In this sermon, the speaker addresses the challenges faced during the September conference and acknowledges the need to do too much with too few people in a short amount of time. Drawing from the Book of Acts and the life of Jesus, the speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing the abundance of work and the scarcity of laborers. The speaker suggests implementing pre-conference emergency action, such as living within means and potentially reducing the size and scope of certain conferences. The objections to this approach are also discussed, with the speaker highlighting the need for unity and shared responsibility within the body of believers. Ultimately, the speaker encourages a mindset of going the extra mile in love, faith, and trust, in order to effectively evangelize the world.

I'm sharing some burdens That I believe the Lord has put on my heart concerning the financial situation and especially concerning the need to wait upon the Lord more and especially after the September conference if the Breakthroughs have not come by then. It's my prayer that everybody on OM will be able to hear this tape Though I know those who do not need English someone is going to have to help them And I especially have in mind those that found the time of waiting after last year's September conference Which I think was the longest Perhaps in the history of the work a difficult time and a time that brought many questions to their mind. Let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you that we can have this opportunity to communicate You know that in preparation for this I've read many memos. I've read many people's personal letters talk to people and different parts of the world and I asked Lord that I may Somehow keep in mind all that I've heard from others plus what I have seen over the past years what I sense from you now and Also some of the basic principles of your word Lord at this moment We're in this sort of stage three crisis and we thank you for it. You don't excuse anything We have done wrong that has brought this upon us, but we thank you for your power to overrule We thank you for the beautiful lessons. We have been learning over the past weeks The reality therapy we have been going through we know that our tests and our trials are very small Compared to many people in your church in various parts of the world at this time We pray especially Lord that you would help us to be clear-thinking keep us from generalizations from overreaction Help us to see the other person's situation Bring into play greater reality and 1st Corinthians 13 That in all things love may be functioning and operating Lord we thank you for so many answers to prayer. We thank you for people that are coming to know you almost every day Through this feeble fellowship that you have raised up That people refer to as operation mobilization. We thank you Lord for all of our graduates or exo emers Around the world so many vital ministries so many millions of people being reached So many thousands coming to know you through their Ministries combined we thank you for the whole body Lord we believe that Testing and the kind of thing we are facing now Has an ultimate purpose help us to find that help us to know the way ahead We thank you for the oneness we have in yourself for the unity And we believe this is going to increase We pray this in Jesus name Amen, well, I'm sitting here in the same The same farm where I made this 25th anniversary tapes Last July And I hope that each one of you have listened to those tapes I hope You'll listen to them again if you have the opportunity Some of you have written to me Acknowledging that these tapes were an encouragement to you and that you're like-minded with most of that which I shared and I just want to express my appreciation for that I Think we have to understand that many of our problems in OM are linked with the problem of communication. We are all over the world Because of the size of the work the nature of the work the number of people around 1,700 plus children There's never enough communication and often as we're communicating with one person may be in great depth. Other people are being missed as we're getting on top of one little fire perhaps of gossip or miscommunication or confusion another fire begins to burn and I believe We need to be realistic that if we're going to continue a worldwide trust in so many nations and so many fronts simultaneously we're going to have to apply ourselves even more to communication and basic principles of communication such as avoiding generalizations and Believing the best until we can get the facts and even then realizing we may be wrong or we may not have all the facts So I'm not sharing this message to any group of people, but just sitting here Looking out the window at this beautiful Little hill or mountain in front of the house Reminded of those words that if we had faith as a grain of mustard seed we shall say unto this mountain remove hence and it shall be removed and That ultimately all that I say here can never be a substitute for faith And I hope that what I say will increase faith Though I believe that faith according to Luke 14 Must often be preceded and has to be preceded by accounting of the cost Now that doesn't mean God never answers prayer when we don't understand the whole cost Perhaps in some projects that we've gone into if we had understood all the aspects of the total cost spiritually mentally physically Financially, we may have gone away not gone forward I Think some people did not receive as much as they could have from the 25th anniversary tapes Because they didn't take any notes. And this is why it was also difficult for them to get specific feedback And I hope that if at all possible you will try to take Some notes as you listen to this I'm especially wanting to Answer questions connected with why we hold people back After the September conference and why we hold certain people back or certain people stay back and other people go This year after the September conference was a time of testing a time of trial more ways than one and whenever testing and trial comes different people react in different ways and Certainly, we never want OM to get to a place where people are afraid to ask questions Unfortunately, sometimes People not only ask the questions, but they give the answers before getting a total picture or a more balanced picture In the past month since the September conference in the midst of the many meetings I've been taking in about 15 Or 20 different nations. I've been meeting with many OM teams and often sitting down with them for questions and answers I've also had fellowship with many OMers including new recruits. In fact when I was in Pakistan Made a purpose to meet with every OMer working in Pakistan. I don't think I quite made it Because I feel it's important for me to be very very much in touch with New recruits, even though a larger portion of my time must be in fellowship with leaders I've also been able to speak to many many leaders At considerable length concerning these issues and other issues and then of course In cases where personal contact wasn't so possible. We've had a lot of contact contact through The post. I feel strongly that God has given us as a basic principle that after the September conference Our overdue bills should be paid This has proven to be a very very effective principle for now almost 20 years and Though I want to be Willing to throw away to change any principle I Feel through my own personal study and fellowship that OM would become very weak and would easily run into greater problems If we just so easily Threw away things or change things that have proven to be effective and that we feel are based upon God's Word I don't find it easy at all during the September conference I think many of you know my own personal desire would Be to avoid the conference altogether It's been I guess 20 to 23 years of such conferences But I'm there because I'm bought with a price I'm there because I don't believe my own personal enjoyment or satisfaction is The first primary factor in regard to what I do I'm there because in fellowship with others. They