Exciting Times are Ahead!

Hello Fellow SDB’s!

The times are exciting with anticipation of what our newly formed Ad-Hoc Committee will recommend to all of us! Susie Fox, Don Graffius, Othneil Murphy, Ron Ochs and Jim Skaggs, make up the five person team and have been working hard since the General Conference sessions this past summer. They are planning to get together in mid-December again. Please keep them in your prayers.

I got my first year-end giving appeal a couple of weeks ago – you know, those hit-you-in-the-heart letters that tell us what a difference we can make for a charitable cause during this holiday season of giving, while also making a small dent in our tax burdens if we donate before Dec. 31. If you're like me, you get quite a few of these. So it started me thinking seriously about year-end giving.

Let me share with you some thoughts. Instead of choosing one or two to respond to, just because you always give to those causes, why not keep them all. Then:

• Set them aside time to look over and pray about where God wants you give.
• Which charity most resonates with you today, not just from your past experience?
• Decide which charity has made the strongest case? Who has done more than just tug your heart-strings? Who is offering you real evidence that your donation will make a difference? If needed, check them out on the web.
• Discuss whether you want to give smaller amounts to several causes or a larger sum to one or two sources.
  
  

If you take time to read all of the pleas that come in your mailbox this time of year, you will see that the letter-writers are likely worthy of your gift. They will all appreciate your donation, especially during these hard times. However, thinking decisively about your charitable gifts makes writing the check more meaningful to you as well as to God. After all you are giving to a cause…not a letter writer.

Also, please keep the Seventh Day Baptist Conference Services and the Boards and Agencies in mind as well this time of year. We are seeing a down turn in giving this year and your support at this time would be well appreciated and put to good use. We are always striving to bring you the best product available. With this in mind we are working towards improvement in all areas even as you read this email. Please keep us in prayer as we also keep you in ours. We Seventh Day Baptists are looking forward to an exciting 2010. There are a lot of questions that should be answered in the new year. With your support we will be able to do so much more today, than we could ever do tomorrow!

God Bless you in your desire to do HIS will!

Rob Appel
Executive Director
Seventh Day Baptist General Conference
USA & Canada Ltd.