Built Together

 Nehemiah 2:18 “Let us rise up and build”

When Nehemiah shared the need to rebuild, the people responded: “Let us rise up and build” (Nehemiah 2:18). That same verse tells us they set their hands to the good work.

Your partnership in the Renovate to Reach campaign is a response to the need to rebuild: a setting of hands to the good work.

As Nehemiah records the rebuilding of the wall, one phrase appears again and again: “next to him.” Different families. Different skills. Different sections of the wall. Everyone working side by side toward a shared purpose. Progress didn’t come from one person doing everything; it came from many people faithfully taking their place. Jimmy Stewart, an Ethnos360 pilot, recently commented, "While doing maintenance on airplanes, I don't see my tools as wrenches and screwdrivers. I look at each one of them and call them church planting tools." Different skills. Same purpose.

Because of your continued generosity to the Renovate to Reach campaign, essential renovations to facilities dedicated to training to reach the unreached are moving forward. Each of you is a part of the “next to him,” side by side, giving gifts that reach into eternity. Each step forward is made possible because you chose to stand shoulder to shoulder in this work. God is building His church in every tongue, people and nation. Your giving is a part of the eternal work that is happening every day around the world.

Nehemiah later reflects, “So we built the wall … for the people had a mind to work” (Nehemiah 4:6). We see that same willingness and resolve in you today. Your giving is active participation in preparing men and women to go where Christ is not yet known.

The apostle Paul describes the church as a body, “joined and knit together by what every joint supplies,” growing as each part does its work (Ephesians 4:16). You are one of those vital parts. Your faithfulness is strengthening the whole, making it possible for training to continue and taking the hope of the gospel to more unreached peoples.

Thank you for striving side by side with us for the sake of the gospel (Philippians 1:27). In Papua New Guinea, a recently birthed church among the Wantakia people group has begun reaching out to the neighboring villages. They have been praying for over a year for an open door! Bible teachers from Pinji have been hiking over to Aasi each week to teach God’s Word. The door has been opened! Thank you for helping us get this far and for continuing to build, side by side, what God is using to reach the unreached.

Please celebrate with us as God is meeting many of the needs of the Renovate to Reach campaign through you. Facilities and housing still need necessary upgrades. Each project makes it possible for us to increase training capacity that prepares workers for His harvest fields. Workers who will stand shoulder to shoulder, next to each of you as partners in His work. Planting thriving churches. Continued partnership right now helps ensure this momentum does not slow but carries forward to equip those who will soon be sent.

Thank you for assisting us this far and for considering how you might continue to give and build alongside us in the days ahead.