feel I should be there I'm there because I love The people in OM the hardest thing about the September conference is that we try to do so much In so short of time and because of course now there are so many people so many factors I Think it's very important to realize that there is a sense a real sense that we are trying to do far too much With too few people in too short a time We had discussed this again and again But if we look into the book of Acts we see that they had a very very similar situation If we look at the life of Jesus, we see that he had a very similar situation And it was Jesus who said the harvest is plenteous and the labors are few and as long as that's true As long as the church to a large degree Remains without great missionary vision and in some cases in spiritual sleep in other cases on spiritual tangents Then the situation of the harvest being plenteous and the labors being few will continue and we have to be willing to honestly face The limitations and the problems that this will cause I think so easily LM we start blaming ourselves Because we don't like the idea of blaming others that doesn't seem very spiritual and Because we are all most of us very idealistic We're often also very hard on ourselves. We long for brokenness. We long for humility We want to esteem others better than ourselves And so so quickly even in a financial crisis we at least some people quickly Blame themselves or at least they put the blame largely within OM and the increase of judgmentalism gossip criticism Generalizations overreaction pendulum thinking that takes place During a time of financial crisis, especially when there are overdue bills Really at times is quite staggering and If any of you have engaged in that kind of thing and we all do to some degree I really pray that you would listen to what I have to share. I Don't expect you necessarily to 100% agree But I hope you'll be able to agree to the point that we will be able to move ahead in Oneness of heart in fellowship and unity when we get carried away with tremendous discussions On all these different things and there are many many things that we cannot all totally agree on within OM and if we spend too much time in discussing all this and Rediscussing it and relooking at it it can drain us of spiritual mental energy and on a very Practical level time that could be used more for prayer for evangelism For serving for helping for giving ourselves to others There are many voices Coming at all of us in these days from within OM from outside OM. We all read different books We listen to different tapes. We come from different backgrounds different churches. I Believe the degree of unity we do have on these various issues Especially Ticklish and touchy issues like finance which often touch the raw nerve of The self-life, but sometimes the raw nerve of just practical living not necessarily the self-life And the fact that there are so many voices Sometimes it becomes more and more difficult to listen to some voices And I'm sure even at the conferences When some of these very basic things have been explained and when there were question-and-answer Sessions some people were not even there because they were tired of listening to voices I felt The last couple of years that often when I was answering important questions and dealing with important issues For example in some of the advanced leadership sessions in the leadership training conference That many of the people that needed to hear those things and then ask their questions there But that's one of the realities. I have to face and we all have to face I think it's a problem when a few of us are giving very basic orientation and presenting basic facts about finance Answering some of the tough questions that new recruits and other people have and yet at the same time other Leaders who have to answer those questions later on are not hearing our answers They're not able to be or they're not in those sessions one reason is because they may be out on the front line of their own field trying to win men to Christ trying to plant churches and that's why without love and the believing of the best and a deep trust and respect for one another a movement like oh and really becomes Impossible and This is why of course as a new recruit you may have heard something from me at the June conference or the July conference And you may have heard something slightly different during the time of crisis in October with a leader who maybe was responsible at that time And you may have heard something different when you got out to the field I hope that people will not be overwhelmed or threatened or Destabilized by the fact that as leaders we don't Have total final easy answers on all of these issues. We are constantly wanting to grow We are constantly wanting to change and yet. We don't want to easily throw away The foundation that we sense the Lord has given to us I've seen how in the work of the church People can get going in so many different directions everything can be questioned and Since in many ways in a lot of these issues there is no total simple final answer Some of these questions and even some of what some may call opposition Could be valid and certainly some of the Arguments or thoughts against holding people after the September conference have a degree of validity And we have to weigh some of these things in our minds And some of the other ideas that are being set forth for a fairly radical change Have a degree of validity But the question is what is God's will and this is not always so easy I Believe that it is important that in a work like OM There are still some people Who are in positions of leadership that can make final decisions Is a danger in a work of God That you get to a place where it becomes incredibly difficult for anyone Or even any small group to make final decisions and an OM It is getting more complex because we do believe that everybody's thoughts and burdens Should be considered right down to the newest recruit. I wish I could speak to you for an hour on how decisions are made within OM how we receive input from the men on the boards of trustees who hold the legal and final word and final say in each major field where OM operates And what these men feel what these men think their input is incredibly important and many major policies have been adjusted and Many new policies have come into being because of the continual input on a personal level just as much as on a board meeting level as these men have input and the oversight and as each coordinator is In subject to such men Yet at the same time the work has been able to move forward because these men trust and believe in the leaders on the field where 80% of The planning and Strategizing if I can use that word and Then the executing of plans and the follow-up on those plans must take place Yet at the same time the newest recruit can express himself To a major leader in the work and that major leader in the work is that the coordinators conference or the conference of the general? council when final decisions are made concerning basic issues and The decision to hold people After the September conference if Finance has not come to pay overdue bills is a decision not made by myself or one or two people Though some of us have more involvement in terms of executing it, but it's been made year after year by the whole body and Probably this year again, it will be discussed and that's why one of the reasons I'm sharing at this time So that we can have further input so you can know more of what's on my heart and have a couple of months to think about it Before it comes up for discussion because in fact The decision we make this September it could be questioned when it should go into effect And since no one has come up with any really concrete better plan as far as I can see We must hold to our existing policy, even though it may have some weaknesses, and I believe after you listen to this You'll agree that the weaknesses perhaps are not as great as a few people may think I've already mentioned how this Particular policy has been of such great blessing So many times it's been during this time of the year, even though we've