By Terri Farmer
It was my first time attending a Minister’s Forum hosted by Southern Nazarene University’s Toler Institute. At the 2022 gathering, I greeted folks visiting the Foundation’s booth who were interested in who we are and what we do. We were in the midst of our first Equipping the Local Church grant cycle, and several of our grant recipients were in attendance at the event. I expected that grant recipients might stop by and visit our booth, but I never could have imagined the blessing I received from speaking with one particular grant recipient.
She arrived at our booth with a big smile on her face, accompanied by her husband. They both expressed heart-felt thanks for the Foundation’s grant support to their local church. Already, it seemed, the grant was being put to work.
Just to hear how the grant funding was transforming the church was enough to “wow” all of us at the booth. However, what really touched my heart were the tears that sparkled in the woman’s eyes as she talked about how the lives of people in her church and their community were being transformed through the work enabled by this Local Church grant.
As she continued to talk about the lives touched by the Good News of Jesus Christ, one thing became clear to me. The Foundation for Evangelism’s work is ESSENTIAL to equipping disciples for Jesus Christ. As the woman continued to speak, she became more and more emotional, in turn making me emotional! In the end, we all exchanged hugs with the grant recipient who expressed a final thank you to the Foundation.
This interaction cemented my belief that I am part of a team that is working for God’s glory! Since this encounter, I have felt the Holy Spirit energize me, and I feel a very personal connection to the Foundation and its work.
I pray that everyone that reads the stories in our annual report is able to see how the Foundation’s work is a catalyst in churches and lives across the globe, and just down the road.
