WWNTBM
February 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 February. 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.
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14
This simple verse is so convicting to me. Knowing that my Lord knows the thoughts and intents of my heart is a challenge for every moment of every day. We are to lay aside every weight and the sin that besets us. It is easy to recognize the words and thoughts that are sin; however, words and thoughts that are “weights” are not always so easily identified. Well, not before we say them at least. Then comes the phrase, “be acceptable in Thy sight.” The question is not, should I say it? The question is, once I have said it is the Lord pleased?
The problem has been intensified with the rapid delivery of social media. When no one is sitting in front of us, it seems we feel the need to express every thought and opinion. Very often this is without considering how our opinion might affect someone else. Consider this, please. Not everything thought necessarily needs to be said or written. We all have opinions, and very often we feel strongly about them. But still, that does not mean we should blurt them out for public consumption.
It would appear that often we have a message that we want to convey to someone specifically, but we lack the quality of character to go to that individual personally. So a broad net is cast in the hopes that they will get the picture and conform to our wishes or appreciate our opinions. Everyone influences others for good or bad. Let’s use that influence with words fitly spoken in an effort to provoke one another to “love and good works.”
There are many things that the Scripture does not speak of definitively. Therefore, we can all develop thoughts that are contrary to those of others. Where the Bible has spoken clearly, we should speak boldly. But where opinion rules rather than absolute fact, shouldn’t we be less aggressive? Why would we want to offend a brother unnecessarily? The answer is simple: pride! There are many that I disagree with over a range of subjects, but that does not make them my enemy. However, those disagreements can be used to create an enemy or hurt a brother without cause.
James has some excellent advice for us in James 1:19, 26, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:…If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” We can do more damage with our tongue in a second than we can repair in a lifetime. I should know. I am certainly more convicted by the things that I have said than I am by the things I did not say when everything in me screamed to let it out.
Respect for the ideas of others will go a long way toward dodging uncalled for arguments and debates.
In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone
If this article has been an encouragement to you, you can email Bro. Whetstone here to let him know.
February 18 – You should receive the 2019 MFR Template with the new mileage rates.
March 1 – January Financial Reports will be due.
June 17-20 – Family Fellowship Week in Edinburg, VA.
We are pleased to introduce Brittany Morrow as our new office assistant. Brittany’s initial tasks will include processing support checks. You can reach her by email at [email protected]. Her testimony is below.
My name is Brittany Morrow. My testimony of salvation starts when I was a young girl at VBS. One particular night of VBS I decided to go to an altar call; all my friends were going and I didn’t want to feel left out. I clung to a repeat-after-me prayer I said that night as my testimony of salvation. As I grew older I struggled with my “salvation experience.” I was under conviction and I knew I was missing something in my heart. On April 2, 2008, at a revival meeting, I gave my heart and life to Christ. Although I had grown up in church all my life it wasn’t until I got saved that I began to understand the love of Christ and what He could do with my life.
Fast-forward to 2014, I met Justin whom I married on July 9, 2016. At this time I moved to Kings Mountain and started attending Faith Baptist Church in Shelby. In October of 2016, God called Justin to preach. The Lord has given my husband opportunities to preach since then and has opened many doors for us to serve in. Together we serve in our church’s bus ministry where we both share a route and teach classes. We also serve as sponsors to our youth group. As sponsors, we help with the SIGMA youth program and attend youth meetings and trips. I’m thankful for the ministries the Lord has allowed me to be involved in and can’t wait to see what He has in store for my spiritual journey.
Last year, our CPA and attorneys identified a tax advantage for you by having us begin to issue a 1099 tax document instead of a W-2 for all of our missionaries. These tax professionals recommended to the Executive Board to make the transition. The pastors on the Executive Board voted to make this change effective 2019.
One of the advantages of receiving a 1099 tax document is you have greater choices for types of retirement accounts. You now have available to you and/or your spouse these additional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) options:
1. Traditional IRA
2. Roth IRA
3. SEP-IRA
4. SIMPLE IRA
5. Solo 401(k)
You are also able to open an account with any investment firm of your choice.
Click here to read an article I found helpful in understanding the benefits of each account.
Another helpful article from Dave Ramsey is available by clicking here.
You may want to speak with someone about your retirement options. David O’Malley, Bro. O’Malley’s brother, is an advisor for Edward Jones. He has offered to assist our missionaries in any way, even if they are not a client of his. His offer is a no-cost unbiased consultation. His phone number is 561-833-9123.
Most investment firms offer the above IRA options to independent contractors. (Independent Contractor is the term the IRS uses to describe your relationship to WW as a self-employed missionary.) You will need to discuss your options with the firm. The investment firm will have specific instructions for you once you make the choice of what type of account you want. When you have opened your account, you can contact me and I will be happy to send your monthly contribution in for you.
Speaking with an investment advisor and/or your CPA can help you in choosing the best plan for you and your family. There are more options available to you than ever before. Please do not delay. Adding retirement investing to your monthly budget means preparing for your family’s future.
If you have any questions, I will be happy to assist in any way.
The Monthly Financial Report (MFR) is the tool that missionaries can use to become accountable to WWNTBM for their reimbursable expenses, rather than having all funds listed as salary. Over the course of 2018, 79% of those eligible chose to submit MFRs. By doing so, they were able to reduce their W-2 Wages by a combined average of 31.11%. If you are not currently utilizing MFRs and would like information about how to begin, please contact our Office. We also recommend watching the MFR Intro video. This is available in SecureCloud under Forms and Manuals.