tried to avoid it before that It's been during this time of the year when somehow there was more prayer, more exercising of faith, more realization of what it was going to take people suddenly realizing OM didn't have sort of unlimited money and Luke 14 33 Seems to become more alive during this month than almost any other month, and there's many proofs of that again this year The second point I want to bring out The first being that this has proven to be a blessing and it has proven to work relatively well over so many years Is that I believe it is one of God's ways to teach us patience and Reality and what it is to really wait upon him We do tend to know him to be a bit in a hurry I'm probably partly to blame for that. We are attempting to do so much We are thought of by many people in the outside of them as a very work-oriented movement. That's perhaps because they've never been in So many of the tremendous times of worship and don't have a balanced understanding of what OM is. I think to some degree we must See that if the Lord holds us back Even for a longer period of time that it is to teach us something more of patience and waiting on him It's interesting how one leader who was opposed, a leader of an evangelistic team, opposed to people being held back Before I could hardly even talk to him about it Changed his view and shared with me on the phone this thought that if young people don't learn it now the beginning of their Longer-term program on OM, some of them only are with us a year, if they don't learn this principle now waiting upon God praying Seeing specific answers to prayer before moving then when will they learn that? When will they learn that? thirdly Over the years it has proven to be a valuable time of testing every work of God needs testing I'm not sure whether this past year 1982 was a longer time of waiting than 1963 but 63 was an enormous test and yet looking back and retrospect We see that all that waiting and the hassles the arguments even people leaving the work even people feeling that OM was finished at that time was a milestone in this movement and In some cases people who Drop out during this period of time. We've discovered later on. It was really better that they didn't go On OM we discover right now. There are people in some of the OM countries out in hard situations Leaders are now writing and saying they wonder if this person should have come Now there's no easy answer to that and there's no way forward at world evangelism without taking a few risks and For every person who seems emotionally or spiritually weak that goes to the field and doesn't make it so well I would say there's two or three or four in somewhat similar situations Even though we may not always realize it who do go on and that's incredibly important that time of testing in 1963 and in other years was very important. I remember that year when We actually left quite soon because there was urgent prayer There was great unity and oneness on heart and it released one of the largest gifts in the history of the work Most of the year we do specialize in spending Just look at the total budget of OM the amount of literature we have produced over the years pushing toward 350 million pieces of literature We have our vehicles We have outreach now into a hundred nations. So by God's grace We've been able to keep the permanent headquarters and bases to about 35 nations I myself have personally ministered in about 55 nations and I Praise the Lord that he showed me over the past years to narrow that down in terms of any kind of longer-term emphasis I believe that this problem that we have of sometimes not getting our teams out fast enough and I as much as any want to see them get out to the field as quick as possible and I believe that You'll see Some of the ideas I share here We can't avoid teams having to wait if this is your goal and your burden Then you are right on the street that I want to walk on it and let us do everything It's one of the reasons I'm making this state between now And September to make sure that they're not this mountain of overdue bills in September I believe with the changes taking place, especially in the ship ministry and in India They've just submitted a budget With new emphasis in terms of control with a new a stronger emphasis on seeing cash come in and indefinite breakthroughs for finance before we Order literature and before we buy literature a lot of other things linked with the Finance Committee Linked with what God's been showing us through boards our boards of directors. I Believe we will avoid any extended Waiting with the difficulty and confusion that brings The end of September and I want that to be my goal. I want that to be your goal But if somehow we fail to do this That's the key thing if we fail to do this then we must not Just proceed out of that conference with everybody going forward to their various countries Without paying our bills, of course One dose of reality is that if we're really honest and we're paying our bills the way we should There won't be any money for the travel There won't be any money for the travel. So this is not a a sort of Phony situation that we put people into or an artificial situation that we put people into it's a real situation We don't Especially if we pay the bills as we should we don't have money to get the teams back I think a couple of years ago. I developed a little slogan much travel many miles little fruit Maybe God is trying to cut down on our travel. I Want to share some rather radical thoughts later on about The fact that it may not be God's will for so many people to come back to this conference And when people do come back they must make sure they have personally trusted God for all the finance Connected with the conference and in terms of any travel it would have to be above their regular support But I'll get into that later on. I Think this problem of having to wait for some weeks and the problems that are related with it are small compared To some of the other problems we could be having in OM especially if we fragmentize especially if we lose our oneness of heart in our unity, especially if no longer anyone is able to speak out and lovingly enforce basic principles and policies and And be able to to give a final word when the crunch comes and say look the policy is this and this is the way The leaders feel about it. Therefore you cannot do that sometimes I or Peter Maiden or George Miley or Jonathan McCroskey or Dennis or someone else has to do that Creating policies deciding to go in a particular direction at a coordinators conference or meeting of the General Council without having someone and And sometimes it's a group sometimes it's individuals in consultation with the group who will stand firm and say this far and no Further without such people in a movement. I believe the problems we will go into Will make anything we have faced up to now look very small Fourthly let's let's look at why there are these overdue bills thinking in terms of last year Let's first of all avoid generalization These overdue bills are not just because of one field and this past year. It was not just because of the ship We have to realize certain bills get automatically paid generally speaking rents Petrol usually we buy petrol with cash generally speaking Telephone Food Usually clothing so many things are paid for Therefore other things automatically get squeezed into the overdue category Now we have a strategy I believe for cutting down on this Therefore when we come to praying for funds, it's very important to please understand this it often In fact is overdue book bills and so that we look at around who has the overdue book bills But in fact those book bills are overdue because Hundreds of thousands in cash has gone out For airfares for food for telephone for clothing for petrol for our vehicles for repairs for 25 or more other areas of expenditures Emergencies summer holidays most of the summer vacations or holidays that many people in OM now take and That could cost a considerable amount of money. They are all on a cash basis and So I would beg of you brothers and sisters not to generalize as to why we have Such a