{"id":887,"date":"2012-12-10T18:24:31","date_gmt":"2012-12-11T00:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/?p=887"},"modified":"2012-12-10T18:24:31","modified_gmt":"2012-12-11T00:24:31","slug":"we-need-your-help-please","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/2012\/12\/we-need-your-help-please\/","title":{"rendered":"We need your help please."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Javier Santos' Mission Outpost in Buenos Aires. The pole structure behind the building is where they hold a feeding program for the village children.<\/p><\/div>\n

I ended up my last blog with the following words, \u201cI feel that we are at the threshold of moving forward with the Training School. New things are in the wind. I believe that we will soon have students living, working, and training on the farm. God will soon bring into reality the vision and dream. But we must think big and not give up or loose faith\u201d.<\/p>\n

We are at the threshold, but not without opposition.<\/p>\n

We have an enemy who is not pleased with the forward advance of God\u2019s Kingdom. We cannot quit or give up (or give in).<\/p>\n

This blog will not be comfortable in its writing, nor in its receiving, but unfortunately it must be written. Theresa and I discussed its timing, and unfortunately I know that December, just before Christmas is not good financial timing for anyone, but then, when is?<\/p>\n

So, here goes\u2026<\/p>\n

I have become very aware over the past months that we must make some drastic changes in the way that we have structured the work, specifically how it relates to Javier Santos. As you are aware if you have been reading the blogs, Javier, as farm administrator, is my right-hand man. He has taken on an incredible amount of work and responsibility with little or no thanks, and pitifully little financial remuneration for doing it. In fact, since we were starting on a shoestring and a song we had to ask him to wait for any payment for his services until after payment for the first harvest. This request was made in February of 2011 when we asked him to take on the responsibility. At that time I really had no idea how much work would actually be involved for him, how long it would take to be reimbursed for the following year\u2019s harvest, and besides we simply didn\u2019t seem to have options. Javier agreed, knowing full well the amount of work that he was taking on his shoulders, and doing so for the love that he has for God, and the desire that he has to see men and women trained as godly disciples and in God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n

Over the past year and a half I have become painfully aware of all that we have asked of him. He has graciously shouldered the load and has stated to me many times that he is not doing it for man, but for God.<\/p>\n

We have now taken off our first harvest, but to my chagrin we apparently will not be receiving full payment on the sugarcane until into June or July of 2013. Obviously paying Javier will take priority, but we may not have enough in the first partial payout in February to take care of our debt to him. This will mean that Javier will have worked for over two years before receiving payment for his work as farm manager. To make this matter even more unconscionable, in the process of devoting his time and attention to working on the Training Center farm he has had to devote less time, or do double time in other work that he is called to do \u2013 pastor a church, run missions, work his own farm, be father of three boys and husband to Cristina etc.<\/p>\n

I feel that we must make a radical change in this demand on him in the new year. One way that we can do this is to pay someone to do the day-to-day work of running the farm, thus taking the daily load off of Javier\u2019s shoulders. Javier would continue to be the farm manager and the director of the Training Center, but the daily work load would be relieved to a large extent and he could focus more on overseeing rather than on the physical work involved in the farm.<\/p>\n

We already have someone in mind, but I have not spoken to him as yet until I can be assured that we have the finances to pay him. This is a godly couple that we believe would fit well into the work of running and maintaining the farming end, and more importantly maybe, who could also perhaps grow into the role of being the teaching\/mentoring couple who would live on the farm with the students.<\/p>\n

In order to be able to take him on as a fulltime employee we need to be able to commit $50.00 per week. This means that if four people would commit to $50.00 per month we could take on a fulltime worker who could both relieve the pressure from Javier and also be trained into the role of becoming mentor and teacher at the Training Center.<\/p>\n

My prayer though, is that this specific generosity world not diminishes other giving. We so desperately need finances to commence building the housing needed to begin the Training Center. We trust the Lord for this provision, but we must begin soon. Until we can build a place to house a couple and students we cannot advance with the vision. Because of this I request that we are able to designate any funds that come in over and above the needs for staffing to be used for building.<\/p>\n

Please prayerfully consider helping us in this.<\/p>\n

For U.S. supporters it is very simple to send money and to receive a tax receipt for your donations. All funding for this specific need, over and above your normal giving, should simply be sent to the normal address at Grove, Oklahoma, but marked as \u201cPERSONNEL\u201d in the Note are of the check. Again, I ask that any amount that is received that is not needed for the paying of staff can be utilized for the beginning of building the Training Center housing.<\/p>\n

For Canadian supporters – there is a small complication with Canadian charity laws and giving for this specific need (over and above your normal giving for the ministry as you have been doing), cannot be tax receipted through the normal channels. Gifts can also be sent to the normal address at Listowel, Ontario, and marked as \u201cPERSONNEL\u201d in the Note are of the cheque. Again, I ask that any amount that is received that is not needed for the paying of staff can be utilized for the beginning of building the Training Center housing. However, unfortunately these specifically designated gifts cannot be tax receipted in Canada.<\/p>\n

If you have any questions at all concerning these needs, the reasons, where to send the donations, etc., please do not hesitate to email me at steven@vitwministries.com<\/a>. You can also call me at (702) 516-1478. This is a U.S. MagicJack number and it is billed as a U.S. call.<\/p>\n

I trust that you are having a wonderful December as you get ready for Christmas. May the season and the great gift of our Saviour fill you with joy.<\/p>\n

Your missionaries,<\/p>\n

Steven and Theresa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I ended up my last blog with the following words, \u201cI feel that we are at the threshold of moving forward with the Training School. New things are in the wind. I believe that we will soon have students living, working, and training on the farm. God will soon bring into reality the vision and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":890,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887\/revisions\/890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}