As we face the coming storm

As the worldwide economic storm seems to grow ever darker, it seems to me that there are two, equally wrong, options that I could take as the CEO of The Voice of the Martyrs.

First, is to panic and act as if God does not exist.  Yes, we may have to face some cost-cutting measures.  Yes, we will need to expand our supporter base.  But decisions will be made carefully and with considerable prayer and deliberation.  We will not violate our values of integrity and faithfulness to God in the face of economic hardships and uncertainty.

The second danger would be to act as if it were "business as usual"  or crying "full steam ahead" and calling it faith. As I mentioned, keeping costs down and finding ways of increasing the number of those who receive our monthly newsletter will need to be priorities in the coming months or longer.  The way of wisdom is to know the times and act accordingly.  Acting in faith, yes.  But faith does not mean claiming promises that God has not made. 

One approach you will not see me take is the one exemplified in this cartoon.

As we look ahead, what can you do to stand with us? The needs of the persecuted will not stop and we will need to continue to stand with them in their time of need.  First, you can pray that we will have the wisdom to know God's priorities for us and how He wants to direct us in the days to come.  Second, if you have friends and neighbours whom you think might be interested in our ministry, let us know or encourage them to sign up for our free monthly newsletter.  Let them know that we will never pressure them to give to our mission, telephone them or send fundraising letters to them.  We simply let people know what is going on around the world with God's persecuted church.  We then show how Canadians are already getting involved in showing their love for their suffering family and their passion to see the world won for Christ regardless of the cost.  We leave it to God to do the rest.  God has honoured this approach in the past and as we all face an uncertain future, I am confident that He will continue to honour it.