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November 30, 2006
Throughout this year, Vision New
England’s Board of Directors has been asking God, “What is our
unique role in the region?” They have sensed that God is directing
Vision New England (VNE) to focus once again on the mission for
which they were originally founded over 130 years ago—fanning the
flames of evangelism in the region. They have also been seeking to
discern God’s direction about how to do that and believe that God
has given them a design for “Intentional Evangelism.” Primarily,
VNE will be working with pastors and churches, equipping them to
assess their current methods of evangelism, helping them to look at
other models of outreach, and providing resources to help churches
become focused on evangelism in ways that will be relevant to the
cultures and contexts in which they are serving.
As a result, VNE is changing its
organizational structure and is releasing most of its field
ministries, to either become their own non-profit organizations, or
to join with other national ministries.
What does that mean for Family
Builders Ministries? After being birthed almost 20 years ago and the
last 12 years as a ministry affiliated with Vision New England, God
is moving Family Builders Ministries into a new and revitalizing
season of marriage and family ministry.
On September 12th I
met with VNE president, Dr. David Midwood, and was informed of this
decision. It was not a complete shock to me as I have been watching
the change in direction and the strategy being considered. I left
the meeting with an excitement about how God was going to work it
all out for us. The next night I met with our Advisory Board in a
previously scheduled meeting. Talk about God’s timing! After a
significant time of conversation and prayer, we voted to establish
Family Builders Ministries as a non-profit corporation. Let me
quickly fill in what has since happened.
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With the help of a Christian attorney we have
become a duly chartered non-profit corporation and are applying
for tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service.
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On November 6 our nine-member Board of Directors
was legally established and I was elected President of Family
Builders Ministries.
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Mr. David McKiel, former Director of Finance at
VNE, is our accountant. He has a rich background in the
accounting field and we have total and complete confidence in
him. David will make sure that donations to Family Builders
Ministries will be accounted properly and that our finances will
be managed according to the same high standards as VNE.
While we did not initiate this change, Cindy and I
are thrilled with how everything has fallen into place so smoothly.
There has been extraordinary support and cooperation from everyone
involved in helping us transition into this next period of ministry.
We hope you will partner with us in prayer and in
the generous giving of your finances as we move out from under VNE’s
umbrella. We will continue to provide marriage and parenting
seminars and leadership training for local churches here in New
England, but we will expand into other fields as God permits.
You may be wondering about how to donate to FBM
under this new arrangement. Here are the key highlights of the
transition:
· I
will continue to receive my salary from the VNE account until
December 31. After that date I will be an employee of Family
Builders Ministries, Inc. and will be receiving my salary and
expenses as determined by the FBM Board of Directors.
· Starting
December 1, we are asking our friends to send their contributions to
our office (11 North Village Road, Cape Neddick, ME 03902) payable
to Family Builders Ministries, Inc. We
will continue to provide you with a receipt as in the past. If you
have already sent a gift to us via VNE this month, be assured that
we will get it.
· Our
funds at VNE will be transferred to Family Builders Ministries, Inc.
by December 31. Any funds for us that come to VNE’s office as
payable to VNE will be processed through our account there (less
their usual 12% administrative fee) and then transferred to the new
FBM account.
If you have any questions about what is happening,
please do not hesitate to call me at my office (207-361-1030). I
will be happy to clarify any concerns you may have.
Your partnership with us has resulted in much
praise to God. There are hundreds of marriages that have been saved
from the brink of destruction because you helped us go where God led
us. There are thriving marriage and family ministries in churches
across New England because God allowed us to provide training and
encouragement to those with the same passion as ours to see
Christian marriages and families living out a compelling portrait of
God’s love and grace in their communities. To God be the glory! Now
may He strengthen and expand our influence. |
