This year has been quite the rollercoaster ride for me personally. Amid researching, writing, and defending my dissertation, and searching, securing, and transitioning to new housing, I often felt both anxious and expectant: Anxious about needing the Lord to graciously show Himself strong on my behalf. And expectant as to how He would do so.

I guess you could say that I felt “anpectant.” I felt like the father of the mute boy in the gospel of Mark who said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

As we move into the year-end giving season, I find myself anpectant again. Anxious, as perhaps not since the early years of EA, has so much depended on year-end donations in determining the breadth of ministry for the coming year. And expectant, as while the Lord can provide by any means and at any time, traditionally, He has used year-end contributions to propel EA into another year of ministry.

And so I find myself anticipating the Lord to provide EA a firm foundation to move into year 12 of ministry so that we might declare His praises for His provision through faithful ministry partners such as yourself.

Therefore, we pray to the Lord, in the words of David,

“Set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.” (Ps. 40:2-3)

Thank you again for another year of your earnest interest, prayerful support, and financial partnership. As you are able and feel led to contribute toward our bold goal of raising $100,000 in the coming weeks, we thank you in advance.

Throughout Scripture, the people of God are depicted as strangers and aliens.*

These terms carry the idea of a person not simply passing through but a foreigner who has settled down, however briefly, among the local population.

Such is the accurate image of the Christ-follower today amid our crooked and perverse generation, which does not honor God or give thanks to Him but instead has exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:21-25).

As we celebrate today what Abraham Lincoln described as “a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens,” let us make the following passage from Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus our prayer:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. 

In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. 

In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. 

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:3-14)

* Genesis 12:1; Acts 7:2-3; Luke 14:26,27,33, Lev 25:23, Hebrews 11:9,10,13 Genesis 23:4; 47:9; Lev 25:23; 1Chr 29:15, Ps 39:12; 119:19, 54

Charles Spurgeon once said,

“Satan always hates Christian fellowship; it is his policy to keep Christians apart. Anything which can divide saints from one another he delights in. He attaches far more importance to godly intercourse than we do. Since union is strength, he does his best to promote separation.”

Along those lines, we would love you to join us for Christian fellowship at our upcoming EA Christmas party on December 3rd, 4-7 pm in Sterling. And feel free to bring any friends interested in learning more about EA. Our in-country director, Carlos Pimentel, will be our special guest.

Click here to RSVP

Additionally, the EA team recently enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship via video conference with Pastor Robert Wauhop of Immanuel Bible Church of Valdosta, Georgia. Robert shared with our key leaders regarding his preparation for ministry and theological grounding at The Master’s Seminary, stressing the importance of emulating Ezra in devoting ourselves to the study, observance, and teaching of Scripture (Ezra 7:10). In addition to being a former youth ministry student of mine, Robert is also a fantastic example of someone whose love for and knowledge of Scripture epitomizes the following quote from 19th-century theologian Albert Barnes on Psalm 119:20,

“The desire to know more of the commands of God acted continually on him, exhausting his strength, and overcoming him. He so longed for God that, in our language, ‘it wore upon him’ – as any ungratified desire does. It was not the possession of the knowledge of God that exhausted him; it was the intenseness of his desire that he might know more of God.”

The staff felt tremendously blessed by the experience, just as our annual Christmas gathering always proves to be a wonderfully encouraging experience for those who can attend.

Hope to see you there!

Mark your calendars for our upcoming Christmas Party on Sunday, December 3rd from 4-7pm in Sterling, Virginia, as we celebrate the season, praise the Lord for His gracious work over the past 11 years, and lift up 2024 to the Lord in prayer.

We will be joined by Carlos Pimentel (In-Country Director) from the Dominican Republic.

Please feel free to bring any friends who might be interested in learning more about Empowering Action.

Click here to RSVP.

By way of encouragement, I thought I’d pass along a few updates that Carlos relayed to me this week. When you support EA, this is the work you are enabling in serving Christ’s Church.

A historic meeting this week where plans were finalized for our team to travel to the neighboring island of Curacao to strengthen Dominican church leaders through our K2:42 Church Network Development program.

Regarding the recent tropical storm, our staff and their families are doing well and nothing wrong to report. We thank our Lord for His kindness and protection. Most of churches we work with are also doing well. The storm winds were low enough not to cause too much damage. We worry about the amount of rain and opportunity for flood in the rural and urban areas. So far the main destruction was made to the agriculture in the Southwest part of the country affecting the economy of a lot of poor farmers in that region.

There were about 514 families taken to schools and churches for spending the night for their protection, many lost many of their little things in the houses such as mattresses and beds. There are over 1.5 million residents without electricity and running water but this should be resolve within days.

Today we have a beautiful sunny day and everyone is returning to normal activities. Most people spent the last two days protecting themselves and their families.

We Praise God for His continue Care and Protection for the Dominican people.

Shalom,

Carlos Pimentel Sánchez
Country Director, Dominican Republic

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:1-2)

Today, perhaps more so than in recent history, we seem to have numerous high-profile individuals in evangelicalism “darkening counsel” by speaking “words without knowledge” in response to the prevailing cultural winds.

While we may be tempted to obfuscate to accommodate secular culture, Matthew Henry cautioned that ours is not to question God’s decrees and designs set forth in Scripture:

“We confound and perplex ourselves and one another when we dispute of the order of God’s decrees, and the designs, and reasons, and methods, of his operations of providence and grace. A humble faith and sincere obedience shall see further and better into the secret of the Lord than all the philosophy of the schools, and the searches of science.”

