Reasons to Give; Reasons to Go

Giving and going are part and parcel with ministry. Givers go, and goers give. Givers go when they support the goer, for the goer could not go without them. Goers give, because they offer their time and their lives. So givers go and goers give. We are all in this together.

At Vision4Living, God has given us the privilege of going and giving for nearly eight years. It has been a blessed time. We have traveled to Ecuador and other nations, preached in various places, and developed a retreat for Christian, young adults that continues to broaden in its reach.

The past year brought us several God-given successes for which we are grateful. We were able to revamp and expand our website at vision4living.org. This user-friendly tool is more easily navigated, saves valuable administrative time, and opens the door for expanded web ministry opportunities.

Micah had the privilege of leading a mission trip to Ecuador with Global Encounters with the help of gracious givers. He and his team reached over 300 kids with the message of the Gospel. Eternity will tell of the impact of that trip.

Our weekly podcast just celebrated our 100th episode – two years of recording – and continues to grow in its sphere of influence. We also continue to publish our weekly blog that has seen a growth in readership.

The culmination of this year’s ministry was our 8th annual Passion4Christ Summit. We had a gracious and generous volunteer staff and sixty-three attendees – approximately half of whom were first time attendees. You will be able to access these valuable and Biblically rich messages from the website. A note we received from one of our attendees sums up the impact of this year’s Summit:

I appreciate all the work you put into this year’s Passion4Christ Summit. I only saw glimpses of all the work that you did, just last weekend [October], and I know that much, much more goes on behind the scenes all year long. It’s such a tremendous blessing to be able to pull away for a weekend, be challenged by solid teaching, and enjoy fellowship with other believers. The sessions were all spot on. In a world lulled into compromise, I so need to be often reminded that the choices I make today affect who I am tomorrow. That eternity is real. That the battle for holiness begins in the mind. Thank you for standing on the truth of the Bible. May God continue to richly bless you guys as you continue to make Him known.

– P4C attendee

A total of 550 people have attended 8 P4C Summits between 2008 and 2015. Of this 550, there has been an average of 30-40 new attendees each year. This does not include those who are return attendees. So each year, an average of nearly 30-40 new young Christian adults go out strengthened and equipped to invest in their communities and local churches. Each year 30-40 new young adults spread the news about P4C and V4L and the work of the Gospel we do.  And each year our influence for the sake of the Gospel continues to expand. Thank the Lord!

In all of this, we look to our Lord to guide and provide; to use givers who help us be goers. This year donations have been significantly down in comparison to previous years, and we have operated with a deficit of $10,625. It is not uncommon for ministries to operate at a deficit, and thank the Lord we did not run out of money but were able to pay all our bills. But we did spend more than we took in, in spite of being conservative and having some gracious staff work voluntarily to help out.  But no ministry can operate this way for long. We operate off of donations, and your support will help us to continue to invest in and reach the next generation for Christ.

In 2016, with God’s help, we plan to:

• Continue the project of digitizing the 17+ years of my preaching ministry – $2000
• Write, design, and release free teaching and training e-books – $500
• Continue producing our weekly Podcast, Crosstalk – $500
• Continue local pastoral support and encouragement – $500
• Implement Passion4Christ Summit 2016 – $21,000

Next year’s P4C will cost us another $2000 in facility expense. We want to avoid passing this expense on to the attendees. As you can see, there is much in the way of cost in operating such a ministry, and we have not even included administrative costs.

In addition to these ministries, we will continue our weekly blog, and Micah will be returning to Ecuador during this Christmas season and next summer. Our hope is that these and much more ministry will be opened to us in the Lord’s timing. We are asking you to ask the Lord what part you should play in this work. All gifts matter and none are too small.

Our vision is to touch and change the next generation for Christ, to pass this vision on to the church, and to see the next generation loving Christ and His Gospel more passionately than their fathers. All our efforts are given to this calling and mission. Will you join us in this great endeavor, and watch as givers and goers touch the nations? You can support us by writing a check and send with the enclosed donation card and envelope or you can visit vision4living.org/support to give online. God bless you as you pursue Christ and His purpose for your life.

In the love of Christ,
Charles Cavanaugh, Pres. Vision4Living