mass of overdue bills Certainly one of the factors one of many is That with all the spending the increased cost of living The emergency money that's needed for medical things for for travel This is combined with the fact that so many people are trying to function on minimum support Or Now we have to face it especially families are Not living if they count especially the ministry they are involved in they're not living within The realm of their income now we have talked about this at great length and I don't want to go into this now But we must face the reality that if by the end of August 50% of the people in OM are on minimum support and maybe Maybe a good number of them say 20% are Under that we have quite a few by August who are down to almost zero support Yet, they still have to be flown home. Even if they are encouraged to go home to see breakthroughs in their churches This is why I Don't think one group that's praying for money in September waiting Should judge someone else who maybe because of difficult circumstances was unable to wait for Finance because we're all together. We're all eating. We're all traveling We're all using to some degree all kinds of facilities Linked with that the next point under this why are we overdue is the enormous expense just of recruiting these people in the first place We must face as a movement the enormous increased cost Especially of the kind of operation that we are dealing with the cost of those prayer letters, which are the lifeline of communication The cost of all the other communication in maintaining a longer term work simultaneously with launching a short-term work simultaneously with many many other ministries Going on all at the same time Therefore it is legitimate when there's a huge section or a chunk of overdue bills in September for all of us to sense that it is our Responsibility even on a very practical level and during the year It takes on other implications for example right now those of us on OM are Under some degree of strain because a lot of money is being spent on behalf of the new recruits their training Even some of the money often has to pay for the charter flight before the young people pay that in the office services the Prayer letters so many things connected with all these new recruits so in a sense we are going through some degree of Strain we have to pray on their behalf so I don't think if in September there are more new recruits who are having to actually wait where they are before going to the field that they should feel that's unfair and Personally whenever I've been able to explain these things with a new recruit It seems they really understood it and no longer had any great complaint. It is more difficult Admittedly to try to explain it sometimes to leaders who of course May have a different viewpoint But that's one of the purposes for this particular tape Though I don't sense a great amount of disunity on this matter, and I'm not making this tape because this is some huge crisis Not at all In fact most of the leaders I've already met with and they're willing to press on with the continuing system especially if we implement other things between now and then which is what we are wanting to do and One of the purposes I'm sharing this tape is because there's so many related issues that are going to help us in terms of praying and in terms of the work and Because I think it's important for the newest recruit Who has questions about this to be able to know what some of us as leaders are talking about and thinking about and praying about together Another point just under why we have Overdue bills often at this time Is because we've just come out of a huge summer crusade with enormous expenses and I feel strongly and I believe most leaders agree that we must get a greater control over summer crusade expenses Sometimes a production of huge amounts of free literature, maybe twenty-five thirty thousand dollars And sometimes this expenditure is made without enough people being involved in terms of praying and trusting and believing God for that money I Think on the finance committee. We're leaning It must be so when we're in stage three But even when we come out We're leaning so much Strongly toward the policy that money must be prayed in before we commit ourselves to large amounts of free literature and even to some degree highly subsidized literature in General, there are many things that we Cannot easily pray the money in in advance before we go ahead Therefore when we can trust God to bring in the finance Before we move forward and therefore avoid presumption, then we must go that way 15 years ago when things are much smaller and when a few people were willing to take a Spiritually speaking and through prayer a much larger chunk of the total responsibility prayer and fasting perhaps that old system could function but I think And I appreciate your feedback on it That we must move back more To definitely seeing financial breakthrough before we go ahead with expenditure whenever possible And that when in doubt we need to pray and talk it over And I believe one of the reasons God has allowed us into this time of difficulty is to bring greater control and greater Reality in terms of expenditure. We must not allow ourselves to think this is a good thing. This will reach so many people It's wonderful Therefore we go ahead. No, we have to learn to think this is a good thing. It's wonderful It'll reach so many people it'll accomplish this Therefore we must wait upon God and see a specific breakthrough in finance that we may be able to go forward with that thing Moving on to what I've listed as my fifth point Our goal should be to move out within one or two weeks after the conference as soon as the vehicles are ready The funds are there for travel We move out If we want to do this, we must start now to give greater consideration to all that's involved and I feel strongly and shared this with the financial committee that if by the end of July in August We are not in a much healthier situation Financially, then we must take radical steps Only radical steps in August will keep us from extreme situations in October and November That we will not be able to cope with and handle and that will throw us again back into all kinds of controversy About who stays back who doesn't stay back And the excess money that sometimes is spent in the midst of all that Therefore I am requesting and the financial committee It's basically an agreement that if we are not in a healthy situation in July and August with overdue bills Paid that we be ready for some radical changes We've thought even in terms of not having a coordinators conference It's a good thing. We need it. It builds unity. I can give 20 reasons why we should have it But I think in the future there may be other emergencies where we'd have to consider such a conference financially is impossible Bringing leaders in from all over the world and on top of that the wives Conference bringing their wives in and often they have to go back early and separate this costs a lot of money Therefore considering all the expenditure for September in the last few days of August if we're not in a sane healthy position in August we must take radical steps and This will demand an emergency meeting of the financial committee and it will involve cooperation right across the work Another possibility is to have the conference this year If we're still financially in such difficulty only for new recruits Only new recruits who have seen of course breakthroughs in connection with finance and then a smaller number of people Who can train them the number of leaders we have To help train the number of people at that conference in some ways is unrealistic in other ways. It's wonderful And we could use even more But I believe God is driving us to to deeper reality and to examine different ways of doing things and I'm convinced that a smaller number of people Training new leaders Could handle a much smaller conference in September mainly for new recruits We've heard that some people don't want to come back to the conference Anyway, because they may get trapped there having to wait on the Lord for money for a