May Newsletter
Dear Friends,
We need your help this month. The Covid-19 crisis has impacted the way each of us lives and how we go about our daily lives. It has also affected prefield missionaries and the way we go about raising the financial team needed to support our ministries. Most missionaries obtain financial support from both churches and individuals who commit to giving on a regular basis to their ministry. This is usually accomplished by visiting churches, sharing the ministry goals and needs, and meeting in person with individuals and families. Covid-19 has made these meetings and church visits very difficult to accomplish over the past few months.
Between March and May, we had scheduled eight church visits to share our ministry. All canceled, and at this point only one has rescheduled for the fall. New appointments have been hard to come by because of the unknown factors with lockdowns and their duration. Pastors are unsure how to get their everyday ministries back on track, and so most are not focusing on the additional complications of inviting a missionary to visit.
Why are we telling you all of this? It’s not so you can feel sorry for us. Ministry in The Gambia is likely to be far more difficult than what we are experiencing here with the disruptions in daily life. The reason is that we need your help raising the remaining 17% of our monthly support, so that we may leave for The Gambia when flights start opening back up. This may seem like an unusual request, but the times are quite unusual.
How can you help? Well, as we looked through our current supporters, we noticed that 47 are individuals or families. In fact, 57% of our financial support comes from individuals and only 43% comes from churches. We didn’t do that intentionally; it’s just the way God chose to provide. If God has been providing so many individuals to support our ministry than He could provide the remaining support during a time when visiting churches is almost impossible. That is where you come in. Many of you reading this already support our ministry financially. We are so thankful for your prayers and financial support!
So how can you help if you are already giving? You can refer others to our ministry. If each one of our current supporters referred a friend or family member and only half of them supported our ministry at $50 a month, we would be at 100% of our monthly support. Who do you know that is passionate about getting the gospel to the lost? How can you be a blessing by showing them an opportunity to reach more people through their financial gifts?
Proverbs 11:25 says, “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.” Those who give generously, God will bless. For example, two of our supporters recently choose to bless their adult children by inviting them to be a part of our ministry team. Many times, we think we are bringing a burden to people by asking them to give financially. This is not how we see it or how we think God sees it. People who give generously are blessed by God in ways that far surpass worldly wealth. By making them aware of new ways they can reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ, you can give them new opportunities to be generous with what God has provided.
A screenshot from our newly revamped video
As a way of introduction to our ministry, we have revamped one of our previous videos and shortened it so it may be easily shared. Here is the link https://youtu.be/bUUYqECtl_U for those reading this online. Consider what friends or family might be interested in our ministry and share this video. Follow up with them and tell them about what you do to support our ministry. We would love to speak with them, whether it be in person or via a Zoom call. These types of referrals and introductions are vital to helping us raise the final support for our ministry during Covid-19. Please consider sharing this video with as many people who God lays on your heart. In addition, we will be posting this video on Facebook, so please share the post and maybe even tag some people who you think might be interested. You may also refer them to our website, www.ReedsforChrist.com/give, where we have uploaded some new video testimonies from current supporters of our ministry. The introduction video is also on the home page of the website if you are reading this offline in paper format.
Covid-19 has certainly caused some major disruptions, but maybe with your help, God will use this to bring in the remaining support for our ministry. If you are not a monthly supporter yet, consider making that commitment. We are very close to reaching our final goal and starting this new ministry among the Gambian people. You can be a major part of that through your financial gifts. In addition, please pray frequently for our ministry. We believe strongly in the power of prayer. Even if you cannot give financially, your prayers can have a major impact on raising our support, reaching The Gambia, and reaching the lost for Christ.
Prayer Requests
Pray that God will raise up the remaining 17% of support so we may depart for The Gambia this year.
Pray that God would use this coronavirus for His glorious purposes and that we would cooperate with His plan.
Pray about who you can share our ministry with and encourage to become financial partners.
Pray for our ministries in the U.S. and that we would still be able to minister well to people through this pandemic.
In Christ,
The Reeds
Patrick, Michele, Alyssa, Danielle, Luke
