A Strategy to Support the PVBA Partnership with South Africa
Gideon’s Army
Just about everywhere I have the opportunity to talk about our new partnership that Pecos Valley Baptist Association has with Hope Baptist Centre in Pretoria, South Africa, someone asks what they can do to support this. Of course, two of the most important ways are to pray for the work and to participate by being part of on one of our mission teams that goes to South Africa. The third way is to provide for others to go. Many have done this by supporting members of their church that have gone or are planning to go on mission to South Africa. Many, however, have not had the opportunity to do this, so we are creating two ways for everyone who wants to assist financially with our partnership to do so. One focuses on helping to meet the needs of our teams and the other focuses on the African pastors and wives that we are working with.
Gideon’s Army:
The cost for each person to go on one of our mission trips this year is $2500. Thanks to a very generous gift from a member of one of our churches, we have been able to scholarship each person on our two 2017 mission teams in the amount of $500, leaving an amount of $2000 that each person is trying to raise.
I anticipate we will need to raise the cost to $2600 for our 2018 trips. My heart’s desire is to be able to provide a $1000 scholarship for future team members. As I was thinking about how we could provide these funds on an ongoing basis, God took my mind to the story of Gideon. Gideon had an army of 32,000 men. By the time God was finished, however, this number was whittled down to 300. 300 may not seem like many, but in the hands of God, they conquered the Midianites.
Our Pecos Valley Baptist Association Mission Action Team is forming “Gideon’s Army.” Our goal is to identify 300 people who will commit to give $100 each year for the next three years. This will provide us with $30,000 per year, which will enable us to provide a $1000 scholarship for each team member and provide the pastoral support to Julius and Cintia Mbu. The benefit of this plan is that it allows many people to have a small part that makes a big difference. 300 people may not seem like a lot with such a big need, but in the hands of God, nothing is impossible. If we exceed our goal of 300 “soldiers,” we may be able to provide even larger scholarship amounts.
Who can enlist in Gideon’s Army???
- Individuals or couples can enlist
- Sunday School classes, WMU groups, or small group Bible studies can enlist
- People who are in Pecos Valley and people in far off places that care about Pecos Valley can enlist
How can you enlist in Gideon’s Army???
- We will produce a brochure to distribute to our churches, which can be returned to the office with your gift
- We have set up online giving at the PVBA website so that people can go online and enlist. To do this: 1) go to our website at www.pecosvalleybaptist.com; 2) click on “Donate” on the left side of the home page; 3) select “South Africa Partnership” from the options; 4) follow the instructions to make your donation
- We will promote Gideon’s Army through Facebook and other social media sources, which you can “share” with your networks of Christian family and friends, who can then go to our website and enlist.