long period of time and that would keep Them from getting back to their front lines. I Think such people need to understand first of all that if we don't have some financial breakthroughs including for their own field Some of these front lines may no longer exist we cannot put up a building without laying the foundation a Solid foundation in terms of our prayer bases our headquarters our prayer bases. They're mobilizing prayer They're getting out the prayer letters. They're processing the recruits They're sending the receipts to these committed people who give their gifts if we don't have a solid foundation of these prayer bases Then some of the action on the front lines Even in terms of evangelism May have to disappear altogether It's the old question whether you want to limp forward and sometimes in some of our fields We are limping and there's no simple easy answer for that Or we don't want to go forward at all This is a difficult question. I have been begging brothers and sisters for the thing the last five years that we could slow down and Watch our numbers and emphasize quality more than quantity and yet year after year people come back from some countries and tell me they want 25% more people and we take the people out even if their support is minimum and even if we're not sure they can really make It or have a gift and training for that particular area. So that makes it all very very complex I believe however through extra prayer faith careful spending Cut back Reality therapy that we can go into the September conference Facing the kind of mountain that we will be able to move during that conference and after the conference. It will still take a miracle We cannot move forward on the basis of human reasoning We cannot move forward just on the basis of human projection as how much we think it's going to cost and what is our income? That also is not the answer. We have to trust God for a miracle We have to believe God for the impossible, but let's believe God for a miracle in May June July and August and not consider October only the month of miracles and If we haven't seen the miracles if we haven't seen the breakthroughs in July and August then let's face the reality of our failure Let's not just keep postponing the pain but honestly Make necessary cutbacks even radical changes until we have the cash Maybe people should not come back to that conference without seeing specific money come in for all their travel at the time rather than saying well if I if I Total up all the gifts I had over the last two years. It shows that I have 200 over the minimum We shouldn't even think that way We should think 200 say over the over the support level and that can count toward my travel in one way That's true But if we all think like that then there's never enough money for all the other endless hidden Expenses that we tend to always think the other man is going to pay for We've had a policy that in countries far away from Europe people only have to come back every other year But of course one of the things that has made this complicated is that quite a few people want to go home They really desire to go And the September conference is a secondary thing. I Personally feel that many of the very short visit homes are not productive at least certain kinds of people They don't have what it takes. They don't have the giftedness to make a short visit home really productive and And such a visit shouldn't just barely produce enough money to somehow get back to the September conference These visits home. Hopefully even in terms of financial breakthrough will be bring in far more than that And this is why I have been stressing with other leaders that if people are short of finance That they must think in terms of spending a half a year or a year home to do a thorough job of building up Relationships of seeing men and women turned upside down for world missions and realizing that can be as strategic a ministry as going back to their own country and Attempting from a weak position to evangelize more people and to accomplish more out there We must not think of the whole ministry as a secondary ministry So that we paint the frontline people and sort of the real soldiers and those who are back in their own Countries or in that kind of building up the foundation ministry. They're considered sort of Second-class citizens we have to be honest in saying that innuendos come out that do give this idea and Sometimes it can be very hurtful To the man who senses a calling to be back building the foundation in his own country or in a headquarters office situation We must realistically each one of us consider our own support and If it's low we must get in correspondence with our country leader Or better yet in discussion with our country leader and then with our sending country leader To see if it might not be God's will to spend a good period of time Going back say in July or August and remaining through January or better yet through the next summer to really see a solid foundation laid a Solid foundation laid in terms of prayer partners in terms of church linking that is going to Produce tremendous spiritual dividends and practical dividends for the long term It doesn't take time to lay a foundation Isn't there a danger as much as we emphasize that OM is not a shortcut to missions that some come into OM with the concept that it's a shortcut to missions and that's why they're unwilling to take a Substantial amount of time to build relationships and to get their home church situation or even to get a home church Some may say well some people are not able to communicate when they go home But now we have so many things that can help such people Films slides film strips these things can communicate other people can be brought in to help Plus on top of that a lot of people who may not be gifted in pulpit communication if they're real people who have the reality that we are talking about then that can spread on an individual basis and if it can't Spread on an individual basis back in their own home country with people of their own culture the vision love The message and the reality of being assertive if that can't communicate and turn people on back in our own home countries Then we must ask the question Whether that person has the the gift and has that which it takes to communicate in a foreign culture We might throw in the exception of people who are in practical skills for example say a bookkeeper or a mechanic and Some other people and say well this person doesn't have the gift of communication even on a man-to-man basis yet He's an outstanding mechanic. He's an outstanding bookkeeper He's the kind of person or secretary that we need on the field I would say an answer to this that we are trying to build a total man We are not trying to have people who are only bookkeepers only mechanics only secretaries That might be their major gift and contribution to the body But it is our prayer and hope that within OM such people will get into the word I think most of them are develop ability to communicate to some degree and I believe on the other side often people in these practical realms Have a greater open door with other people home at home who are also doing practical things and Can therefore relate more to that person than maybe some high-powered preacher or some very gifted cross-cultural communicator All of us at one time or other Can be involved in laying the foundation? Let's not make excuses Let's move forward in this area in faith And let's be willing to slow OM down and slow our own ministry down even close some fields for a year or two if necessary to get a stronger foundation Because ultimately it is not finance That we need first of all it's spiritual power. It's it's the prayer that's going to bring conviction of sin It's prayer that's going to soften the ground in the Muslim world That's the kind of foundation we're talking about Now without the softening of the ground through the heavy artillery of intercessory prayer There's there is the sense that we're going to send wave after wave of of troops into these areas only to see them Coming back as as semi casualties or discouraged. I Pray that you may