I’m writing this on the eve of this ministry’s first anniversary (May 1st) and I’m really excited to bring you the 4th quarterly ministry update!
We are continuing to offer support and encouragement to 8 men as they continue to grow in their relationships with Jesus Christ and with their wives. I have the privilege of coaching one of the guys we’ve been mentoring on a new adventure as he begins to mentor a 13 yr old with no positive male influence in his life. God has given us an incredible opportunity to be part of this boy’s transition into manhood. In addition, we’ve mailed off the check for another year of domain registration and hosting for the 4BetterOr4Worse Community. Many churches and organizations are requesting space on our event calendar for their men’s events. I continue to look for opportunities to share our story and speak to groups about mentoring and how important it is for men to have the support of Christian brothers.
I need to tell you that, along with all the positives, there are struggles. Since the last update letter satan has made it clear to me that he’s not going to allow us to do our work without a fight. This is my first real encounter with spiritual warfare and it’s kind of scary. It’s been a test of my family’s faith and our reliance on God’s protection to get us through some of the attacks. I wrote about one of these attacks on the web site. If you haven’t seen it you can click here to read it. I have started some spiritual warfare training and will continue that in the coming months to equip myself and my family to better handle these situations. In addition, we’ve assembled a team people to provide proactive prayer coverage for the ministry – something we should have done long ago.
The small group study I mentioned in my last update letter is coming together. It should be ready for publishing and release to the web community by Memorial Day. I’m excited about this because I feel it’s an inspired creation and not my own words. It’s our hope that this will create some real and meaningful discussions in small groups.
The youth program that Ed Wosinski and I are writing together is coming along slowly. Scheduling conflicts and busy families are challenging the progress on this project. The April/May time frame may have to be pushed back a bit. The Core Ministry Team and I continue to believe in this program and will continue to push ahead to completion. Appropriately guiding boys into manhood is something this ministry feels is extremely important in the current American culture.
The prayer team I envisioned is slow in coming together. We still do not have that guy who can take the lead on this project. I’m looking for a guy who has quality time to give to the project and who knows his way around e-mail, text messaging, and Facebook. He will be a member of the Core Ministry Team and his primary responsibility will be to receive prayer requests via e-mail and forward them to the prayer team using the prevailing internet technologies. If you or someone you know would be willing to volunteer for this position, please contact me at Bert@4BetterOr4Worse.org or at (616) 272-4854.
Finally, let me wrap up this update letter by making you aware of some of the needs of the ministry.
- We continue to need mentors. Mentors are not men of perfection or overwhelming wisdom. Mentors are guys who are in the trenches of life with the rest of us, but have overcome some things in their own lives with the grace and power of Jesus Christ. If you or someone you know is willing to spend two hours per week supporting and encouraging another guy who is trying to find his way, please contact me.
- We need a man to lead the prayer team. We’ve decided that this position must be a man leading other men in prayer and we continue to pray for this person to come forward.
- Lastly, I ask you that you prayerfully consider supporting 4BetterOr4Worse Ministry financially. Donations can be made quickly and easily using the Donate button on the sidebar at www.4BetterOr4Worse.org. Your donations provide a cup of coffee for one-on-one mentor meetings, support the annual costs of maintaining the web site, and help with the development of programs and materials we use in the mentoring relationships we build.
I’m always grateful for your support as we continue to sustain and encourage men who stood in front of God and everyone and said “I do”.
In His service,
Bert
