​Living in a changing world, but with a loving God

It is hard to believe this is my seventh year to have the privilege of chairing CFO. Each year I struggle to give you a picture of what the Lord has done in this ministry and what we see for the year ahead.

Hopefully, Covid shutdowns are behind us.  Regardless of what the world brings, we can take comfort in knowing that our Lord does not change. His love for us endures forever and He watches over us.

The past few years have seen turmoil seldom experienced in the past seven decades. Many authorities seek to deny parental rights to raise our children with a Christian world view. In some areas, even the right to express Biblical values is frowned on or legally challenged. This has increased stress in our daily lives.

Yet through it all, the Lord has promised that “in the world we will have tribulation, but He has overcome the world”. We can take great confidence in His Word and do our best to carry out His plans for each of us and all of us.

Seed planting continues to grow

As for CFO, we stand firm in our calling to plant seeds of the Gospel of Jesus Christ wherever He leads us. We remain diligent and effective in carrying out His mission.

Our materials are used in new outreach venues in the USA, and two new countries. Nearly 47,000 items were shipped to outlying ministries in just the first eight months of 2023. (See map on Pages 12 and 13.)

At the same time, our direct personal presentations continue to increase in gatherings throughout the Mid-Atlantic and South. We work with Bible-teaching churches. Our goal is to establish groups that can multiply Gospel presentations in public gatherings and through one-on-one sharing.

Political pundits coined the phrase “Never let a crisis be wasted” to signify that crisis situations offer opportunities to accomplish things not otherwise viable in normal circumstances. This ploy has been used to restrict our God-given freedoms.

Yet, our Lord has allowed the Covid crisis to open new opportunities even as it disrupted normal day to day activities. Adam Nathanson, a very successful missionary and valued CFO partner, shares how some of these opportunities have impacted the mission field. (See Page 16.)

Here in the U.S., new opportunities also arose while large gatherings were precluded or discouraged. Our increased participation at indoor Flea Markets and one- or two- day local events proved to be more efficient use of time than some larger statewide 10-day events. It causes us to look more carefully at how we invest our time, effort and funds as new opportunities arise.

We cannot do everything we want to do, so we must prayerfully and wisely choose where to invest our time and resources. (See some of the new venues on Pages 6-7 and 8-11.)

Data and experience show that the great majority of persons who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, do so as the Holy Spirit leads them through one-on-one witness. Along those lines, I want to make a particular challenge to everyone reading this article. I challenge you to prayerfully consider who the Lord would have you speak to about receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Then pray and approach them prepared to share with them the plan of Salvation and how to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. You can use the “How We Share the Beads” example on Page 21.