamentally essential it is to supply the GENERAL FUND with sufficient offerings to meet our missionaries’ essential living and ministry expenses.

GENERAL FUND MONTHLY SOLVENCY: $50,000.00

WE STILL NEED INCREASED OFFERINGS TO OUR MONTHLY GENERAL FUND. We disburse $50,000.00 each month in standard commitments we have made to our missionaries. EVERY MONTH - MONTH AFTER MONTH – OUR MISSIONARIES EXPECT US TO PROVIDE THESE COMMITMENTS WE HAVE PROMISED THEM. We struggle every day of every month to “pay the bills” and meet the basic, essential commitments of salaries, expense accounts, and all the other standard benefits, and support services we have told them we will provide for them.

WE ARE NOT RECEIVING SUFFICIENT MATCHING OFFERINGS FOR THE STANDARD MONTHLY DISBURSEMENTS WE MAKE EACH MONTH. We need every one of our missionaries' Giving Friends to make a personal, proportionate, perpetual commitment to give to the GENERAL FUND each month.

WE CAN MAKE OUR MONTHLY STANDARD GENERAL FUND DISBURSEMENTS SOLVENT IF EVERY ONE OF US DOES A PART. You can check our progress with us simply by looking at the Contributions page in this and every issue of the Mission Sheets. Look for the total given to the GENERAL FUND. That is what we have to work with to provide for our missionaries' essential, basic, daily needs.

WE ARE ALL OUR MISSIONARIES HAVE TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT – as the Lord Himself works through us by His own Grace, of course.

$100,000.00 THANKSGIVING OFFERING GOAL

Again, "THANK YOU!" to every one of you who has given to our Thanksgiving Offering over the years of our BFM history – and who are giving your offerings again this year. We have come this far BY FAITH – BY THE GRACE OF GOD – AND BY YOUR FAITHFUL COMMITMENT AND GENEROSITY!

Ordinarily, the bulk of our Thanksgiving Offering is given during the months of November and December. ASK THE LORD TO GIVE YOU A GENEROUS HELPING OF GRACE TO GIVE TO OUR MISSIONARIES.

Make a PERSONAL, PROPORTIONATE contribution to our Thanksgiving Offering. [See 2 Corinthians 8.12-14] IF YOU SEE THAT WE ARE NOT REACHING OUR GOAL WE NEED TO GIVE, THEN GIVE AGAIN SO WE CAN FULFILL THE COMMITMENTS WE HAVE MADE TO OUR MISSIONARIES. The Thanksgiving Offering giving opportunity is open as long as you are giving.

2009 Needs
We will need the Thanksgiving Offering funds to help us meet our monthly deficits as 2009 unfolds IF WE DON'T MEET OUR MONTHLY GENERAL FUND SOLVENCY GOAL.

Pending Disbursements
Also, we still have several thousands of dollars in benefits commitments we have made to our missionaries – but which are still pending and unpaid because we didn't have the funds during the year to pay them. So, the missionaries are still carrying that personal expense themselves. WE NEED TO FULFILL THAT COMMITMENT WE MADE TO THEM AND REIMBURSE THEM.

The standard commitments we make to our missionaries are still, at the very best we are doing, only very modest disbursements. All of our services and benefits should be increased, but we can't even think about increasing them if we are not meeting the commitments we have already made.

We are praying and asking the Lord to burden each of our hearts to join this worthy giving ministry – so our missionaries' needs will be met…so they can fund their daily ministry activities…so the Gospel of Christ can be proclaimed in all the nations of the world…so more people will be saved from their sins and discipled to follow Jesus Christ…and so THE GLORY OF CHRIST WILL COVER THE EARTH AS THE WATERS COVER THE SEA!

Now, therefore, KNOW...and CONSIDER WHAT YOU WILL DO!
1 Samuel 25.17

Grace – including Giving Grace – be with you all!

The Directors of Baptist Faith Missions