Understand and see what I'm attempting to share at that point There's no shortcut and if we don't see these breakthroughs by the middle of October And let's put the brakes on Let's put the brakes on and let's wait upon God Some can wait upon God in their offices where they're continuing to lay the foundation Process the gifts others can wait upon God In some other place where they're preparing to launch out to the front lines The key is not first of all where we are But it's what we're doing at that time Though it is essential that at least some And I'll go into this more later at least some people hold back completely From going forward to the front lines of spiritual action My sixth point is actually What I've already gone into pre-conference emergency action Living on that which is coming in avoiding getting into indebtedness Perhaps a smaller conference perhaps cutting the coordinators conference perhaps cutting the women's Conference and make it only a new recruits conference I'm only thinking in terms of one year and only if we're in an emergency situation By August Which would be stage three or near stage three What are some of the objections our time has quickly passed? I? Think most of us know the objections to the present policy some say that it hits the new recruits More than other people is it fair that the new recruits have to bear the burden that other people have laid on them I think I have already answered that and if you haven't heard the answer, maybe you could listen to the tape again It is very very clear that we're all responsible for these overdue bills I think more this coming year than in the past because the larger ministry in our midst the ship ministry Has definitely on a 12 months a year Heavy controlled situation where they will not go into the kind of indebtedness they've had in the past I feel that's that with great assurance I've talked with George Miley Dale wrote on and others and I believe God has just led these shipmen to new ways of controlling expenditure to new reality concerning not moving the ship forward and the do-loss right now is just on a Week by week month by month basis and without question They are willing to hold up that ship if they do not continue to see the hand of God moving in providing finance Therefore I do not believe we'll go into October in any way similar to last year but it could be because Money is being spent all over the world and because the home offices in Right now in terms of bill credit aren't aren't some of the most difficult situations the summer crusade The basic food and petrol everything we have to use the decrease of giving in some situations May thrust us into an emergency situation in October We hope not and the action that you and I take between now and the end of August I believe will determine that I think it's important to understand that even if a lot of the people remaining back In Belgium and London waiting upon God and most but if a lot of them are new recruits Other people mentally physically and emotionally are with them And I have found actually that the leaders who were back in their headquarters Were going through more agony and pain through this time of testing than those who were waiting back there plus the fellow who had to go out to his country because of some Complexity like the complexity we faced with the logos so logos people eventually had to go They also went through pain and difficulty Because they didn't like the other the idea of the other staying back and they're going plus Especially when people made some remarks to them that didn't always warm their hearts Therefore the whole body is involved But in different ways and of course it's just this kind of difficulty and the apparent inconsistencies That do test us and then some cases there are real Inconsistencies if you know any spiritual movement in the world including the New Testament Church in Acts 2 3 4 & 5 that had no Inconsistencies, I would love to know about it as human beings Especially attempting what we are trying to attempt there at times will be inconsistencies. I Feel that in my particular ministry one of my One of my jobs is to try to get on top of any inconsistency Anything that appears to be unethical anything that's not consistent with what we believe and what the word teaches and 12 months a year most days during that month. I'm working on that but when 1700 people launch out as Weak human vessels of God and this treasure is in earthen vessels. There will be problems. There will be mistakes There will be inconsistencies those of you were at the June conference in the United States Will remember how I spoke not on the seven major emphasis, but the seven major messes in All my orientation and every new recruit. I think has had some of it minus a few I've put the emphasis on the problems the trials and the difficulties and tried to bring people into balance Understand what OM is really like Therefore they will not be expecting something that we cannot produce Isn't this always one of the great problems with us as Christians, especially us idealistic zealous Discipleship types we expect too much from others We expect too much from ourselves that often leads us into the kind of discouragement many people are facing right now I know him and then expecting too much from the fellowship or the organization that we are apart from or we are part of And I've had someone share with me recently that in the orientation sessions Because of their background their way of thinking their particular brand of narrow-mindedness They only heard what they wanted to hear in this person's case it was the discipline the evangelism the endure hardship and And he liked that he grabbed on to that and he missed the emphasis on the mercy of God human limitations Accepting oneself failure forgiveness. You can't have one without the other and So the trials and the problems the differences of opinion the mistakes that are made during that waiting period I know some people got into sin during that waiting period we can more easily see that we can therefore talk about that and think That comes as a result of the waiting period But the truth is that people have got into sin and difficulty every other month throughout OM and every month since the work has begun But we don't always all see that So wherever there's a group of people waiting or working they're going to be problems and once we must avoid to we must avoid Drawing some conclusion from those problems in a generalized way and Face the reality that throughout the year there are also problems and Mistakes and sometimes we wonder if certain teams should have even gone and if certain individuals should have gone But once we start just going down that road We soon I believe get into unbelief. We will soon become over conservative and fail to have that spirit of faith that willingness to take risks and That strong conviction that God has led us that the Holy Spirit ultimately is in control and that we are moving forward in his plan and Purposes Moving to my seventh point Or in which I'm talking about objections moving on in that Point I would mention that one of the other objections Is that this policy hits the evangelistic teams more than it hits some of the teams in the headquarters. I Don't have time to go into this in detail But I think the devil is constantly trying to drive a wedge between the evangelistic teams and The teams who are working in headquarters or behind-the-scenes situations Let's first of all realize that some of the people in the headquarters Demonstrate as much evangelistic reality, maybe not in terms of hours But in terms of love and evangelistic zeal as those out on the front lines in a full-time Evangelism the great test is really when a person leaves OM and if a man has been in full-time Evangelism when he's been on OM and then returns to his own church and then does very little evangelism. Well, that's reality therapy And I feel it's only normal as I've already said so I'm going to cut this short That we have to lay the foundation first It's so to me so normal that the person handling the gifts handling the receipts handling the prayer letters that he should