Priorities

I have been a minister for 17 years now and have spent the past 10 years working as a Social Worker. As you can imagine, I have dealt with a hundreds of people in need during my life, however, I must report that I have never seen anything like what I have witnessed in our small community over the past few months. People who have worked hard their entire life, some making a great deal of money for years, have now found themselves in a severe financial state. With the failing U.S. economy, even retirees are starting to find themselves looking for non-existent work.

These economic woes have unfortunately started to work their way into congregations across our nation. Not only is this effecting the way churches assist families in need, it is starting to effect how we minister. As I have started watching churches throughout our area start cutting back on outreach programs in an attempt to continue operations, my heart breaks. While I understand that less money coming in means that a tithe will be less, we are finding that people are not giving at all due to decreased wages . . many times while refusing to reduce other household costs (cable, internet, etc.).

My plea to you is to prayerfully sit down and pray over your household budget, asking God to lead you in what items you can cut without reducing your giving below what God asks of you. Our main priority in life is to minister. When we don't give, we hinder the ministry of our churches in reaching lost souls for our Lord. I am not asking for a donation to our ministry, but rather ask that you join MY family in keeping our priorities in order during this tough time in our nation's history.

In Christ,

Shawn Howell

Another Milestone

One Voice Ministries is pleased to announce that we have broken yet another milestone this month with over 62,230 visitors to www.ovmonline.com. Exactly one year ago (May 2007) we reported breaking the 50,000 barrier. THANK YOU ALL for helping us reach this amazing milestone.

Shawn Howell
Director