Tomorrow we embark
on InBounds Ministries March M.A.D.ness...
InBounds has been faithful in sharing the Gospel (the message of the Substitute God sent into
the game of life for us) and teaching God’s Word (The Playbook) for over 15 years; we continue to see many trust in
Christ and are truly building up disciples! (Lisa and I have been “full-time vocational status” as missionaries with
InBounds for 6 years…; We now have
another coach (Jon Morrow) that has answered God’s call to pursue “full-time
vocational status”; And we have others heading to the mission field through our
planned trips and Clay Burden heading overseas for 9 months [leaving this
coming August] as well.)
March M.A.D.ness
is our annual call to encourage each of you to help us Make A Difference…
One of the most difficult things about being a non-profit
ministry is the finances. Finances are necessary to fulfill the plan, yet
awkward to discuss. As the founder/director of InBounds it is definitely my
least favorite part of the “job.” Therefore my hope each year is to eliminate
as much of the need to discuss this as possible. The Month of March is
designated by our board as the time to focus on these needs so that in theory
we can spend more time focused on ministry the rest of the year… Simply put we
need your assistance.
There are
personnel needs… My contracted salary is kept as low as possible (with Lisa
and I picking up whatever part-time jobs we can.) We have another missionary
now beginning his raising of support and I asked him to set a goal that meets
his minimum needs. My son Clay will be serving as one of our InBounds
Ambassadors in the Dominican Republic from August until May of 2014 and needs
to raise a minimum of $10000… and then there are many young people we work with
that would love to join us on our ROCK’em Road Trips and could use scholarship
help .
There are travel
needs… When April hits I will begin a 5-month stretch where I will cover over
15,000 miles. During this time my focus needs to be on sharing God’s truths,
not raising funds. We also try to make sure that we cover the travel needs of
coaches/volunteers that travel with us. (And honestly I like at times for Lisa
and kids to travel as well.)
There are
operating expense needs… This includes vehicle maintenance, insurance,
products, literature, etc.
I ask the board each year to approve a budget that I can
honestly say is as basic as I can make it. We do not want to spend needlessly;
we do not need to stay in the finest hotels (in fact we often pitch a tent); we
do not to eat in the nicest establishments (Peter Pan peanut butter tubs from
SAM’s Club go a long way…); but we do need to be able to go share the Gospel!
In basketball an assist is often times referred to as a “dime.”
Brother, can
you spare a “dime”?
We are in need.
·
May I ask you to pray about helping to meet
those needs?
·
Would you consider being a part of our Booster Club via a one-time gift or
possibly even a commitment to monthly support?
·
Would you answer our Loose Ball Challenge that asks you to place your loose change in a
bucket for us?
·
Could you get your church or small group to
offer our Take the Shot Challenge
where we ask people simply to give $1, $2, or $3 to our work?
·
Would you consider designating support for our
newest missionary Jonathan Morrow?
·
Would you consider designating support for Clay Burden and his GAP year in the
Dominican?
·
If not
InBounds would you at least take the challenge to give to a worthy
Gospel-preaching, Bible-teaching ministry?
You see I cannot tell you where you should give of your
finances but I have no problem telling you that God does want you to support
ministry!
If you are interested in learning more about how you can
support InBounds Ministries (or specifically about one of our challenges)
please contact me at CoachBurden@gmail.com
I am praying for a
miraculous March M.A.D.ness! We are Making A Difference; would you join us?
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