Director's Web Blog

I don’t cry at weddings-guys just don’t do that sort of thing.  But as I sat with Carole in the Evergreen Community Church, a church served by Village Missions in beautiful Redland, Oregon, tears began to flow down my cheeks as I learned more of this remarkable couple who stood before the congregation to exchange vows. 

Consider, Travis, the groom.  Travis grew up in a godly Christian home, a farm family in eastern Washington.  In High School Travis became convinced that God was leading him to some type of vocational Christian ministry.  Acting upon that conviction, he applied and was accepted at Moody Bible Institute.  God soon directed him into pastoral ministry and then, more specifically, into rural ministry.

I met Travis when he was in his junior year and John James and I were representing Village Missions at the annual Missions Conference.  Travis was interested in learning more about Village Missions.  The chair of the Pastoral Department, Dr. John Koessler, highly recommended him.  We had just changed our policy about accepting single young men.  Believing that God was leading him to Village Missions, Travis applied and we accepted him.  We assigned him to serve an internship of one year with Village Missionaries Tony and Kathy Pinkham, serving in Kettle Falls, WA.

Consider now Jennifer, the bride.  She is the daughter of Village Missionaries Steve and Lisa Rief.  She felt from an early age that God wanted her to be the wife of a Village Missionary.  But where was he?  In High school she patiently waited upon God.  Each year at staff conference at Cannon Beach, as I addressed the teens and challenged them to become Village Missionaries, she would be one of the teen girls that would say, “But we have to have a husband that wants to be a Village Missionary!”

Jennifer attended Ecola Bible School and still she waited.  Even at Ecola, none of the guys wanted to be a pastor.  Feeling that being a pastor’s wife was what God called her to be, she waited.  There was even a rock on the beach and Jennifer would go there, sitting on the rock, reading her Bible and praying.  Jennifer’s rock was not the rock she sat upon but the Rock of her salvation.  She cast herself upon that Rock, believing that if He had called her to that role then He would provide for her.  Would He?

Tony and Kathy Pinkham arrived at Cannon Beach in June 2008 for what would be our last staff conference for at least some time.  Travis stayed behind in Kettle Falls.  But as Kathy renewed ties with the Rief family at staff conference, and specifically Jennifer, she thought of Travis.  She mentioned Travis to Jennifer and he soon began to e-mail her.  They continued e-mailing and then met in person last September.

Now this young couple was standing in front of the congregation entering into the marriage covenant, led in the ceremony by Jennifer’s dad, Steve.  Their kiss, after Steve pronounced them husband and wife, was their first kiss.  They had waited until that time.

It was a holy moment and tears ran down my cheeks.  Holy, because it was before the body of Christ, faithfully ministered to by Village Missionaries over the years, and specifically by Jennifer’s parents, Steve and Lisa, since 1995.  Holy, because godly parents had raised them both in homes where Christ was preeminent.  Holy, because both were obeying God’s call to serve as Village Missionaries.  Holy, because both had waited upon God with trust and perseverance.  Holy, because we in the congregation powerfully glimpsed how much God cares about our individual lives, how much He cares about His church, how much He cares about marriage as the picture of His church, and yes, how much He cares about calling young couples to the great task of keeping country churches alive.

His act of generosity and sacrifice so inspired the early church that they started to call him Barnabas, for the encouragement he had provided through his selfless gift.  Evidently, a wealthy man, he had taken sold some land and given the money to the Apostles. 

Later, in Acts 9:27, he would see the potential in a broken but redeemed man named Saul.  Through subsequent years, Barnabas would mentor Saul, who later would be called Paul.  It is hard to underestimate the impact of Paul, but much of it was owed to a wealthy man who took him under his wing.  The Bible describes Barnabas as a “good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (Acts 11:24).

I’ve just met some modern day men and women who are like Barnabas.  In fact, they belong to the Barnabas Group.  The tag line for the Barnabas Group is “where marketplace leaders meet ministry opportunity.”  It is a ministry that helps ministries.  From their website:

The Barnabas Group  was created to bring diverse value to ministries locally and globally.  We provide our members with ongoing opportunities to use their time, gifts, abilities, network and/or resources to support pre-screened Christian ministries.

