ONE BY ONE
Dear Friends,
Do you ever doubt the power of small actions? We hear catch phrases like “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” or “the snowball effect,” but when you’re laying the first brick or just starting to make the snowball, it can be easy to lose sight of the impact you’re creating. At BrookLink we see the power of your small actions each and every day. When you give a financial gift to BrookLink, YOU are sending us to train in areas where there is a great need; YOU are helping us reach the nations! And we are doing this one by one, two by two and step by step.
In 2009, God opened a door, and BrookLink entered starting with one partnership and one invitation to one place. Following that, one by one, YOU have supported our ability to do this 65 times in 27 countries spanning 5 continents over the past decade! We model our approach after that of the early church in Acts. In his book Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies and Methods, Eckhard Schnabel states “Geographical movement from city to city, from region to region and from province to province was a principal element of missionary work in the first century.”¹
The Apostle Paul communicates a calling on his life to spread the gospel “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” (Acts 1:8 NIV) with an intentional goal of proclaiming the Good News to anyone who would listen. He did this “so that your faith may rest not in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:5 ESV). This work is still needed today.
According to recent census statistics², the world’s population is roughly 7.7 billion. Of that, approximately 5.1 billion live in the “10/40 Window,” the area between the latitudes 10-degrees and 40-degrees north of the equator, encompassing North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Within the 10/40 Window it is estimated that between 60-70% of people are “unreached” by the gospel. According to the Joshua Project, “The billions of people who live in the 10/40 window have suffered not only the ravages of poverty and disease, they have also been kept from the transforming power of the gospel.”³ There are still so many to reach.
Similar to laying the first brick or to starting the snowball, it seems when looking at statistics like this that only BIG actions create change. But when you focus on equipping key leaders, one by one, you can make exponential change. Together we have reached nearly 6,000 leaders across the nations, each of them taking new resources back to their networks. And that is the small but powerful way BrookLink supporters are helping us fulfill our mission to strengthen churches and gospel movements by equipping, empowering and releasing leaders around the world.
Pastor John Piper speaks of the joy that is ours when the nations have the opportunity to hear the Good News. Piper writes, “You were made for this kind of joy. All the other joys of the Psalms, all the other emotions of the Psalms, are taking us here: the glory of God celebrated and sung by all the peoples of the earth.”4
We were made—not for duty, rather—for this kind of joy, to boast in all the Lord has done and celebrate His glory to all people on earth. I am humbled by your friendship and partnership. Together, Let’s Reach the Nations!
BrookLink is committed to serving where we are called. Together, with your help, we can train pastors and church leaders in 2020 in Ethiopia, Pakistan, Turkey, Czech Republic, India and Armenia as well as continue to send more Facilitators with varying teaching specialties into the field. Every $200 helps one Christian leader receive access to BrookLink’s leadership training and development. Make a gift today! Visit our website to make a secure gift online.
Gratefully Yours,
C. Lee Heyward
Founder & CEO
