Last week, Emma looked timidly across the table in the train station while Jim stood in line to buy each of us a hamburger for lunch. She said, “I need some money. I have to buy some things.”
Today, we are sitting a little farther away from you at our kitchen table, but we are saying, “We need some money. We have some ministry to do.”
Emma had never asked us for money before. While it is culturally acceptable in many parts of Africa to make your financial needs known with the expectation that the community will do everything possible to meet those needs, our African brothers and sisters rarely ask us for money.
Emma left prostitution four months ago, and she has not worked since. She has no income, but she cannot apply for just any job because she lacks residency documents. She lives in one room of a house that belongs to a family who understands her situation and will not collect the rent until she finds work. We have given her food and bought her phone credit and bus tickets from time to time so that she is not isolated. But, she has to have money to buy things like soap and tooth paste.
She has a family member who says that, in a couple of weeks, she will help her get work in a factory. But in the meantime, Emma is dependent on others, and she has no choice but to make her needs known. We bought her a train ticket to visit this person and gave her some money to buy what she needs.
We do not usually ask you directly for support. We encourage you to share in our ministry. We say that the work is dependent on the gifts of God’s people. Many of you have responded and have contributed to International Ministries for our ongoing financial support. We need for you to continue to share in the work as you have done or increase your giving if you are able. And, we thank you!
Others of you prayerfully support our work, and that is vitally important and appreciated. But, today, as we sit across the table from you, we must communicate that we need your financial support if we are to continue to minister in Italy. From the beginning of the world economic crisis, International Ministries (IM) has taken steps to cut expenses, including a reduction of staff in the Mission Center and a 50% reduction in missionaries’ work funds. But these measures have not been enough. Looking at IM’s financial reality today, they cannot promise that they will be able to find a way to keep missionaries in service if 100% of that missionary’s designated support goal is not met. Last year we received 30% of our designated support level. During the first quarter of this fiscal year IM received 36.6% of the support we needed for those 3 months.
Obviously we have a long way to go. Whether you can give a one-time gift or monthly gifts, your faithfulness will make a difference. You can send contributions directly to IM or direct them through your local American Baptist church. Perhaps you could challenge a friend or family member who shares your vision for this ministry to match your contribution.
Contributions of from $200 to $2000 from individuals or churches who have not given to our support in the last three years can be matched from a special fund IM’s development team has put together, if the contributions are received between now and June 30, 2009.
Emma, the immigrant pastors Jim trains, and the members of the immigrant churches with whom we work live under constant financial strain. Each of us is called to step out in faith as they do:
-like Emma, who refuses every day to go back to the street to sell herself and instead relies on God’s provision.
-like the immigrant pastors who work five or six days a week in a factory and then prepare sermons and Bible studies and spend most or all of Sunday in church. They support family members here and in Africa.
-like the members of our churches who come to Italy with no assurance of a job or a good life but who can no longer tolerate watching family members and friends go hungry with no hope of a better future in their home countries.
We have ministry to do. We want to be here to walk beside all these people.
Information on how you can give is below. If you have questions about IM's financial situation or how you might encourage others to give, please write us at jdkelsey@hotmail.com. We love to hear from you!
Your fellow servants,
Debbie and Jim Kelsey
NO GIFT IS TOO SMALL!
How do I have my gift doubled? Send a check or pledge for monthly donations totaling $200-$2000 directly to the International Ministries office between March 1, 2009 and June 30, 2009. At the end of June they will be matched dollar for dollar by the LRS Matching Gift Fund.
Indicate which missionary you would like to support and you will become a member of their Missionary Partnership Network. You will receive regular reports on their work and information on how you can be more directly involved in their ministry.
Give on line at www.internationalministries.org/donate or send your check or pledge directly to:
International Ministries
PO Box 851
Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851
NAME______________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS____________________________________________________________________
CITY/STATE___________________________________________________________________
ZIP________________________________________________________________________
PHONE____________________________________________________________________
EMAIL____________________________________________________________________
MISSIONARY I WISH TO SUPPORT ___________________________________________
I am enclosing a check of $200 - $2000 ________________________________________
I am pledging to give _____________________ month between March 1 and June 30, 2009
(Total of monthly pledges amounts to $200 - $2,000)
Your gifts received by June 30, 2009 will be matched dollar for dollar as long as funds remain in the LRS matching gift fund. First Come, First Served.
You can, as always, direct gifts for our support through your American Baptist church, but, due to inherent bookkeeping lagtimes, these gifts are not eligible for the matching funds program.