March 19, 2011
In spite of the financial hole WEI is in due to the economic downturn, I am feeling grateful.
I am grateful that God has called us to this worldwide mission ministry. Nothing can compare with the joy that comes from leading others to Christ and knowing that God is using us to help rescue the perishing.
One day, I said to Maudine, “I wish we could live on the mission field and be fulltime missionaries again.” She wisely asked, “How many people could you lead to Christ in a given year living on the mission field? Twenty? Twenty-five? Thirty”? Then she asked, “How many people are you introducing to Christ each year through WEI? Twenty thousand? Fifty thousand? One hundred thousand?” Finally, she said, “You’d better be happy where God put you.” It becomes increasingly clear to me why God gave me a wife.
I am grateful for my partners in WEI—my wife, Maudine and our daughter, Debbie Henry, who work so faithfully in the Gresham office—for Tom and Angie Langley who serve God in the Eastern Office in Maryville, TN—for Bob and Jan Towell who give their time, energy, and money to keep the WEI Internet teaching ministry going—for their grandson, Jonathan, who is responsible for developing and maintaining the WEI teaching website—for Internet and postal teachers who share their faith with people in every nation—for short-term missionaries who raise their own travel funds and go to mission sites in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America—for Jim McIntosh for formatting the WEI newsletter each quarter.
I am grateful to the Metro congregation in Gresham, OR for sponsoring and supporting us since 1989—to the church in Maryville, TN for sponsoring and supporting the Langleys—to Justin Speer and the church in Katy, TX for sponsoring our first fundraising dinner last October—to Steve Merryman, Art Hitt, Jo Towell, and the Peninsula congregation in Portland, OR for sponsoring the most recent fundraising dinner.
I am grateful to God for putting this team of workers together to accomplish his eternal purposes.
Finally, we are grateful to you, our friends, for your generosity and love. Thank you. We love you. —Dick and Maudine