not always But in some cases get back to the office to get the gifts in to process them the prayer letters the organization that this would take place several weeks In advance of the teams launching out in evangelism to me, it's so logical That it would function that way so that if those who are waiting in In special extra times of prayer and often headquarters people have been involved in that but if there are more people From the evangelistic side in that that's just normal and They need to face the reality of that and I feel that people in evangelism Sometimes say things that hurt the people who are working on their behalf back in the offices many people of course don't and generally there's still a great unity between those different groups and in a great esteem and This particular time of testing if it happens again Will give us another opportunity To demonstrate our unity to bear one another's burden and so fulfill the law of Christ we started back in New Jersey several years before we ever got into the Muslim world and We started back in a number of other countries in terms of laying the foundation Building up the prayer partners praying in the finance before we could launch into you can name any field you want to name And then another objection is that the leaders are not with them Well some leaders are I think it's important for people in OM to understand that the average leader in OM because the harvest is Plenty so laborers are few the average leader is doing the work of two or three people and if he has a family and children The pressure on his time the demands upon him all the things that he's supposed to be doing are more than most people Calculate and some of the statements that sometimes are made about leaders because they're not present at a particular moment I think really do lack balance and love I Do not believe it's God's plan After a leader has been away from his family for weeks and his children even that I think has to be cut down on Especially if that man's spending a large amount of his time previous to this on the road Recruiting building relationships going to committee meetings. It would be wrong would be ethically wrong It would be against our teaching in regard to the importance of the family to say that leader now must stay back with the new recruits for several more weeks most of the people staying back not all Are single people there are tests and trials that you will have the privilege of going through as a single person Most of the married people have been through that when they were single some of them also when they're married You might ask yourself. What will you be doing if you stay in OM? 10 years down the road and in fact if you didn't believe that we stood for the protection of our families and esteeming our families You would not want to stay in OM longer term Therefore the single person the evangelistic team member headed for India or Sudan Or somewhere else should count it all joy And if for some emergency reason because everything has to be by negotiation there are exceptions If suddenly someone goes off and you're left behind isn't this a chance to esteem that person is better than yourself Isn't this a chance to consider? prayer Has a privilege not a punishment even prayer in October when we're waiting upon God And we can't do what we sort of want to do. I think it should be thought of as a privilege Rather than a punishment. I know quite a few leaders that would rather be with the team praying I've done it even at times with my family living in the back of a truck in Zomiton They would rather do that then do perhaps some of the other things they are doing Keep in mind also that often what leaders are doing with a small team working around them on the practical level That's what God is using on the practical level to bring in the money. We don't want to break the arm that feeds us a lot of people from STL One of the main sources of income for the work, especially in India Miss some of the conference don't get in always on these extended prayer times because that has to function as a business 12 months a year It's a sacrifice. We have to make we can't do everything. Oh if we could just Get that into our hearts we can't do everything Therefore as some are praying more than others and another group is evangelizing or working in the office more than others Together it keeps us as a body and enables us to go forward together Another thing that has helped me on this is the parable Where the man who works only the last hours in the day gets the same salary as those who worked all day Do you remember the protest that brought? and I think we sometimes get that kind of protest in the midst of a September or October financial crunch and How easy to look at the other person how easy to say? Hey, that's not fair. I Believe some who have said this is not fair That is not fair need to reread that parable of those hired servants a need to understand that in spiritual work Things don't always function In a way that the world would consider it fair it's something to think about and I hope That we'll realize That this provides us one of the greatest opportunities to esteem others better than ourself Let me summarize now the solutions that I've interwoven into this Discussion There has to be year-round reality action discipline and control and We are working toward that and I believe we will see the victory on top of this I think there must be a greater emphasis on faith. I'm seeing definite breakthroughs linked with definite responsibility We must pray and work toward the destruction of the mentality that someone else is praying in the money I think it's a great hindrance to faith if When the Lord is trying to put pressure on us we start blaming other people or we start blaming policies These may be fast and we're willing to discuss and we're willing to answer questions. And that's why we have this tape but ultimately The greater joy and the greater privilege is what I'd like to call going the extra mile and love faith believing the best Especially if we're going to get on and evangelize the world If we want to spend most of our times and committee meetings and discussion reading endless memos and Of course some of us have to do that more than others But if we want to get on and evangelize in the world I feel there's got to be greater love Greater trust greater respect yet with that to keep it in balance Walking in the light That's quite different from gossip In honesty sharing confronting compassionate confronting rather than just innuendos gossip general moaning talking behind people's backs and all that that so easily gets us into and then another part of the solution is is This whole area of personal support ministry support and field support each field needs to carry their own burden and yet each field Should look around and pray to see when the Lord is leading them to help other fields It has to be both just like in the personal support Goal number one is is that people should have the privilege of seeing finance come in and answer to prayer the privilege of personal faith Yet, we also have corporate faith one of the reasons and we're going to have to consider increasing the support level But one of the reasons we are willing to take people in the first one or two years on a minimum Is because already we have plenty to to sink in a sense our corporate faith teeth Into if you know what I mean, in other words at present, it seems to be 80% of the load maybe 75% maybe a little less is is is on the shoulders in a sense of the corporate faith and That we must come back and be sure we are keeping enough emphasis on the personal faith Which is linked with personal full support and what I call ministry support. I Feel those of us who have been in the work longer Must be willing to take a greater share of the burden. I don't think that will be accomplished through just Discussion through making various changes. I believe we as older mature believers must face this mountain and Trust God for not just our support but ministry support and not quickly cop out and say oh Well, I'd rather just go get a job for some that would be a cop-out For some people