I presented the ministry of Village Missions at the San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles Barnabas Groups recently.  Several other ministries, large and small, local and international presented their work.  No one entertained these men and women.  They were there to learn about our various ministries and come alongside the ministries to provide help.

Actually, it was an extraordinary thing for me to observe.  So often, we have to entertain Christians or provide some sort of “dog and pony show” to get Christians to attend a meeting.  However, these Christian men and women came to learn how they could in some way partner with a Christian ministry that needed their help.  I came away from the meetings not only blessed by their help but also blessed by the reality that they were there to help!  If you are a Christian businessperson or professional reading this, I encourage you to learn more by going to their website at http://www.barnabasgroup.org/.

The Apostle Paul expected nothing but difficulty.  He only anticipated “chains and tribulations.”  Every step brought him nearer to trouble and hardship.  Yet, in his farewell address to the Ephesian elders, he made clear that nothing would stop him from fulfilling his God-given ministry.  He tells them,

But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.  (Acts 20:24)

No fearful prospect swayed Paul from his course.  Paul knew that he found joy, not in hanging on to his life but in letting it go in service to the King.  He kept focused on only one thing-fulfilling his God-given ministry of testifying to the gospel of the grace of God.

God has given us, Village Missionaries and Village Missions as a whole, the ministry of testifying to the gospel of the grace of God to rural and once rural communities throughout the United States and Canada.  As I reflect on our history, I have no doubt that we have received this ministry from the Lord.  As I reflect on how God is at work on our fields, I have no doubt that He would have us continue testifying to the gospel of the grace of God. 

For example, I think of the rodeo cowboy and town drunk, Sam (I’m changing his name and the missionary’s name for obvious reasons) that came to Christ recently on one of our fields.  People were afraid of Sam when he went on one of his drinking binges.  Dennis, the Village Missionary, prayed with him when he was in the shoot, ready to ride the bucking bronc.  He won grand prize that day!  The next Sunday Sam was in church and he continued to show up most Sundays.  A few months later, in a drunken stupor, he was somehow shot in the leg.  He decided to dig the bullet out himself rather than go to the hospital.  Sam spent the long hours of the next days recuperating and thinking about his life.  He finally realized that he could have a different life and he went forward the next Sunday in church, loudly proclaiming that he had trusted Christ!

On the road into this cowboy’s ranch is a sign warning, “Trespassers Will Be Shot.”  But the newly saved rodeo cowboy carved “Except for Dennis” underneath “Trespassers Will Be Shot.”  

In some ways, it seems like our society has a big sign warning, “Trespassers Will Be Shot!”  Village Missions faces one of our most difficult time in our sixty-year history.  The loss of so much income from Stonecroft is a major challenge, but we also face many other obstacles to ministry in our post-Christian world.  Al Mohler discussed the recently released American Religious Identification Survey in his March 2009 blog (http://www.albertmohler.com/blog).  He considered the survey’s finding that now 27% of Americans expect a secular funeral.  He wrote:

The researchers are surely right to see this trend as related to a decline in “personal concerns about salvation.”  If anyone needed proof that many Americans now operate out of a secular worldview, this single data point should suffice.  There can be little doubt that when 27% of Americans “do not expect a religious funeral at their death,” this does indicate an absence of religious concern at the point of death.  Millions of Americans expect to die without God.

In a previous blog, commenting about this study Mohler concludes:

In any event, the ARIS report draws our attention to one great and undeniable fact — we are living in the midst of a vast mission field for the Gospel.  Of course, we should have known that all along.

For sixty years we have known that our two countries are a “vast mission field for the Gospel.”  No matter what obstacle or difficulty, mission wide or on an individual field, we simply must persevere, like the Apostle Paul, in our God-given ministry of testifying to the gospel of the grace of God.  People like Sam, who used to be the town drunk, but is now a new babe in Christ, impel us to continue.  It will be our joy!

The Board of Village Missions met via conference call on March 2 to discuss the elimination of Stonecroft funding for Village Missions resulting in the loss of $40,000 per month to Village Missions.

