10 Jun Good News and Bad News
By Phil Waldron, CEO
As you know, earlier this year we received an incredibly, generous pledge of $500,000 towards the construction of the new medical clinic and church building project here in Santa Rosa de Copán. The pledge was issued by a couple who believe strongly in the power of missionary medicine as one very effective form of fulfilling the Great Commission. This couple, in addition to being very generous, are also business owners who know the value of “challenging” others to give as a response to their own generous giving. Knowing something about their lives and character, I think I could say that they feel an obligation to steward their blessings in a way that increases God’s kingdom. “Leveraging” their giving by challenging others to match their very generous gift is one way that they are fulfilling their roles as Stewards of all that God has blessed them with in their business.
The attitude of this couple challenging others (all be it anonymously) reminds me of the events that are recorded in the final verses of chapter four and the first eleven verses of chapter five of the book of Acts. Barnabas, and many others, openly and publicly sold parcels of land that they owned and then they “publicly” donated proceeds from the sale to the church. This generosity on their part challenged others in the church to do the same as a “spurring one another on to good works.” Unfortunately, Ananias and Sapphira imitated their generosity, but at the last moment after the sales was completed and they had the money in their hands, they succumbed to greed and gave part of the proceeds but kept back the rest while lying and claiming that they had given it all.
The lessons that we can learn from their example are best left for another article in the future, but what I want to emphasize here is that through his leadership in generosity, Barnabas encouraged others to give by his example. He is the only person mentioned by name, so it seems logical that he was the first or the most public in his example of giving. However, he was not alone because in 4:34 the Scripture says, “as many as were owners of lands….sold them,” indicating that many people did the same thing….although perhaps they didn’t give “all” of the proceeds as Barnabas did. (It’s possible that they did give all the proceeds, but that is not the point that I am trying to draw from the example here.)
Our benefactor has generously challenged the public to match their giving, just like Barnabas and the others mentioned in Acts 4. As a result, many have responded with their own generous pledge or donation, each according to his or her ability. Unfortunately, as of May 31st we were still short of our goal by a large margin. However, due to the flexibility of our benefactors and due to the request of some others who are considering large pledges of their own, we have been granted another 30 days to complete the challenge response. That means that we now have until the end of June to raise the remaining number of pledges to maximize the matching response.
So, I would like to ask you, if you have not already pledged or given towards this particular initiative, please consider making a generous contribution or pledge towards helping us meet this goal.
We are asking for pledges to be given over the remainder of this year and over the 2023 calendar year as well. That means that once you make a pledge, you have 18 months to complete it.
We need your help. Please email me today at: [email protected] and let me know how much you are willing to pledge towards this cause. To donate, you can go online at missionupreach.org/online-giving and give through the new button we have created for this project. You can also send a check to: Mission UpReach, Inc., 3221 Dundee Road, Longview TX 75604.
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