The Madness Continues
March 2023 ~ Still Rejoicing
Introduction
Last month's madness will continue right into March. It has nothing to do with the college basketball playoffs coming up. The madness continues five months after Hurricane Ian for those who live in Southwest Florida and still suffer from the storm's damage. Repairs to our home are not completed. We need your prayer.
Life's Burdens. My Failure. Encouragement!
Life's Burdens.
Our life has been more difficult than most of you know. I won't go into everything. One thing I will share is that we were financially scammed. I am always on the lookout for crooks on the internet. A bank representative called to inform us that our account had been victimized. We talked daily for over a week so he could keep us informed of the international thieves who were taking money from our business account. A simple trip to our bank the following week revealed what was happening. The trusted person on the other end of the phone was the thief. He was just one cog in a circle of international ring of thieves. The phone's caller ID even identified him to be from our bank. He just about emptied our whole business account. We could hardly function. Early on, we wondered if we would have to shut down the ministry temporarily.
During these six weeks, compounded upon Hurricane Ian's damages to our home, I had let myself slip into a state of worry. I have gone through most of my life not worrying about too much. Even though my major life issues had amounted to the loss of a ministry and my health issues (shingles, doctor-induced overdose of medicine for shingles that physically damaged my heart, complete thyroid removal, ministroke, encapsulated cancer in my face, and right knee replacement). There are more life issues to add, but you get the idea. These past few weeks weighed me down, down into a state of worry. A place where I wouldn't normally be found. I had very little focus and lots of worry. I lost my drive. I was exhausted both physically and mentally.
My Failure.
Worry is a sin. The following thoughts needed to be refreshed in my heart and mind repeatedly. My life belongs to God. My health belongs to God. My finances belong to God. My ministry belongs to God. My marriage and family belong to God. I am so glad that the Lord forgives and restores!
Why did I worry? Worry happened when I put my life issues before God Himself. It was a slow, daily attack that I was unaware of while it was happening. I have realized I don't like Satan's demon dart called worry. It led to a feeling of doubt and caused me to question my ability to serve the Lord. It caused my creative abilities to suffer, and it slowed my effectiveness in the ministry. I am on the other side of all that negativity now.
Encouragement!
I rejoice to say that all of the stolen funds have been returned. The culprit however remains free to steal money from others.
I want to thank a few of you, who will go unnamed, for listening to my plight over the last few weeks. Thanks for your encouragement. Thanks for the shared Bible verses. Some even contacted us to offer financial help. You will never know what that meant to us. We didn't need to have financial help from outside sources, other than the Lord. We didn't have to bring the ministry to a temporary close. We are so thankful for our readers who have become and remain friends.
Life can become overwhelming. I leave you with this encouraging thought from one of our board members. Maybe it will be an encouragement to you as it was to us.
I'll take the state of peace over worry any day!
My friends, be alert to Satan's darts. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Philippians 4:6
You are part of a faithful group.
We thank you for your interest in our ministries. We are so glad that you are here. You are among many readers who come from various walks of life.
- Accountants
- Authors
- Boat captains and their crew
- Church Ministry Solutions board members
- Church secretaries
- College friends
- College administrators & professors
- Deacons, Trustees, and their wives
- Donors to our ministry
- Evangelists
- Family members
- Golf instructor
- Law enforcement
- Medical Doctors, hospital personnel, & pharmacists
- Ministry leaders
- Missionaries
- Neighbors of ours
- Parents
- Pastors and their wives
- Prayer warriors
- Proofreaders
- Retired men and women
- Salesmen
- Self-employed
- Senior adults
- Supporting church pastors
- Store managers
- Teachers
- Witnessing partners
- Youth Pastors
FEBRUARY Reviews
and DONATIONS WE MADE TO OTHERS WITH YOUR HELP
PRINTING MINISTRY REVIEW:
• Printing projects for (15) churches/ministries or individuals/businesses (6)
- Churches/ministries: 31,002 complete pieces (two outdoor banners)
- Little Messages / CMS Quality Tracts printed = 34,000 pieces.