Although February financial reports are not complete, the Mission’s income continues to do well.  The Board felt it was not necessary to make any changes to this year’s budget, which ends in June.  I praise the Lord for the way He has been moving people to give to Village Missions. 

Anticipating the possibility of a complete cutoff in funds, the Board had appointed a committee at its meeting in November to consider the implications of the loss of all funding from Stonecroft.  This committee had completed much of its work before we received word that funding was indeed being eliminated.  They had developed a “brainstorming list” of cost savings and revenue enhancement that they then presented to the administration for estimates of savings/revenue and reaction to the concepts.  The administration also added some additional possibilities for savings and revenue. 

Each item was discussed during the two-hour long conference call without the pressure of having to make a decision.  Some items were determined to be “worst-case” scenarios that are not needed in light of our current financial position.  The Board did decide to increase the operational service fee for incoming missionaries to $300 per month. 

The Board and administration have three goals in mind:  1) Making any cuts as equitable as possible for everyone (For example, lowering the minimum base salary would only effect missionaries on below minimum base fields and thus would not be equitable), 2) continuing to advance our mission of keeping country churches alive, and 3) keeping the mission financially sound. 

Please continue to be in prayer for Village Missions.  As is always the case, God is as much at work in the adversity He allows as in the prosperity He brings.  Any input you have would be very much appreciated.  I am deeply appreciative of all those who have e-mailed me or posted words of encouragement and prayer!

Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “God’s grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers. Saints bear up under every discouragement, believing that all things work together for their good, and that out of apparent evils a real blessing shall ultimately spring—that their God will either work a deliverance for them speedily, or most assuredly support them in the trouble, as long as He is pleased to keep them in it. This patience of the saints proves the power of divine grace.”

Every morning our staff at our Village Missions’ office has devotions and prayer.  Today, February 27, we read in Oswald Chamber’s devotion: “The thing that approaches the very limits of His power is the very thing we as disciples of Jesus ought to believe He will do.”  Village Missions has entered a time of believing Jesus for something that stretches our faith.

Stonecroft Ministries notified us recently that financial support for Village Missions will end effective March 31, 2009.  This will result in a loss of income to Village Missions of $40,000 per month.  The giving from Stonecroft Canada to Village Missions Canada remains unchanged at this point.

Our mission has enjoyed a “family” relationship with Stonecroft since our founding in 1948.  Helen Duff Baugh, founder of Stonecroft Ministries and Rev. Walter Duff Jr., founder of Village Missions, brother and sister, both had a deep burden for country churches and reaching country people with the Gospel.  For many years Village Missions was the project of Stonecroft Ministries, providing extensive prayer and financial support to Village Missions and to Village Missionaries.  Village Missions could never have affected so many communities and lives for Jesus Christ without the support of Stonecroft.  You can read more about the history of Village Missions at this link.

Stonecroft has decided to focus its efforts and resources on “encouraging and equipping women to impact their communities with the Gospel so that women and their families not only know Christ, but share Him with others.”  We will be praying that the Lord will bless those efforts and provide the needed resources for them to fulfill that vision.

Village Missions, as the Lord provides, will continue its calling to keep country churches alive.  The need is great.  North America, and especially rural North America, is an increasingly needy mission field.  Churches in rural areas are closing throughout our land.  Broken lives bear grim testimony to the despair of trying to live life without Jesus Christ.

The opportunities are great.  I have seen the hope of Jesus Christ brought to community after community through the ministry of Village Missions.  We send a dedicated couple to a church that asks for our help.  We provide salary and other forms of support so that our Village Missionary can devote his full energy to “Preaching the Word and loving the people.”  People come to Christ, their lives are changed, and even the community is transformed.  The people of Helix, OR learned this when Village Missions sent a dedicated couple to live in their town.

Years ago Hudson Taylor said, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”  I truly believe that God will supply the needs for the important ministry of Village Missions.

Recently I’ve received some links that have been a blessing to me and I pass them on to you.

