Greetings in the name of our Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ!
“I’m sorry I disappeared from class!”
With tears in her eyes, Terri approached me to explain why she had left the Coaching People through Conflict class unexpectedly as she was concerned about having missed some of the instruction. She went on to share, “I just couldn’t sit there any longer. I was convicted and needed to go and confess my idolatry to my family.” As she learned in class, she didn’t know exactly what kind of response to expect, but she was confident that true peace and reconciliation come only through being reconciled first to God and then to one another through confession and forgiveness. She went on to share “You’ll NEVER guess what happened next … my husband confessed back to me!” If this were the end of the story it would be praiseworthy enough but she concluded by saying “I was able to forgive my husband AND proclaim God’s forgiveness to him!!” Praise be to God!
Terri was concerned about missing class time. But I encouraged her that she didn’t miss a thing … she was experiencing the best learning and healing possible by living out her faith. Who better to share the Good News of forgiveness in conflict than someone who has experienced it so personally!
Our staff is finally settling in after returning from the Built on the Rock Reconciliation Conference. We were humbled by the opportunity to serve the peacemaking community by bringing so many peacemakers together. The feedback from those who attended was overwhelming to us. Terri’s story is one of dozens of similar stories from that event. When God’s children come together at the foot of the cross, remarkable miracles happen. YOU make these stories possible with your gifts!
Here are a few more of our favorite quotes from the conference:
“This conference has changed the focus in my family to live reconciled with each other. I can already see the effects in my family.”
“In one month since the conference I have connected with my daughters and wife in a way that I never have before.”
“The best peacemaking conference I ever attended!”
“Keep casting the vision and reason for hope! I left hopeful for the future of peacemaking!”
A conference like this requires considerable resources. Registration fees cover the costs of travel, food, honorariums, printing and promotion, etc. However, registration fees do not cover the many man-months of time required for preparation and presentation of the event. This is all uncompensated, or non-revenue-producing time spent by our staff. This is where you come in! THANK YOU for generously supporting us to make this event possible.
In the few months leading up to this conference our staff invested nearly $40,000 in non-revenue time to make this the best conference possible for reconcilers. This has depleted our reserves leaving us on very thin ice as we are entering Summer, a traditionally slow period for our ministry. Please make a gift today to sustain this ministry through the Summer! We need your help!
In addition to this awesome conference, your support has also enabled the creation of many new reconciliation resources, seminars and training events:
NEW Bible Study & Seminar entitled Conflict Resolution vs Reconciliation.
Updated training: Reconciling Husbands and Wives
NEW training: Advanced Coaching and Mediation
NEW training: Teaching a Reconciliation Seminar
NEW training: Group Reconciliation Assistance - Team Member
NEW training: Group Reconciliation Assistance - Team Leader
Several of these new training resources were debuted at the Built on the Rock Reconciliation Conference with fantastic reviews. The new Group Reconciliation Assistance trainings will be offered for the first time this month and we’ve had to cap the registration because there is so much interest! THANK YOU, THANK YOU! We’ll be offering it again!
The work of reconciliation continues! Over the next twelve months, we need your help to fund these vital projects:
NEW Christian Reconciler Certificate Program to recognize reconcilers serving the church
NEW website and other infrastructure projects – you can check out our new website progress here at aorhope.org
NEW book: Unforgiveable? Hope for Those Struggling with Forgiveness
NEW training: Adjudicating Disputes
With all of these new resources and training that you are enabling, Ambassadors of Reconciliation now offers a complete spectrum of resources from beginner/introductory through advanced master level reconciliation. This is necessary for equipping reconcilers to serve effectively in local churches. Your help with these projects is crucial to achieve the vision:
Every Christian community has in its midst, trained reconcilers who can do these things: teach Biblical reconciliation, coach people to reconcile, mediate conflicts and adjudicate disputes.
This is an audacious vision. To achieve this vision, reconcilers must be equipped who can then equip even more reconcilers, thus multiplying your investment. The pieces have come together for this expansion and you can make it a reality!
We are launching a new initiative this Fall to which we invite your participation: the Christian Reconciler Initiative. EVERYONE can play a part! In three years this aggressive program aims to:
Establish 200 Reconciliation Ministries in local churches
Train 1,000 Christian Reconcilers™
Directly serve 5,000 people with Christian reconciliation principles
While a significant investment is necessary to kick this program off, by year three this program will be self-sustaining as Christian Reconcilers™ will be introducing more people to Christian Reconciliation, who will then be enticed to seek more training, who will then in turn introduce more people to Christian Reconciliation.
There is a significant financial need to grow this ministry of reconciliation. $250,000 is necessary this year to ultimately pave the way to serving more Christians than ever.
Your help TODAY will reunite innumerable families at the foot of the cross and bring Gospel healing to their broken home. A pastor will rejuvenate his ministry. A father will reconcile with his estranged children. A young granddaughter, by God’s grace may have opportunity to meet her grandparents for the very first time! A church will return from the brink of a split as they establish a lifestyle of reconciliation. Terri will see her family reconciled. All because of you!
So, do you want to change the world? You do precisely that through your support of Ambassadors of Reconciliation. In the last few months alone, hundreds of individuals, pastors and other church workers, marriages and families have reached out seeking reconciliation help. Their relationships and ministries were being destroyed by corrosive conflict. Because of financial support from people like you, they found help, healing and reconciliation. Thank you!
When someone asks why you support Ambassadors of Reconciliation, you can tell them “because God reconciled us to himself and entrusted to us the message of reconciliation.”
Giving is easy! Just Click Here. You can make a one-time gift or specify a monthly gift of any amount. Monthly gifts are a hassle-free way to give regularly. As always, you can send your gift directly to our office.
Thrivent members, please also remember AoR for your Thrivent Choice Dollars. These gifts make a huge difference and don’t cost you anything! Simply go to www.thrivent.com/choice to designate Ambassadors of Reconciliation as the recipient of your Thrivent Choice Dollars. Why not log in now? Don’t wait!
Finally, we are pleased to invite you to our next Reconciliation Conference in Minneapolis in May 2019; A Reason for Hope. Based on our experience with this year’s conference, we’re convinced the reconciliation community will continue to benefit and grow as a result of an event like this. Please support this ministry of reconciliation with a gift today! Without significant support, we will be unable to continue to host this conference.
I pray God’s richest blessings for you and your family this Summer season. Thank you for your support! Let us be ever mindful of where true Peace is found:
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. ”
(2 Corinthians 5:18-21 ESV)
In Christ's Service,
Dwight
P.S. Do you have appreciated stock to donate? I know this isn't for everyone but for those so blessed, there are special tax advantages to doing so. We can walk you through the process of making that donation. Give me a call!