BACKGROUND: Seven years after the launch of a Project many deemed too complex, too expensive, too controversial and too ambitious, a group of stalwart volunteers representing widely diverse Christian backgrounds will celebrate the conclusion of the Theology of Work Projects major initiative: Construction of a framework for understanding Gods view of vocation and labor, populated with commentaries on the subjects from each book of the Bible. (click here to understand Desired Haven Ministries, Inc./Madetomatter's key roles in TOW's work.) (Note: This software program refuses to allow apostrophes...please forgive their absence.)
Turning a New Corner
At its highest point, Desired Haven Ministries/Madetomatter.org was seeing over 120,000 unique visitors from over 100 nations, resulting in as many as 500 emails per month with questions and prayer requests. When our printed Bible study series were made available in full-color, downloadable versions for free, more than a quarter-million studies were downloaded from around the globe. Keeping up with the volume without having a workfaith reference book became almost impossible; a tool the completion of the Theology of Work Project would provide. So major donors for Desired Haven Ministries/Madetomatter.org were invited to support the TOW Project during its mission, and Desired Havens President, Cheryl Kilgore, a specialist in meeting-management, hospitality and organizing, was loaned full-time to the Project . This meant fewer than 20 donors per year were meeting the needs of Desired Haven Ministries, Inc./Madetomatter.org, as the large donors moved to the Project that would help not only DHM/MTM, but churches, ministries and workers worldwide. Unfortunately, this also meant DHM would not have the funds to pay Randy Kilgore a full salary, and in this past year, no salary at all. (Cheryl was receiving a stipend from TOW for her work on the Project.)
It was also during this time that Senior Writer Randy Kilgore experienced his most significant health struggles, and so we expected Desired Haven Ministries/Madetomatter.org to experience a drop in its impact and fruit.
But God had other plans...
Discovery House Publishers released Randys book Made to Matter: Devotions for Working Christians, now in its fifth year in print. RBC Ministries invited Randy to become one of its contributing writers for the worldwide devotional Our Daily Bread. HisChurchatWork.org, now named Worklife.org, was granted a renewable 7-year right to use Madetomatters 36-study Bible study set as the backbone for its outreach to workers in and through local churches. So while Madetomatter was reaching tens of thousands of readers monthly and hundreds of thousands of Bible study customers annually, during its weakest point, God expanded our reach to millions (Our Daily Bread?¢??s national and international audience) up to twice each month, AND allowing Cheryl and Randy to work on the Theology of Work Projects important efforts.
At the same time, Cheryl turned her sights on the local community and church, volunteering in the local food pantry and thrift store twice a week. She also received training to lead and host a Life Community Group for our home church, Grace Chapel in Lexington, M. Randy also serves with her in this group, which is made up of primarily young professionals starting their families and careers. In addition to ministering to one another in the group, Cheryl also led us through Dietrich Bonhoeffers classic study Life Together, as well as Tim Kellers Prodigal God, the book of John, and lately, The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor by Mark Labberton. Randy spent six months serving three days per week on a grand jury, being reminded God is at work everywhere, including inside a grand jury?¢??s secret deliberations. (One humorous: When Randys health forced him to turn down a request to consider serving as Chaplain to the Boston Red Sox---a non-paying ministry position--- his Red-Sox-fans wife and two children were barely speaking to him.)
So despite significant challenges with health and finances, God has continued to demonstrate His ability to multiply the efforts of faithful hearts and hands offered to His service and to bless many times over the many giving to the Theology of Work Project and the few giving to Desired Haven Ministries Inc./Madetomatter. If you are one of those who gave to TOW, thank you for your support of one of Gods most important efforts this decade; AND if you are among the few who gave to Madetomatter this year and years past, you have kept our ministry doors open for God to work His incredible miracles.
Now we are turning an important corner, and we are asking donors large and small to prayerfully consider giving generously to Madetomatter. Cheryls labor and stipend from the Theology of Work Project ends in January, leaving the Kilgores without a steady income again, but with Cheryls ministry plate at Desired Haven Ministries and in our local community already starting to expand in anticipation of more of her time available. And with the discovery of a new medicine that significantly reduces Randys daily pain, we are asking for a year of focus on writing and healing for him: The discipline to write a series of Bible studies showing others how to use the Theology of Work; as well as two new books; AND just as important, a year free from the daily stress of constant fundraising appeals and small work assignments that will enable him to make disciplined changes to his diet, exercise and rest.
EVERY dollar matters, with God already showing over the past seven years how He blesses in fishes-and-loaves ways even the smallest of gifts. And do not forget, the blessings and crowns of the produced by your gifts is stored in heaven, awaiting your first moments there, when God says Well done? for not just your acts of service, but those acts your prayers and gifts also made possible.
We thank you for your continued prayers and supports, and for the privilege of laboring shoulder-to-shoulder in the Kingdom.