We have uploaded a Financial Status Report to your SecureCloud account, showing figures for the fourth quarter of 2018. This is meant to show you the financial details that we have on file, such as your support estimate and the average amount of support you received this past quarter. This is information we provide to pastors who may call about your ministry. We ask that all missionaries update their support estimate once every four years or as your lives and ministries change. Please review this information and contact us if you have any questions.
Each month World Wide holds encouragement conference calls for our missionaries. This year we broadened the times of these meetings to give more of our mission family the opportunity to join. Friday meetings at 11:15 AM EST will remain deputation focused. The other dates and times we arranged for the convenience of those in our mission family serving in varying time zones.
1st Tuesday of the Month: 6:00 AM EST
2nd Tuesday of the Month: 9:00 AM EST
3rd Thursday of the Month: 11:00 AM EST
4th Tuesday of the Month: 9:00 PM EST
Each week we send you an email to let you know about the meeting opportunities for the week and how to join. The current schedule is listed below. All are welcome to join any Uplift meeting!
February 8 – 11:15 AM EST – Jeremy Lockhart – Deputation Challenge
February 12 – 9:00 AM EST – Markie Bullock – Spiritual Encouragement
February 15 – 11:15 AM EST – John O’Malley – Character Building
February 21 – 11:00 AM EST – TBA
February 22 – 11:15 AM EST – Leland Johnson – Cold Calling on Deputation
February 26 – 9:00 PM EST – Mike Grove – Spiritual Encouragement
March 1 – 11:15 AM EST – David Landers – Spiritual Encouragement
Please contact us with any questions.
Elijah “Judson” Brown was born to Matt and Nikki Brown on January 30. He weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. The Browns are on furlough and will soon be returning to Cambodia. They have three older children: Joshua (5), Julie (3), and Judah (2).
Don and Karen Clarke are the newest missionaries to partner with World Wide. They 
are sent out of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Kings Mountain, NC, with Pastor Jim Ogle. The Clarkes previously served as missionaries in Kenya for 15 years. They have seven adult children, including Gloria Duarte, who is our missionary to Brazil. They desire to serve in a helps ministry, including furlough replacement.
Tax season is once again upon us! Here are several reminders concerning tax issues that you may face. We trust that this information will be useful to you, both in giving you a better understanding of your reports and helping you to be aware of items that may affect your personal taxes.
Tax-related paperwork generated by WWNTBM is in your SecureCloud folder. This includes W-2 forms, MFR Summary Reports, and Estimated Tax letters. Please be sure to look at the 2nd page of the MFR Summary, to see if there are any specific notes for you and your tax preparer. If you requested that we submit your tax information directly to your tax preparer, please note that those documents will be sent in mid-February. This is to ensure that there is time for us to include any forms that may arrive in our office from other sources. If you have any questions, please contact Naomi.
If churches issued funds payable to you in excess of $600 during the year 2018, they may issue you a 1099 form. If those funds were either mailed to the office or included on Line 2 of your MFR as extra income, they are already included in the total of your W-2. Our office can assist you in verifying whether the funds were included on your W-2. Your tax preparer can assist you on your return in recording this so that you are not taxed twice on the same income. We recommend that you request churches to make checks payable to WWNTBM to avoid this issue in the future.
In order to claim the foreign tax exclusion, you must be out of the US for 330 days over a 12 month period of time; however, these days do not have to be in the same calendar year. In order to gain the full benefit of the foreign tax exclusion, your tax preparer may be able to revise your returns based on the actual time you have spent overseas. Because of this, it is vital to provide your tax preparer with all of your travel dates to and from the US. You may also wish to discuss with your tax preparer what dates would be the best travel dates when planning to leave for the field or return on furlough, as this could affect how much you are allowed to claim under the foreign tax exclusion.
It is our understanding that, while the Foreign Tax Exclusion does benefit many of our missionaries, it may not always be the best solution, as there are other situations which may give a greater benefit. Some of those options may affect taxes not only for this year but for future years as well. This is another reason we recommend consulting a tax professional who can advise you in relation to your unique circumstance.
Our financial report gives a location for you to track ‘heath insurance costs.’ However, each individual situation is different. Some use this area to record traditional health insurance, some use it to record expenses through the Marketplace, and others use it to record details for a health care sharing ministry such as Samaritan Ministries. While all of these are health-related costs, each of the examples affects your taxes in a different way. Please be sure that your tax preparer is aware of the details of your health coverage, as it may affect how they complete your tax return.
Missionaries are considered to be self-employed and are therefore subject to self-employment taxes. Submitting quarterly estimated tax payments throughout the year will help to prevent having a large tax payment due each April. Estimated tax payments can be submitted on your own, or, if you are interested, you may contact our office for information on how we can submit them for you.
US Treasury Dept. regulations require that if you have any foreign bank accounts, and if the sum total of all of your foreign accounts has ever been $10,000 at any given time during the past year, you must complete the IRS Foreign Bank and Financial Account Form (FBAR) and give it to your tax preparer. This includes all foreign accounts on which you are a signatory, such as a ministry account. This form, and further information about it is available on the IRS website at www.irs.gov. Please refer to the IRS website and your tax preparer if you have any questions.
Studies have shown that the average person who uses a tax professional, instead of filing their own taxes, receives a much greater tax return. The savings far exceed the amount spent to hire a professional. Many have also found that using tax software does not always compare to the benefits of using a professional, either. In many instances, it is not that the software or the self-filer is wrong, but that other choices may be better. (Information is taken from daveramsey.com.)
It is also good to note that not all professionals are familiar with tax situations that might affect you. We encourage all missionaries to use a certified tax preparer who is familiar with special tax situations that affect missionaries and those living overseas. A listing of tax preparers used by other missionaries is available on SecureCloud, under the Forms and Manuals section.