financial principles
"So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord’" (Matt. 25:20-21)
Our Pledge To You
Even though we operate as a faith-ministry, we do not feel it is proper to hide the real needs from God’s people or suppress the genuine economic reality that it takes financial resources to engage in ministry endeavors. Without financial contributions from the people of God, we could not edit, typeset, print, store, distribute, or mail out Christian literature around the world free of charge as we currently do. We also could not field missionary teams to preach, teach, equip, and engage with the churches and leaders directly without the means to send them.
From our inception, we have resolved to rely solely on the Lord to work among His people to help support our ministry. We have determined that it is not in keeping with the example found in Scripture to solicit funds by pressuring or manipulating God’s people, so it is our desire to refrain from doing just that while still sharing our needs with others. If the Lord desires to use FirstLove as a small enterprise to help saturate the world with the knowledge of Him (Isa. 11:9), then we give God all the glory and honor, and we recognize that He will move His people to help support our ministry by providing laborers and financial resources to continue our present work. At the same time, we recognize there are Spirit-led individuals who desire to contribute in some fashion, whether that is through a contribution of prayers, time, talent, or resources. We greatly and wholeheartedly thank God for every single contribution to our ministry and pledge to be good stewards of those resources entrusted to us. Because of faithful men and women who gave of their time, talents, and money, we have been able to accomplish the following:
- Distribute more than 200,000 Christ-centered books and booklets to people throughout the world free of charge.
- Hold more than 100 evangelism seminars and conferences in the United States, Nigeria, Nepal, India, and the Philippines.
- Hold annual conferences and theological training seminars in developing countries for pastors.
- Create a flourishing Bible seminary in Nigeria.
- Provide radio teaching in Africa and Asia.
- Teach personal evangelism techniques to believers around the worldwide.
Every day, we receive requests for free Christian literature, church visits, or evangelism opportunities across the United States and around the world. As our opportunities increase, so too do the financial requirements in order to meet these growing demands. However, we will not go into debt to do so. Ministry debt, we believe, is against the spirit and the letter of the New Testament. Instead, we call upon the Lord in importunate prayer to provide what we need. And the Lord knows exactly what that is, so we continually, daily go to Him to supply those needs. We look to our Lord who owns “the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psa. 50:10), and we place our trust in Him alone to provide the necessary finances for us to continue operating in order that we may help saturate the world with the gospel.
Our vision is grand and glorious, admittedly so, but it is no more ambitious than what the Lord Himself revealed to us through His Word: “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:9). It that hope and promise that sustains us, that motivate us, that encourages us. We know unflinchingly that God will prevail, and it is our highest honor and calling to proclaim that victorious message to the world, as He provides us with the resources necessary to continue.
If the Lord so leads you to support us financially, we are grateful for your contribution and recognize that is the Lord using you to help us continue.