GBNAM Is No More

Grace Brethren North American Missions (the Grace Brethren organization that facilitated church planting in the United States and Canada) has closed its doors, effective 12/31/07. Read the full report here.

I wanted to communicate on this for three reasons:

1. We owe great thanksgiving to GBNAM. The organization, its resources, and missionaries (namely Jim Snavely and Ron Boehm) were instrumental in the process God led us through as He called us to church planting. Along with Northwest Chapel, NCO District and several individuals, GBNAM was a key financial sponsor in 2007. Resources given to ClearView Church by GBNAM helped us move through our first year without having to make additional support appeals. We thank God for using this organization in the FGBC and our lives for many years.
2. I want to ask you to pray for our Fellowship of churches and its next steps in the arena of church planting. Pray for a new church planting organization that will seek to reach the millions of unchurched people in North America through beginning new, Bible-teaching churches. For more details, click here.
3. I want to ask you to continue to pray that God will meet our resource needs. Now that the news of GBNAM's future has been made public, I can explain that one reason our support needs are greater than we anticipated is because GBNAM grants that were available previously are no longer an opportunity. Obviously, this puts greater responsibility on sending churches and church planters to find other means of funding their ministries. Even though I didn't, I know that God foresaw these events and has other options He will make available in His perfect time.

Thank God for GBNAM. Pray with me that God would continue to plant churches around the world and in North America through the churches of the FGBC. And, thanks for praying for God's provision for ClearView. I can't wait to see how He works around this new obstacle.