Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 20:7 NIV
We recently had our Annual Business Meeting. Some of you where there. For those who weren’t, I thought I would share a recap of our Financial Report with you here.
Once again, we trusted God – and once again, he exceeded our expectations. Since we do not make direct solicitation of contributions, we are often surprised by the gifts we receive…. I frequently think, “Where does this stuff come from?” I know, of course, it comes from above, through you, our faithful contributors and prayer partners. I thank God for you.
Jeff Dahl and Dave Leeman both concluded their service in the Business Office in 2018. We miss them greatly but are thankful that Dave remains on the Finance Committee.
Life in the Business Office last year was characterized by busyness. Our software conversion turned out to be a much larger task than anticipated. While I have done similar conversions in the past, none have been as large or complex as this one. I thank the Lord for Ann Goettsch, the most recent addition to our Business Office, who has done most of the heavy lifting on this project. Even so, this whole process revealed our need for an additional person with business and/or accounting experience. Please join us in praying that the Lord will provide such a person soon.
Giving in 2018 was comparable to the year before at $3.4 million. A slight decrease in total income was due to a change in handling certain direct grants to overseas projects such as LAMB Hospital, which no longer run through our income and expense accounts. Expenses were also down significantly due to that change. We did experience real savings in our benefits expense due to a change in our health insurance for people working overseas.
Finally, we were greatly blessed with a couple of generous gifts to our Estate Fund, which allowed us to end the year with a surplus. The timing on these Estate Fund gifts is providential in that we see them as legacy funds which will provide the means to transition to a new future. Please join us in prayer that we will be good stewards of God’s provision as we adapt to changes in the world mission environment.