For a number of Fridays, I’ve taken to highlighting things outside of the Plugged In world that I believe might be of help to you or someone you know. For instance, I’ve blogged about the fact that folks needing a listening ear can call one of Focus’ counselors free of charge, and I’ve reminded our teen/adult blog readers that the Adventures in Odyssey (AIO) programs aren’t just for kids. I highlighted our Wait No More outreach to raise awareness about adoption, our daily radio broadcasts, and the fact that Focus’ Thriving Family team reviews books (which you can link to through pluggedin.com). Last week, I gave a shoutout to a Focus book about teaching the birds and bees to children.
There are a lot of reasons I’ve been doing this, awareness being right at the top (or re-awareness, as was the case with AIO). Quite frankly, I buy into Focus’ mission to help families wherever they’re at. I want people to thrive (not just survive), and everything I’ve mentioned could help moms, dads and kids thrive a little bit more.
And although I honestly didn’t set about doing this to help the ministry raise funds, now that we’re nearing year’s end, it occurs to me that none of these great efforts would be possible without help from you.
Now, before I lose you, let me be short, sweet and to the point: Focus on the Family reaches millions of people around the world through our various ministries under the Focus umbrella. It costs money to do so. Lots of it. But the reach is huge. And the Kingdom results are most impressive (e.g. Focus on the Family contributed to saving more than 130,000 marriages and helping 560,000 parents manage a significant family crisis within the last year alone.). If you’ve been helped by Plugged In (or any of Focus’ ministries), would you consider partnering with us by sending a financial gift?
Whew! There I said it. In my 22 years here at Focus on the Family, I don’t think I’ve ever written a financial plea. It’s a bit awkward for me to do so. But even Jesus’ ministry had financial donors that, according to Luke 8:3, “were helping to support [the ministry of Christ and His disciples] out of their own means.” He could have put four-drachma coins in hundreds of fishes’ mouths (like the miracle recorded in Matt. 17:27) instead of relying of people’s generosity. But He never went that route. And 2000 years later, we’re in the same boat (no pun intended. Well, maybe a bit).
Every day, the ministry gets letters of appreciation from folks that we’ve helped thrive a little more. Here’s one that came in recently:
I want you to know what a great impact you have on a daily basis! I’ve been using your movie reviews to help keep myself & my family safe & pure for years, and I really appreciate your work. I think about your reviewers, and all the horrible movies they have to watch in order to present such informed reviews for us. Thank you. Thank you so much. I pray for you (the reviewers) often because I know that you are constantly exposed to violence, language, and sexual content that must strain your ability to be sensitive. I pray for you, your marriages, your families, your purity, and your accountability & long-term ability to do this job. I’m certain that it’s much more than just a job for you, because what you do is a service that requires sacrifice & caution every day.
Please keep up the great work (I love the new Plugs & red-yellow-green rankings BTW), and know that we care about you very much. Stay strong, keep yourself unstained by the trash that our broken world creates, and may you find deep comfort, peace, strength, and purity in the renewing work of Christ every day.
It’s great to hear things like that from our readers. And I know that every outreach we have here at Focus on the Family is making a difference in people’s lives. I’m a huge fan of this ministry! And if you are, too, we’d love to hear from you. It’s as easy as going to our home page pluggedin.com and hitting the donate button at the top right of the page.
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