Just Think About It
Tony Campolo was speaking to a conference of about 300 women. Before he was to speak the president of the organization was giving updates and read a moving letter from a missionary. The missionaries had spoke of their need for $4,000. The president said, “We need to pray that the Lord will provide the resources to meet the need of this missionary. Brother Campolo will you pray for us?” Tony Campolo very simply said “No!”. Taken back, the women said, “I beg your pardon.” Again he said, “No, I won’t pray for that.” He said, “I believe that God has already provided these resources and all we need to do is give. I tell you what I am going to do. I’m going to step up to this table and give every bit of the money I have in my pocket. And if all of you do the same, I think we will find that God has already provided.” The president of the organization nervously laughed and said, “Well, I guess we get the point. He’s trying to teach us that we all need to give sacrificially.” “No,” said Tony, “that is not what I am trying to teach you. I’m trying to teach you that God has already provided for this missionary. All we need to do is give it. Here, I’m going to put down all of my money I have with me.” He put down the $15 he had in his pocket and then looked at the organization’s president. She reluctantly opened her purse and took out the $40 she had, and put it on the table. The rest of the women walked one by one up to the table and laid their money down, too. When the money was counted they had collected more than the required $4,000. Tony looked at them again and said, “Now here’s the lesson. God always supplies our needs, and He supplied for this missionary, too. The only problem was we were keeping it for ourselves. Now let’s pray and thank God for His provision.”
Update on the ministry in McGrath, Alaska – Still shooting for December 1!
Spoke with the church today and things are really progressing. Everyone has come together and really been busy tying up all the small things that need to be done in the parsonage. All the construction stuff is being moved out and next week the big cleaning of the parsonage begins. The only construction that needs to be completed is the indoor plumbing, which is about 90% complete. The hold up is the city hookup of the water to the house. There has been a “changing of the guard” at the city water works and they hope to talk to one of the other water works guys on Thursday of this week. After the city does their thing it will take about four hours to get water running in the parsonage! This has been a major issue and it just does not seem like it is a priority to the city. Please pray that the new guy at the city will see the importance of getting this finished!
We are making good progress on the furnishing for the parsonage. I have been in contact with the Fred Meyer store in Anchorage and they are working very hard to get us good prices, not only on the furnishings, but the freight as well! If we can buy the major stuff at one place it will save on the freight to McGrath. Freight rates run about $0.80 to $1.00 per pound shipped. So you can see that discounts are very critical.
I have set up lists, similar to wedding and baby shower registries, on the Walmart and Target websites. If you would like to contribute to furnishing the parsonage you can check these sites for what is needed. The things we are working on: sofa and love seat, arm chair, bed and mattresses, dresser and end tables, cookware and flatware. If you would to provide any of the other items on the lists it would be much appreciated.
To access either list:
Target paste this link into your browser
http://www.target.com/targetlists#public/fc9384bad0d949e8bdb5fee45d0df2ba
Walmart Go to www.walmart.com; Click on Lists at the top of the page; In the Pop-up box select Find A List; Type in mason (last name box, lower case) and Alaska (state box); Select McGrath Community Church Parsonage – this will open the list
If you would like make a contribution to the furnishing the parsonage, make your check out to McGrath Community Church and note on the check “Parsonage Furnishings”. You can mail your check to McGrath Community Church, P.O. Box 82, McGrath, AK 99627.
Website Update
We are getting close to having the website up and running. Hopefully, by the end of next week we will have it active. One of the big things we are working on is online giving. This will allow donations and contributions to done safe and secure online. We are hoping to have the ability to setup recurring donations. Check back to the blog for more details
Fund Raising
I want to thank all of you that have given financially to this work. However, we still need partners to help with the monthly expenses, or a one-time gift. Please prayerfully consider how the Lord may want you to help with this incredible opportunity to partner with us and reach the bush village of McGrath, Alaska for Jesus!
If you have any questions, or would like more information, please give us a call at (334) 543-2000 Home, or (334) 292-0090 Mike US Cell / (907) 574-0624 Alaska Cell, or email us at [email protected]. We would love to speak to your church, Sunday School class, or Small Group about the work in McGrath.
Have a great week!