2011-12 THANKSGIVING OFFERING  |  GOAL: $100,000.00

PLEASE GIVE AS GENEROUS AN OFFERING AS THE LORD ENABLES YOU TO GIVE.

PRAY – PURPOSE – PLAN – PREPARE – PERFORM

[Please read 2 Corinthians, chapters 8-9]

This goal is for NEXT YEAR’S THANKSGIVING OFFERING.  We begin receiving contributions for the NEXT YEAR’S Thanksgiving Offering during November of the current year.  We want to thank all of you who continued to give to last year’s Thanksgiving Offering all during 2010.  We thank God for each of you who contributed to make it what it was.

IT CANNOT BE “EITHER / OR”

BETWEEN THE THANKSGIVING OFFERING

AND OUR MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS –

IT MUST BE “BOTH / AND”

WE CANNOT DO WITHOUT A VERY GENEROUS THANKSGIVING OFFERING – AS WELL AS INCREASING AND MAINTAINING OUR OFFERINGS TO THE MONTHLY GENERAL FUND.  As of now, the first of October, we MAY have enough of last year’s Thanksgiving Offering to carry us through the next three months.

BUT – BEGINNING THIS MONTH, WE WILL HAVE TO DEDUCT PROPORTIONATE PORTIONS FROM EACH OF OUR MISSIONARIES’ MONTHLY DEPOSITS TO MAKE UP FOR THE DEFICITS BETWEEN THE MONTHLY GENERAL FUND SUPPLIES AND THE “TIER 1 / ESSENTIAL MONTHLY TRANSACTIONS” DISBURSEMENTS WE HAVE COMMITTED TO THEM EACH MONTH.

“GENERAL FUND SOLVENCY” – Every month, we have committed a total of $44,074.43 to our missionaries in what we call “Essential Monthly Transactions” [EMT].  I know I have reported this many times before, but here it is again:  $20,426.00, salaries;  $10,950.00, standard expense allowances;  $11,075.93, hospitalization insurance premiums;  $1,622.50, Mission Sheets printing and distribution.  These are stubborn numbers and amounts – and we crunch them every day of every month to try to make them work.

WE MUST SUPPLY THESE NEEDS FROM OUR MONTHLY GENERAL FUND GIVING.  If we do not receive enough funds in our monthly General Fund offerings, then we must necessarily proportionately reduce each missionary’s monthly deposit for that month to make it equal what we do have.

THANKSGIVING OFFERINGS – Then, there are numerous other commitments, benefits, and support services we provide for them ALSO from the General Fund throughout the course of the year.  But, those disbursements must be supplied from our Thanksgiving Offering.  However, we will need to consider reducing or even eliminating some of these commitments during 2012 if we do not have enough funds to supply them throughout the course of the year.

ALL GENERAL FUND GIVING IS DOWN AT LEAST 8%

FROM THE SAME GIVING PERIOD DURING 2010 [January-September].

Please ask the Lord of the Harvest how HE wants you to respond to this need.  Please go back also and re-read, meditate on, and pray over last month’s appeal, “AN APPEAL TO PRAY”.  May I quote John Bunyan again:  “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”

MAY GOD GIVE US GRACE TO GIVE WITH HILARITY!