going and just getting a job so you can have the joy of just having your own money and paying Living in your own little world. That would be a cop-out for others. It might be more difficult. I think for many it's more difficult To break to see a breakthrough in full support and ministry support Even if it takes a couple of years at least, you know What direction you're moving in and you'll avoid the the easy road you'll avoid you'll avoid any trick of Satan In which he may be trying to get you away from the divine calling He has given you to world evangelism to reaching the unreached people And if we don't have people with a little holy ghost stubbornness who are gonna keep banging on that door and keep asking Whether it be for their support or for ministry support or for other breakthroughs for special projects unless we have people with stick ability and who will knock and keep on knocking and not be sidetracked and not be led into Generalizations or rationalization or blaming others then forget it We're not gonna reach the unreached people and we might as well forget about this huge huge Task of going forward in connection with the Muslim world Someone may say well this brings us into guilt. It brings us into bondage Especially if we don't immediately see our support come in Well, here's another opportunity to be tested When our support is is not coming in God can teach us beautiful lessons in humility God can use that as a time to open us up So we share with others and pray together and work together to see if there is some Practical area where the devil has deceived us that has brought blockage in the pipeline It takes time and as we work together in humility Learning God's lessons whether it's individually or as a whole body Blessing is going to come Blessing is going to come If we're going to see this increase in support Then I believe There's got to be a death blow to laziness Some have shared with me that their great problem is laziness We hesitate to even mention it because we easily feel so guilty You know some guilt is legitimate I don't think the greatest problem in the world is for Christians to be able to always not feel guilty I feel and sense greatly that it's normal at times to feel guilty but as biblical Christians who know the word it is also normal to know what to do with that guilt and And of course sometimes our own personal emotional problems get very much wound up in these own policies And that's where people need to be able to talk things out and when they need to be able to come to some balanced Conclusions that's why one of the main books. I've been pushing all Years this little book. I have in my hand David Seaman's healing for damaged emotions and Next week when I have my only opportunity to teach the study program in Bromley. I'll be talking about emotional and mental and spiritual survival Because I think that all helps bring this thing into balance I Believe more sanctified imagination More initiative more diligence. I don't think we're we're extreme in those areas in OM today This will link to the third thing of ways to See this mountain moved and that's not to depart from the literature vision that God has given us If teams are going to get into situations where they're no longer Seeing at least some funds come in through literature, which has been a vital part of OM going and being able to function Then they have to trust God for extra money It's nice to say now we're gonna have a church planting team Literature distribution superficial or if you have the faith for a church planting team or some other team where you don't see much money coming in through literature Then certainly you should have the faith to pay the bills Including all the general overhead worldwide that is linked toward that because in the past the the the small profit from the sale of books which does add up when you have so many people is a major factor in dealing with general overhead and So therefore people could continue on even though they only had minimum support But if now we're not going to have that emphasis on literature sales And we're going to give up because in some places it is hard we know in some places It's not always the best method of evangelism Then we must face the reality of paying our own way and seeing God supply direct cash And that's something I would love to talk about more To bring this to a close another one of the solutions which I've touched on already is an increase of love and unity Always the basics are more important than some of the things that may seem to be Spectacular or seem to be some quick answer and then giving a higher esteem to meetings Meetings are important because that's often where people get the vision for OM and because after the meeting it's when we have personal contacts The meeting I had this past Sunday after the meeting I took some close friends back to my bus For a cup of tea and fellowship together That kind of rich fellowship with this man who stood with the work for 20 years We can't measure the importance of that Spiritually for them for us. We're together God is putting the brakes on OM to push us back more into the laps of some of our prayer partners to more highly esteem Them and if we did we'd be more diligent in sending our prayer letter and the quality of it would increase and we counted all joy To be involved on that level we'd be writing more personal letters. We'd be making a few more phone calls Yes, I believe God can take us through this difficult time May he renew our sense of sense of urgency. Do we really believe men are lost? How easy it is to get caught up in the periphery issues? do you get caught up in this policy and that strategy and to lose our zeal for souls and How easy it is also in some cases to begin to hard line on the area where we may be strong and Become weaker on the area where we are weak Maybe you're a stronger point is prayer. But how are you doing in evangelism? And if you are weak in evangelism, we want to be patient with you Then be a little careful before you hardline someone who's weak on prayer We're all different we're growing in different ways we're all strugglers and as we have greater patience with one another as we face life honestly and The fact that a head down life's road for most of us are going to be far greater problems than we ever had last October or November and God is trying to train us and Prepare us for those problems and to bring us into that place of total commitment and wisdom and balance and maturity So that we can go right through life not the OM year program. That's not the goal right through life walking in the spirit following Jesus facing life's problems heading Head on it may mean slowing down a little bit It may be it may mean canceling some of our projects. It may mean pulling back But ultimately it's going to mean advance for the kingdom of God Advance for the church and advance for our spiritual lives. May God bless you Father we commit these things to you. We pray that you would give us a faith to act We pray that we may be able to study these things carefully to examine your word to be convinced in our own hearts Even though we may not agree on every little jot or tittle and then to go forward as a mighty praying believing army that each month will be a miracle month not just October or November that each month will be a month of counting the cost of of seeing definite answers to prayer before we just move forward in a presumptuous way and we thank you for all that we've learned through this and that you are bringing us closer together through this time of testing and And this is beautiful And at the same time there is so much blessing and so many are being reached and so many thousands are coming to know you We're humbled Lord, and so we fall down and worship you and ask you a fresh to crucify self and to teach us what it is to live in humility at the foot of the cross with Calvary love flowing from our hearts and in in a spirit-controlled way and To at the same time be able to bounce back when we fail to really accept ourselves and the limitations of our own Humanity Lord, we worship you we praise you for the victory in Jesus name. Amen