I was humbled beyond words by God’s graciousness to our ministry this past week of Thanksgiving. Johnson Ellis, a wonderful brother in Christ, shared with us how the Lord had burdened him to seek to help our ministry as a result of a simple act of obedience to give to his ministry several years ago. Following is the e-mail he sent us regarding this wonderful gift:
“A couple of years ago God challenged me to run a Crusade in the island city of Parintins located on the Amazon River of Brazil. This crusade was held in a stadium that to that time had only been used for the very pagan- and world famous – annual festival of the bull. The Pastor in that city, Elmer Lessa has a dream that one day Parintins would be known more as a lighthouse for the Gospel than it was known for this pagan festival.
One of the challenges that we faced was where to get the resources for the crusade. We had partnered with Team Impact -the strong men who do feats of strength – and also with The Rocketman who flew in a jet pack around the stadium. They would be the draw to the Crusade. There was the expense of the stadium, the sound system, the video screens, the buses we floated up the river for transport in the city… I was not fearful that God would provide us what we needed financially but while we were only about a month away from the Crusade we still were looking for God to provide 80% of the budget.
I remember one evening as I was driving home I received a call from Mike Fechner. Mike had been standing with me in prayer the year before the Crusade like no one else. He had never been to the Amazon but he sensed that God was doing a great thing and that I needed much prayer. On the phone that day Mike proceeded to explain to me that Bridge Builders had made a commitment to Christ to give a tithe from every dollar that God gave to them. He said that they had recently received a donation to the ministry and that he wanted to tithe from that gift and give Amazon Outreach $2,000 for the expense of the Crusade. I remember doing a couple of things. The first is that I almost had a wreck because I could not believe what I was hearing and the second was the my eyes filled with tears. “Lord, what is this?Bridge Builders, a ministry to the needy – to the least of these with their own list of needs now coming to a ministry in another country and being a resource to provide for the lost of the Amazon?!” That day I learned another lesson from Mike Fechner about sacrificial giving.
A few months ago God put a burning desire in my heart to reciprocate that generosity Bridge Builders had shown. God opened the doors just two days ago for that opportunity that I would like to share with you. A foundation that helps ministries of Christ like Bridge Builders has committed up to a $25,000 matching grant for every dollar that is raised! If you were planning on giving $1 God has turned it into $2 for His needy children. If you want to step out in faith and give $1,000 or $10,000 God has provided a way to multiply that to $2,000 or $20,000!
I know that there has to be hundreds of you out there just like me who have especially during the last 6 months had a burning desire to encourage Mike, Laura, Velma and the host of faithful workers at Bridge Builders. Most of you are faithfully praying for the healing of our dear Brother. While I know that Mike would also like to see his cancer removed, I would venture to say that his heart’s desire is even more committed to seeing the cancer of poverty and broken hearts and those lost without Christ healed by the gift that God gave us when He died on the cross for our sins.
You will get a lot of ministry letters this time of year from many ministries that are on the front lines for Christ. Before you stick this newsletter in one of your piles around the house please just pray this simple prayer. “Lord teach me to give the way you would give. Use the gift that you challenge me to give today to encourage Mike and his ministry and the least of these that they work with right here in Dallas and around the world.”
Please pray for God to speak to His people about this amazing opportunity to advance the Gospel to the least. If you are interested in giving toward this matching grant, please e-mail my assistant manderwald@hisbb.org to enable us to exponentially advance the gospel this Christmas season. I am prayerful that we will never forget the joy of giving. Amazon Outreach is an amazing ministry advancing the Gospel along the Amazon river in Brazil to many people who have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ. By God’s grace I had the joy to go to this very city with two of my sons and meet the Pastor and share the Gospel with many who said: “Yes, I want Jesus to be my Savior & Lord.” What a joy it is to give our lives and our resources so that others may experience the amazing gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. There is no greater gift than the gift God gave when He sent His Son, Jesus. to save us from our sins. “Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross.” Only Jesus would count it joy to die for us so that we might live forever with Him. I pray that we will each experience the joy of giving this Christ season.
