Dear Faith Partner,
This ministry continues to be such a God thing. To think that is has taken to the 5th opportunity to find a leader to assume responsibilities to lead this historic ministry with men, when it is such a Blessing to see how God is working thru Men’s Ministry Catalyst. BTW: The number 5 in the bible means Grace and Favor. It must be the right timing. As you know for the last several months we have been slowly building towards a transition that will take place over the next several months. Jim, Louise, the board and the Faith Partners (donors) have been amazing. “God will make this happen. The one who calls you is faithful.” I Thessalonians 5:24 ESV
Let me catch you up on a sample of the movement forward:
- In September we celebrated the 40th Anniversary of this ministry. We held meetings in Danville, CA and Coeur d’ Alene, ID, which are the two places when Jim and Louise Grassi lived while allowing God to make a difference in others thru them. During the two meetings we shared the vision of the future of MMC. One of our current donors stepped up and offered a $75,000 matching gift to help us fund the initiatives for 2022. This is not the whole budget, but does include my salary and the initiatives for 2022. That Faith Partner is helping to make the vision become a reality.
- In November we held another 40th Anniversary Celebration in Denver, CO and included with it, a Colorado Kick Off. Many people caught the vision for our future and have chosen to participate in a variety of ways. Beyond several who have been very generous, we have a core group of Pastor’s and Men’s leaders who have chosen to continue meeting in January. This will move towards a full day of Ministry to Men training in March, additionally there will be a Men’s Event some time later in the year. The vision is contagious and we know the need is great.
- During this whole time, Jim and I have been meeting weekly. It is a great time of his mentoring for me so we keep MMC moving forward the right direction based on our effective past. Jim quotes Shakespear often when he says: the past is a prologue to the future. We are believing that to be true.
- In 2022:
- Jim will continue to chair the Board. His leadership is critical for the preservation of the Vision and at the same time we are taking the board national in scope. My leadership will give Jim and Louise the ability to put in fewer hours. However Jim and I will continue to meet very consistently to keep the focus on accomplishing our initiatives for 2022.
- We will be launching several new opportunities for Pastor’s and men’s leaders to be able to multiply our effort – because every local church needs an engaging ministry with their men.
- Initiatives: (not a full list)
- Assist, guide, inspire and equip you as our faith partners with resources, that will help you reach others for Christ. Any thing you want that will help you, we will make available to you: mensministrycatalyst.org/resources
- Man Up: Men’s Leadership Podcast – focused on helping Pastors and Men’s leaders in local churches develop an engaging ministry with their men. This will include many of the resources that MMC has already produced, but will also include local and national guests to help us be effective in reaching our goal.
- Tip of the Week – This is will be short paragraph that will provide one thought each week to be able to continue to plant seeds that we are believing will help churches and their men, move toward authentic, Biblical manhood as God intended.
- Working with denominations and church leaders to reach and resource multiple churches at one time. Jim has created tools, books, and clear directions, based on years of experience, to resource groups of churches as they build an engaging ministry with their men. This resource will allow churches success without hitting the speed bumps that can derail the outcome.
- Restart the Man Up Radio Show. This will be quarterly, but will be another avenue to reach men and their churches, that we may not reach otherwise.
- Financial Goal; all of this takes money of course. Thanks to our very generous matching donor, we are only $10,000 away from the goal of $150,000 by the end of the year. That is an incredible blessing.
Can you help get us to that final number? Many of you have been very generous already – THANK YOU! It is because of the generosity of our Faith Partners, that MMC can move forward with the vision that God has given to us.
Also, for those new to MMC, we only have a funding drive one time a year, so this ask will not be a monthly occurrence. Going forward I will be sharing stories of God’s faithfulness thanks to your support.
Merry Christmas to you and yours. Enjoy the good gifts that God is giving to you!!
You matter to God and you matter to both Jim and me!!
