Ministry Opportunity letter of December 15, 2005

Dear friends,

As I selected you to receiveletter it brought back fond memories of serving together in ministry. It also brought a host of emotions as I remembered special and hard times as we walked together. (I'm now happy to share this letter with my fellow bloggers as well.) As you read this letter you will find that I'm still a bit long-winded.

Our family is doing great. Our kids (Matthew & Elizabeth) and (Melissa & Matthew) are all doing very well. Matthew and Elizabeth reside in Muncie, Indiana where Matt is on staff with a evangelical United Methodist Church of 2,000+ where he is the young adult pastor. He just started his second service for young adults averaging over 300 and when the senior pastor is away he gets to preach to the entire 2,000+ congregation. Elizabeth continues to work with horses and riders with training and coaching as well as a host of other ministry involvements too numerous to name. (We are blessed that our kids married such wonderful partners.) Melissa & Matthew reside in Huntington Beach, California where Melissa is a freelance photographer doing high end weddings and other things. (Melissa travels across the US having recently been in New York and Florida for wedding photography). Matthew is a very creative graphic designer for a large firm near their home. They live one mile from ocean and can see the ocean from their kitchen window. They love it and of course they also love the Lord. We are extremely proud of our kids and their accomplishments. Michelle just finished her second degree in Interior Design and will likely get a job in that field. All we have left at home is our dog Sydney, a dog that thinks he is a human.

You may have heard, we accepted a new position with the Missionary Church, Inc as a new district leader in the Midwest District region. So we have resigned our church position and now work for our US Ministries Director and district superintendent. Actually it is more than that, it was a huge step of faith for us. We were asked to move to St. Louis (metro) to start a new district of 20 churches in the next 6 years. Along with that we have agreed to start a cluster of 10 churches in Kansas City. Now before you have a heart attack - I am recruiting the church planting teams & raising money to see this huge vision become a reality. Finding people and resources is proving to be a huge task.

Because we have limited denominational resources and because we expect our church planters to raise some of their own support, I have agreed to do this entirely by faith and must raise my entire financial support. After I accomplish that task I will help church planters with their projects.

Where do I begin? I have chosen to write a few friends who share a passion for reaching lost people. There are more than a million people in the St. Louis region alone and their are few churches. As Christianity spread across America it was with a rural focus. Many churches left the large population centers and we intend to take them back for Jesus. If we want to reverse the trend of decline among churches in America we must focus on reaching the large metropolitan centers of America. If we want to change America it must be done in the large population centers. We have accepted the challenge -a challenge that is bigger than us -a challenge that will take all of God to accomplish.

Why tell you all of this? I tell you this because you have a heart for lost people. I even suspect you are willing to bridge across denominational lines if needed to be part of something that is bigger than anything I have ever been a part of. We are creating a Multiplication System that Makes Disciples and Builds Churches while making more Disciples and Building more Churches. A huge vision indeed.

Our need is great:

1. We need people who will become Financial Partners who will give regular tax-deductible gifts of large and small amounts toward our ministry support. Of course we will also take one time or yearly gifts. If you want to make a huge kingdom investment with the resources entrusted to you -this is a Harvest opportunity. You know what the Bible says about laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven. I am only 1/3 of the way toward reaching my target. Are you interested in joining this team in personal support of our ministry?

2. We need people who will become Faith Partners in Prayer. We realize that we will never find the people for the teams we need nor will we find the financial resources we need without prayer. Every week I send an email prayer letter listing the prayer needs and the progress for that week. I have also found that there is a connection between giving and praying..(Where your treasure is -your heart is.) Some of my prayer partners cannot give at this time -but will eventually become financial partners as the Lord blesses. The Lord has led me to enlist 500 people to pray daily for this venture of taking metropolitan territory back for Jesus. Are you interested in joining this team in praying daily for our ministry?

3. We need your help in connecting other people with a heart for reaching lost people with us. We need you to share this letter with others who share a passion for investing in reaching lost souls. We need you to help share our vision and ministry challenge of opening up new territory for Christ. Are you willing to help us enlist people and resources toward this venture? All gifts will need to be sent directly to the Midwest District for proper handling etc.

Would you let me know your thoughts on these matters and your level of interest? Would you please write me back with your questions or comments.

Email: bcarder@centurytel.net

Stirring Hearts for Reaching the Lost,

Bob

Rev. Robert D. Carder

Mission District Leader (Midwest District)

Reaching St. Louis & Kansas City

Missionary Church, Inc