Month: November 2015

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From the Memo Board: December 2015

Upcoming Dates

December 1 – October financial reports will be due.

December 4 – Revised pay date for those who normally receive funds on the 5th.

December 9 – All prayer letters should be submitted to our staff, in order for your recipients to get them before Christmas.candles

December 15 – Please contact us by this date if you will need funds in your account before Christmas, or before the end of the year.

December 21-25 – The Office will be closed in celebration of Christmas.

January 1 – November financial reports will be due.

January 8 – Missionaries will receive their emailed statements of December Support Received.

January 11 – All missionaries will receive their final December support on this day, regardless of the day that they normally receive support.

January 15 – December financial reports will be due, along with any remaining receipts or financial paperwork for 2015.

December Support

Please contact us by December 15 if you would like funds in your account before Christmas. Final December support distributions will be made on January 11th for all missionaries, regardless of their regular pay date. Contacting us by December 15 will enable us to schedule your funds around bank closings and holiday hours. Should you have an emergency need after December 18, you may contact our staff at the following numbers:

John O’Malley: 704-974-6108
Kim O’Malley: 704-974-1008

January Income Totals

During a typical month, we close the books on the 25th, and any checks received after that date are posted to the following month. Due to receipting requirements, we cannot do this in the month of December. As a result, please be aware that your December support total may be higher than normal, while your January support total may be lower than normal. Please be sure to plan ahead for this!

New Arrival!

Milena WagarCongratulations to Josh and Sarah Wagar on the arrival of their daughter, Milena Kalani Wagar. She was born on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 24, weighing 8lbs., 7oz. and measuring 21 inches long. Sarah had some complications after the delivery; please be in prayer for her recovery.

 

Retirement Accounts

Each year we are required to publish to all missionaries the following:

WWNTBM currently offers our missionaries the option of participating in a 403(b) Retirement Plan, the non-profit version of a 401(k) plan. We encourage all of our missionaries to participate in some type of retirement planning. If you do not currently have a 403(b) account and would be interested in opening one, please contact our office for a listing of vendors and more information.

1290130_58512768Due to IRS regulations, we are required to use a Third Party Administrator (TPA) to handle all 403(b) accounts. The administrative fee is $50.00 per year, which will be deducted from Support each January or February for those who contribute. The TPA assists us by administering our plan and keeping us in compliance with the Department of Labor and IRS codes.

Please note that loans and hardship withdrawals are not allowed by the companies who manage your 403(b).

Please see the file in SecureCloud for the latest information on contribution amounts and limits for 2015 and 2016.

Special Recognition

Jimmy Watson was recently rWatsons Mar 2014ecognized by the Governor of Colorado for his part in helping to catch a murder suspect, during the course of a speaking engagement at a church. Click here to read more details in his recent prayer letter.

Bible Institute Information

We recently asked you to submit information about Bible Institute courses you are familiar with, so we can share these resources with others. Contact information for companies that offer such curriculum is listed below. If you are familiar with other sources, please click here to submit additional information.

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From Our President: December 2015

Danny Whetstone“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Rarely do I watch a large volume of news anymore. This morning has been the exception, primarily because of the events of recent times in Paris, France. There are so many uncertainties in the world today. Perhaps it is not so new, but it seems that it is, at least in its intensity. What are you facing today that occupies your attention? Physical problems, spiritual problems, financial problems and international problems are on every hand. Oftentimes, it seems to be overwhelming. How much more for the Apostle Paul. He was thrown out of most of the towns that he preached in. However, that was the least of all the things that he faced. Now he takes time to ponder all that the Lord is preparing for us in the future. His conclusion was that these are “light afflictions” when compared to the “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” that is in our future.

This is Paul’s advice to the believers in Philippi in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” A vacuum is rarely a good thing. The natural tendency will usually be to think on the temporal. It requires purpose of mind and heart to overcome the natural. We will think, but we can make choices about what we think on. “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5). I wish that the doing of this was as easy as typing it in this note! This requires diligence on our part. We often rush through life hoping to outrun the thoughts that haunt us. We will never be fast enough to be successful in that race. Sometimes we must be still and purposely push out the thoughts that have invaded the vacuum with the things that are eternal.

Stop! Take a moment to ask yourself, “What am I constantly thinking about?” Would our Lord be better served if we replaced those thoughts with things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report? I suppose that some are so made that these come naturally, but most of us probably have to think this way on purpose. Life is generally not easy. It was not in Paul’s day, and it certainly is not in ours. The Lord wants us to be victorious. That victory will be initiated in our thoughts.

I am encouraged and blessed by your continued faithfulness. Let us, by the grace of God, live victoriously on purpose. It certainly will not happen otherwise.

In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone

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Featured Article: Ten Years

Germanos - Mar 2015

By Stephanie Germano

It is so amazing to me how God is always working in our lives, even when we do not realize it! When I was a senior in high school, God made it very clear to me that He wanted me to be a missionary. I was very nervous, but also very excited.

My parents, however, wisely told me that getting to a foreign field was not just something that would happen overnight, but it would take much time and preparation. My mother even jokingly said that it could even take as long as ten years. I chuckled to myself because I thought, “Surely it would not take that long!”

A year later, I had the opportunity to attend Crown College in Powell, TN. It was there that I met my husband and began to develop a burden for the Dominican Republic. After graduation, Timothy felt that he needed some additional training before heading to the mission field. He prayerfully searched for an opportunity to serve.

The Lord opened up a youth pastor position in Downingtown, PA, at Faith Community Baptist Church under Pastor Roland Venable. It was there that we both began to grow and learn many lessons about the ministry. The Lord allowed us to serve there for three years before He laid it on our hearts to begin the next chapter. Faith Community became our sending church as we set out on deputation.

After a wonderful two years of ministry on the road we were excited to finally head for the Dominican Republic. We were held up, however, with some visa and container paperwork. This process took an additional two months. At first, we were discouraged, but then God opened our eyes to see the valuable lessons that He was teaching us as we waited on His perfect timing.

The day came when we were finally able to buy our tickets! The week before we left, I was talking to my mother on the phone. She gently reminded me that our first day in the Dominican was the tenth anniversary of when I was called to be a missionary! Wow! It really did take ten years! All the while God was quietly, yet meticulously working in my life.

Although I still do not feel very ready, I take comfort in knowing that He will use each obstacle I face to prepare me for the next step in the path He has for me to take. If it were not for the lessons He had taught me in college, I would have never been ready to be a youth pastor’s wife. If it had not been for the lessons I learned as a youth pastor’s wife, I would have never been ready for deputation. Looking back on the ways He has shown Himself mighty to us in the past will help us look forward to the future as we began our ministry.

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” Philippians 1:6.

Oh praise His dear, sweet name!

 

The Germanos arrived in the Dominican Republic for their first term on October 28.  Pray for them as they begin language studies and settle into their new ministry.

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Prayer & Dates: December 2015

December Prayer/Praises and Special Dates

Click the link above to download a PDF of prayer requests and praises as well as the birthdays and anniversaries for December. Note: You will need to login to SecureCloud in order to view this document.  Once you have logged in, click on Files Shared, then Headquarter Happenings, then scroll to the month you would like to view. This step protects people with WWNTBM in restricted access fields.