My Year-End Gift for Global Outreach and Gospel Partnership with TEAM
Yes, I want to partner with TEAM to reach the nations for Christ!
Please use my gift for global outreach to help send new missionaries, disciple believers and equip the global Church to proclaim the Gospel to those still waiting to hear it.
A Message from International Director Dave Hall
All creation seems to be groaning a bit louder this year, doesn’t it? Amid political strife, closed borders, sickness and death, it’s easy to lose hope. But I’m writing to you today because of the great hope we have in Christ. His work is ongoing.
In 2020, we’ve watched God open new doors for ministry, drawing people to Himself, and building foundations for innovative ways of sending and receiving global workers. And He is inviting us to be part of it.
I want to introduce you to a new and exciting initiative for TEAM: assisting international churches.
These are English-speaking ministries that serve expatriate communities, often in places where the open proclamation of the Gospel is prohibited or severely restricted. As you read this letter, I pray that you will glimpse this incredible opportunity to help open doors for missionaries like Hunter and Wendy.*
Next year, this young couple will move to a nation with strict anti-conversion laws. Citizens who choose to follow Christ risk criminal charges and even time in prison. For generations, it has been a stronghold of spiritual darkness.
Yet, in 2021, God is making a way for Hunter and Wendy to openly serve unreached people groups in this society that has largely been closed to the Gospel.
“It’s kind of amazing because it’s a Muslim country, and it’s illegal to become a Christian there, … but I’m going to have ‘pastor’ in my visa,” Hunter says.
Hunter and Wendy are going to serve at an international church. And they’re doing so with the anti-Christian government’s approval.
You see, the country they’re moving to doesn’t allow citizens to convert. Yet it has no religious restrictions for foreigners. Non-citizens can openly attend church, learn about God and make disciples.
What this means is that Hunter and Wendy can openly minister to unreached people groups — as long as they come from another country.
Many governments have similar laws, creating opportunities for international churches in some of the most restrictive countries in the world.
This new development is fitting as we celebrate TEAM’s 130th anniversary this year. For generations, God has led us through pandemics, wars and financial crises to accomplish His purposes. Our future will continue to be shaped by God working through people who are eager to step out in faith, confident that God is awaiting them.
<NAME>, will you ask God how you can partner with Him to reach the nations? Will you consider a special gift to TEAM to find, equip and send new workers like Hunter and Wendy?
This growing work is a key part of TEAM’s mission: to partner with the global Church in sending disciples who make disciples and establish missional churches to the glory of God.
Hunter will labor alongside a West African pastor to make disciples of expats.
Our prayer is that these expats will then do the same among their colleagues — as well as their friends and families in unreached countries.
Only God knows how many lives will be transformed through this work!
The vision doesn’t end with the expats either. Hunter will also serve local pastors of underground churches, equipping them for vital work among our persecuted family in Christ.
This is the work to which our God invites us.
Our global context is dramatically changing. As we look to 2021, following Christ will demand creativity, innovation and sacrifice — all rooted in a bold faith in God.
Yet we do not look forward with fear. Our future may be uncertain, but our God is steadfast. He has used this year of struggle and trial to build foundations of ministry that will impact lives for years to come.
I echo the Apostle Paul’s affirmation in Ephesians that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Will you join me in the good work He has prepared for us?
Your partnership in the Gospel through prayer and giving will bring glory to God as He accomplishes His redemptive plan for the nations. How grateful I am for you and pray that you experience Immanuel — God with you — during this Advent season.
In Christ,
Dave Hall
International Director
*Pseudonyms used for security reasons