 A retired Village Missionary passed on the devotion in Our Daily Bread for January 24, 2009 entitled Small Is Beautiful.  The title says it all.  I know for a fact in meeting Village Missionaries that He has sent “His best workers to labor for a lifetime in some small place.”

Breton Murphy, Village Missionary in Nova Scotia, sent me a link to an article on SermonCentral.com entitled “Six Benefits of Not Changing Churches” by Dean Shriver.  Discussing the first benefit of a long stay Shriver writes:

Unfortunately, our cultural disregard for commitment has infected the American Church. As pastors, we loathe the consumerism and the “what’s in it for me” attitude that causes many to drift from church to church, seeking “God-honoring music,” a better youth group or a place where they can finally “be fed” (whatever that means). But in a day when pastors on average change churches every five to eight years, is it possible that we’re part of the problem, too? Where can believers see what long-term commitment looks like if they can’t see it in the example of their pastors?

Finally, John Adams, Village Missionary serving Hauser Community Church in Hauser, Oregon sent me this insight about long-term stays:

This is from Western Seminary’s quarterly newsletter: The executive director of the Association of Theological Schools, Dr. Daniel Aleshire reports that by a conservative estimate, a pastor who spends 30 years in congregational ministry will likely touch the lives of up to 100,000 individuals.  I’m sure a lot of that influence is second-hand and generational, but it’s still a tremendous impact for the Kingdom.

So, keep on keeping on and do so even if God has placed you in a so-called little place!

When tragedy struck Helix, Pastor Mac was there. This video vividly illustrates the difference a dedicated Village Missionary can make in a community. It also raises the question, “What would happen if this church had closed?”

One responsibility I have as Executive Director is talking to donors to Village Missions.  I am especially busy doing this toward the end of the year and at the beginning of the year.  Normally talking on the phone is not my favorite activity.  I would much rather visit in person, but I have enjoyed these year-end and year-beginning phone calls.  I have enjoyed them because I have met person after person (over the phone) who fulfill 2 Corinthians 9:7.  It has been so encouraging to me to meet so many cheerful givers.

For example, I talked to one individual who gave a generous gift to Village Missions and to a Village Missionary.  Years ago, he had heard this missionary present the project at a Christian Women’s Club meeting.  God touched his heart about this couple and about our ministry and he has given to both over the years.  He couldn’t say enough about this couple and about our Mission.  He said to me, “I love what you do in going to little communities.  You are a “five-star” mission!”  Boy, that comment made my day!  What a cheerful giver!

In my calling, I sometimes have the privilege of witnessing “God-incidences.”  I called one first time donor from Dallas, Texas.  I learned that David L. was the son of Village Missionaries Roy and Amanda L.  David spoke highly of his time growing up as a Village Missionary kid.  He expressed to me how thankful he was that he could now give to our mission.  He mentioned that he was a boyhood friend of David Duff, president of Ecola Bible School and son of our founder, Rev. Walter Duff, and asked about him as well as other Village Missionaries.  I was able to give him some contact information so that he could renew ties with missionaries he had known.

The next morning I was going through my Inbox, which always has a mysterious way of filling to overflowing.  I found a wonderful card from a couple thanking me for the ministry Village Missions has had in their life.  I could hardly believe it as I read:

 We loved the card VM sent out to us this year.  So reminds us of Camp Creek Church.  We first attended in 1974 after just building a home here on Camp Creek that year.  We wanted to be a part of community here and what better place to begin at church.  My husband, came to accept Jesus into his heart as his personal savior under Ray and Amanda L’s pastoring-we shared so many wonderful times with them, especially thru a Bible study in our home.

How about that!  Just after talking with the their son, I read a note about the impact of his parents!  What a privilege I have of glimpsing how God has used Village Missions in people’s lives!

Webb returned my call after I called him to thank him for a note he had written with his gift.  I wrote about his note in a previous blog.

