July 22, 2014
A Special Appeal
I have come to realize that the most important responsibility of being president of this wonderful World English Institute mission ministry is fundraising. Like all non-profit ministries or organizations, our existence depends solely on the generosity of contributors who share our desire, passion, and commitment to the purpose of our ministry.
WEI is a Great Commission mission ministry. We in churches of Christ take this commission very seriously. WEI is one of only a few Christian ministries that, at any one time, are actively teaching the Word of God to students from every country in the world. We are taking the good news of the gospel message to ALL nations, as Jesus commanded.
In order for WEI to grow and expand, we must appeal to you our loyal teachers, supporters, and sister churches for increased funding. Our support naturally comes from a very narrow market, namely Christians from churches of Christ in the U.S. As the apostle John wrote in his 3rd letter about traveling missionaries, “… they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.”
Dick Ady mentioned in last quarter’s newsletter that we need $100,000 to expand and maintain our teaching website. We must dramatically increase our recruiting efforts for both students and teachers. We opened a new Internet office in Knoxville, TN in 2014, and we still need to fully fund that office for 2015. Advertising for Internet students has become more expensive and complicated, especially in countries not favorable to Christianity.
Last year we appealed to all of our Internet teachers to simply donate $100 in 2014 to help us maintain and grow this exciting Internet ministry. In conjunction with our 25th-anniversary celebration, we’re stepping out in faith and asking our Internet teachers and all other teachers to donate $250 for 2015. This is not a requirement to be an Internet teacher; it’s simply an appeal to help us pay our bills and to provide you with the best and most effective teaching site possible.
If you cannot afford $250, we understand. We will appreciate any amount you might be able to invest through this annual donation. Please send your donation to the Maryville TN office and memo it Internet, so we will know where to dedicate this money.
We know that many of you are already supporting the Internet ministry with more than $250 per year, and we certainly do not expect you to do more than you are already gifting.
Thank you! We love and appreciate you, and we consider you all our dear fellow-workers in the truth.