- Individuals/businesses: 11,520 pieces
- TOTAL for February = 76,522 pieces
MAILED TO THE MAILBOXES OF THE MINISTRY'S CHOOSING:
• Mailings (14,850) total pieces were sent to homes and businesses via Every Door Direct Mail in Florida.
• Direct mailing pieces = (00) 000 pieces
DONATION REVIEW:
• We printed and sent FREE missionary prayer cards to a new missionary from Portsmouth, Virginia
During February, we donated our time to help ...
... those who needed help with their graphic arts programs, especially Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. We can also assist with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint programs. By the way, we only use PC programs in our work. This is a monthly occurrence.
... everyone with their print projects. We always correct customers' print file projects rather than returning them so they can fix their issues. We make sure each print job is the right size (if the print goes to the edge, we make sure they added .125 inches, making a 4 x 6 job, 4.125 x 6.125); move text when it is too close to the edge; and we change files if they were submitted as RGB, instead of CMYK. The list of technical help goes on to ensure that each customer receives the best print job possible. We invest much time and effort into this and don't charge extra.
Ministry Highlights
Faithful Life Publishers • Church Ministry Solutions • Faithful Life Club
I am not going to report what is going on in our ministry currently. February has been a busy month as you can imagine. Espeicially, if you look at how much printing we have done during the month. While the newsletter helps to keep me focused, it also drains me of precious time to invest into others.
We will keep you caught up next month.
MARCH and APRIL EVENTS
Be mindful of special days and holidays that might stress a need for passing out tracts and Little Messages. Personally, I don't recognize St. Patrick's Day as a Christian holiday. Easter is coming in April; what a great time to reach the lost with tracts like these.
We will be glad to print all of our tracts with your church information on them. Be sure to come to Church Ministry Solutions to see all of our tract solutions!
DONATE to CMS and RECEIVE Free Little Message tracts
• $20 gift, we will send you 2) 50-pack of your choosing.
• $50 contribution will receive 5) 50-packs of your choosing.
• $100 donation will receive 1,000 tracts of your choosing.
Contact us, and we will discuss the options with you.
Donations and Prayer
CLICK TO READ: CONTRIBUTIONS ARE NEEDED.
We sense that there will be a large need in the days ahead as we strive to do more printing for ministries in need.
Donate to Church Ministry Solutions thru the BetterWorld platform.
We thank BetterWorld for its donation platform. Please click on the link below to contribute to our ministry.
churchministrysolutions.betterworld.org
Would you prefer to use PAYPAL for your donation?
The blue “PAYPAL” link above will guide you to Paypal.
CLICK to read about MINISTRY PRAYER REQUESTS.
These three ministries continue to need printing from us. Please pray for them and consider a love gift so that we may be able to assist them more.
The ICE BOAT had its first venture of 2023 in February. They went out to provide ice, snacks, and water bottles to the many fishing on the river.
Be praying for these days of outreach; not only in sharing these items but also the "good news" of Jesus Christ and giving out Bibles. Please pray that those we share with will be receptive in listening to and accepting God's gift of salvation and eternal life.
BECA PAPE writes in her newsletter, "I have reached 40% of my support in just 7 months of traveling! God has shown Himself very real and powerful on my behalf, and I am so excited to see what He has in store for the future!" My words are in italics.
SEA HOPE: Next for Sea Hope is a trip to the BVI for the annual ship's haul out in late March. Please pray this will be a successful time, as we have several things to repair.
Our next scheduled mission is in late June, taking a medical missions team back to Haiti. We covet your prayers for that.
Thank You
FOR YOUR CONTINUED INTEREST!
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for letting us send our newsletter to you. I trust this issue informed you of our ever-expanding ministry and that you will better appreciate what we are trying to do for the Lord and you.
We would appreciate your thoughts on ways to improve our ...
... Solutions to Serve the Savior and this newsletter!
Can you think of a ministry that might benefit from our newsletter or services? Please share the newsletter with them or let us know who they are.