Concerning “words without knowledge,” theologian Albert Barnes cautioned,

“There is much of this kind of speaking in the world; much that is written, and much that fails from the lips in debate, in preaching, and in conversation, that explains nothing, and that even leaves the subject more perplexed than it was before. We see from this verse that God does not and cannot approve of such ‘words.’ If His friends speak, they should vindicate His government; they should at least express their conviction that He is right; they should aim to explain His doings, and to show to the world that they are reasonable. If they cannot do this, they should adore in silence.”

Friends, at this vital hour, seek out those who inspire confidence in the Almighty, explaining and vindicating His divine dealings.

Identify and avoid all others, regardless of their longevity or prominence.

And pray for EA in our efforts to hold fast to sound doctrine (2 Timothy 1:13-14).

The apostle Paul spent much time in the city of Antioch, which played a significant role in the book of Acts and the earliest development of Christianity (Acts 11:25-26; 12:25-13:3; 14:28). Similarly, Andy and Diana Manfredi spent many years in Santo Domingo during the formative years of Empowering Action. As the note below indicates, they have recently returned for an extended time this summer to visit with family and reengage with EA’s in-country team. Please keep this time in your prayers that they would be both encouraged and an encouragement after having personally invested much in Empowering Action over the years.

EA Family,

 As Paul was torn away from the Thessalonian church (1 Thes. 2:17), we have felt “torn away” from a people and ministry we love the past few years as, in God’s sovereignty, we’ve been limited to annual trips to the Dominican Republic. I resonate with Paul’s eagerness to be reunited with the church (1 Thes. 2:18-20) and am grateful to share that Diana and our kids can spend four weeks in July and August in-country. As Timothy brought a good report back to Paul of the Thessalonians’ faith and love (1 Thes. 3:6), I am thrilled to witness up close reports I regularly hear from afar as a board member—that God’s ever-abundant grace in and through EA staff, volunteers, and church partners continues to bear fruit for the upbuilding of the church of Jesus Christ in Latin America and the spread of the gospel.

Your prayers for our trip are highly valued — particularly that our presence would in some small way encourage the work of faith and labor of love our staff engages in every day, that Christ would be glorified, that we would be Spirit-led as we discuss and pray through ongoing ministry opportunities, and that upon our return we would be faithful in bringing back a good report of God’s working in and through EA to so many friends and faithful supporters of this ministry.

Sincerely,

Andy Manfredi

A report came across my desk this week containing the following ominous warnings for nonprofit leaders:

“Nonprofits are bracing for a tough fundraising year as the first six months of 2023 demonstrate that donors are holding back their contributions…

2022 was one of the worst years in philanthropy history. Giving dropped 10.5 percent after inflation…

Perhaps most alarming is that giving by individuals, who typically provide the bulk of all donations, fell by 13.4 percent after inflation.”

My thoughts went immediately to the following quotes:

“Depend on it. God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply. He is too wise a God to frustrate His purposes for lack of funds.” – Hudson Taylor

“God has many ways of moving the hearts of men all over the world to help us. While I am praying, He speaks to one and another on this continent and on that, to send us help.” – George Muller

And to the scene at the Red Sea in Exodus 14, where God deliberately led the Israelites into peril so that He might gain glory through Pharaoh and his army (Ex. 14:4).

Theologian C.H. MacKintosh commented regarding this passage, “The sea was before them, Pharaoh’s hosts behind them, and the mountains around them. And all this, be it observed, permitted and ordered of God.”

Where the secular nonprofit world sees ominous economic circumstances, EA leadership sees divinely orchestrated opportunities for the heightened glory of God.

Perhaps the Lord is calling you to help glorify His name by making this summer EA’s best fundraising season amid the worst of economic situations!

Regardless of His timing or provision, we will echo the words of David in Psalm 40:

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.

The late R.C. Sproul (2015) wisely noted, “The cultural revolution of the 1960s was similar to the French Revolution in that its goal was to bring radical change to the forms, structures, values, and ethics of the status quo.”

Today we find ourselves amid another revolution breeding chaos and confusion within society and, remarkably, within the Church. Mohler (2018) cautioned that such a movement demands nothing less than wholesale societal upheaval:

“This revolution requires a total redefinition of morality, cultural authority, personal identity, and more. The revolution requires a new vocabulary and a radically revised dictionary. Ultimately, the moral revolutionaries seek to redefine reality itself. And this revolution has no stopping point.”

Like the sons of Issachar of old (1 Chron. 12:32), discerning Christians recognize how the prevailing culture today has redefined the term love as wanting for others what they want for themselves, often irrespective of how harmful it may be.

Conversely, believers, anchored in a biblical worldview, acknowledge loving God as the greatest commandment and the context in which the exhortation to love others must occur (Matt. 22:36-40).

Therefore, biblically loving others means wanting what God wants for them, based on what He has revealed in Scripture.

So, amid this previously post-Christian, now anti-Christian, age, let us hold firmly to sound doctrine (2 Tim. 4:3) and love others biblically as the revolution rages on (Rom 1:18-32).

References:

Sproul, R. C. (2015). Foreword. In P. Jones, The other worldview: Exposing Christianity’s greatest threat. Kirkdale Press.

Mohler, A. (2018, August 2). Torn between two cultures? Revoice, LGBT identity, and Biblical Christianity. Albert Mohler. https://albertmohler.com/2018/08/02/torn-two-cultures-revoice-lgbt-identity-biblical-christianity