You can tell by his note and by talking to him on the phone that Webb truly loves the Lord.  He knew Rev. Duff and was so appreciative of the ministry of Village Missions.  He thanked me for sending Richard and Ellen Hayes to Foothills Community Church, where he attends.  As we talked, I learned that he was a rock hound.  I discovered that he had dug for “star garnets” in Fernwood, ID where Carole and I lived and attended the Fernwood Community Bible Church, which is still served by Village Missions.  He even knew my next-door neighbor, Shorty Sextant, who had a tourist garnet digging enterprise on No-Name Creek.  Shorty was quite a character and we had fun reminiscing about him.  Another reminder of the small world we live in made much brighter by godly men like Webb.

Well, as I write this, the economic news is not improving.  I am sure Village Missions will continue to face financial challenges.  However, I am just as sure, as I talk with these “cheerful givers” that God is gathering a mighty band who will pray for and support this ministry in the coming year.

I received this note with what most would consider a small gift of $10 to Village Missions:

Dear Brian,

This little mite is truly all this 90 yr. old man can give, but it is given with love and appreciation for VM.  I became a member almost 40 yrs ago, and have supported in the past.  But now I really have no past, just a very bright future with my Lord.

In His Wonderful Love,

Webb

May we all have such an attitude of trust!

With a sense of urgency, our Village Missionary broke through the door.  What he found inside was heartbreaking.  Village Missionary Greg “Mac” McCallum told his congregation what he discovered in an e-mail.

I have to share some bad news with you.  This morning Mr. Petersen didn’t show up for our weight training class.

Mr. Petersen taught PE to students in grades 4 through 12 and social studies in their local school.  Mac went on . . .

After knocking on his door with no response, I dismissed the kids and went home.  Two hours later the school called me and said he still had not shown up.  I’m very sad to tell you when I broke through his door I found he had shot himself. 

This tragedy stunned the small town of Helix, Oregon.  It shocked the high school students and staff, and deeply saddened the entire community.  I wrote about this event in a previous blog without identifying the town, If the Church Had Closed, but now the information is public. 

John Petersen had been raised in Salem and graduated from Western Oregon State College, now Western Oregon University and Willamette University’s College of Law.  He was 38 years old . . . planning to coach next year’s newly started football team.

Mr. Petersen’s death was a huge loss.

These kinds of terrible things can happen any day, any place.  What happened next is what I want to tell you about . . .

But first, let me give you a bit of background about Village Missions’ involvement in Helix, Oregon. 

A couple years ago, I stopped at the Helix Community Church as I was traveling through the area.  They were a great group of believers, but struggling to keep the church open.  Earlier this year they asked for our help.  In March, we sent Village Missionaries Mac and his wife Julie there.

The church was down to 6 people . . . Village Missions was their last hope before closing their door.  But because of caring Christians, they have a full-time pastor!  

On one of the hardest days Helix ever faced, a Village Missionary was there. 

• Mac was the first person the school called when Mr. Petersen didn’t show up.  
• After the district crisis team went home, Mac was still there, and folks came to him because he’s part of their little town. 
• Most of the young people at the school had never dealt with death, especially someone they knew.  They came to Mac with their questions about heaven. 
• Mac spoke at John Petersen’s memorial service in the school gym . . . some 200 people came and heard a Gospel message.

Mac would be the first to tell you that he’s not some kind of superhero.  He’s just a guy who was willing to invest in people who call Helix their home.  He felt God called his family there.  Now he’s a part of the community and part of God’s work there.   

What would Helix have done if there had been no Gospel-preaching church there?  Who would the school kids and many others have gone to with their questions about God and eternity?  Where would they have found comfort and hope?

I want to say thank you to all who make it possible for Village Missions to help people like the folks in Helix.  There aren’t words enough . . . because eternity hangs in the balance.  You’ve helped people come to faith in Jesus Christ.  You’ve made such a difference! 

It’s thrilling that Village Missions is being asked for help in other places like Helix - places where God needs a voice.  I’m asking you to join with me so we can say yes to them, too.

We have 84 mission fields today that are unable to pay their pastor’s full support.  Village Missions pays the balance.  We must do all we can to fully fund these and be prepared to say yes to folks that may need to close down their church without our help.

Would you pray about becoming a partner with us in keeping country churches alive?  If you would like to give to Village Missions, you can do so at this link.  Thank you!