April was a somewhat quiet month for us in terms of the number of MAD Live Events that we had on the calendar. This is very unusual for this time of year. We are usually packed in April, but God still gave us ministry opportunities. We did complete two MAD live Events, had a table display at the local Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Conference, I was the speaker at the Wellsboro Area CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) Annual Banquet, and I preached at two Sunday services at Cedar Crest Bible Fellowship Church in Allentown, PA. Three people indicated on their MAD evaluation forms that they had surrendered their lives to the Lordship of Christ and trusted Him with their eternal salvation. Praise the Lord!
I continue to work hard to fill our fall calendar and we can really use your prayers in this regard. To give you a glimpse of what I do each week, let me give you some stats. Over the past week or so, I made over 130 phone calls to pastors who had been referred to me by people who attended the MAD Live Events. I received a total of 3 return calls. These 3 were first time connections so I told them what we do, explained how God was using it across the country, and sent them to my website for additional information. Now I have to call them back and Lord willing, I will connect with them and they will be interested in having me come to teach. We have no bookings from these calls yet. I’ll continue to work on it and trust God to open the doors. What we do is sadly often unpopular, and churches have full schedules doing “church” stuff…programs, activities, etc. It seems that there is very little interest in having me come to help equip their people for the work of ministry. I am seriously struggling with getting dates on the calendar for this fall. You prayers appreciated!
We have some single dates booked in SC, NC, and FL this summer and fall, and we would like to fill the other open days of those weekends. This maximizes our travel time and minimizes church expenses for travel. We are booked in Lexington, SC on Sunday, Aug 24th, so Saturday, Aug 23rd needs to be filled. We are in Kannapolis, NC on Saturday, Sept 6th, so we are looking for a church to minister in on Sunday, Sept 7th. We are in Jupiter, FL on Sunday, Nov 9th, so we are looking for a church in South Florida to minister in on Saturday, Nov 8th. If you can help get us a booking for these dates for either a MAD Live Event or a Walk thru the Bible Old Testament seminar, please let me know ASAP!
We still have room for the annual Smoky Mountains Motorcycle Adventure taking place in May, as well as the Ultimate Adventure trip to Utah in July. Let me know ASAP if you or someone you know is interested. More information is on our website.
For those not connected to our ministry Facebook page, you can become a follower of my BLOG, which is on my website near the bottom. It will regularly update you as to what the Lord is doing and how He is using us.
On the financial side, we are currently at ~53%. These are the toughest of times for some of you financially. So we thank you for your faithful support. God has been so faithful to us, keeping us alive and providing for our needs through our faithful monthly supporters and the love offerings we receive at the MAD Live Events. We continue to trust Him to meet our needs.
MAY SCHEDULE • May 3 - MAD Live Event - Cedar Crest Bible Fellowship Church, Allentown, PA • May 4 - MAD Live Event - Holliday Alliance Church, Middlebury Center, PA • May 10 - MAD Live Event - Mid Cape Worship Center, Dennis Port, MA • May 17 - Forest Hill Baptist Church, Maryville, TN • May 18-22 - 7th Annual Smoky Mountains Motorcycle Adventure • May 31 - MAD Live Event - Calvary Bible Church, Whitehouse Station, NJ
PRAYER REQUESTS • We continue to have a need for more bookings. It is a day-in and day-out struggle to get dates on the calendar. Please pray for open doors and the exposure we need so our phone begins to ring. In the meantime, I will continue to grind it out on the phone! • Please pray that we will get into larger churches and have more people attend the Live Events. Our desire is for more of an impact for the Kingdom. • For us to be holy, obedient, and sensitive to the Spirit’s leading • For God’s Spirit to move powerfully as we minister in the places where He opens doors
Love in Christ, Cathy and Don
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Dear Friend,
I call you “friend” because we connected by our appreciation for Don and Cathy Sunshine and the ministry to which the Lord has called them. For several years I worked alongside Don at Family Life, and not only enjoyed his friendship, his passion for Christ, and his work ethic; but also I learned much in those early days of his “Rescue” seminars. I’ve been in “vocational ministry” for over thirty years, and I seldom meet people with the zeal combined with knowledge and passion evident in Don. For all those years I’ve been “on support,” just as Don is. Don and Cathy ask the Lord to raise up folks to stand with them as co-laborers in the gospel by investing the powerful combination of finance and prayer.
As you are probably aware, thus far the incoming funds are not matching the needs. I asked Don if I could write you to simply encourage you to prayerfully consider a couple things: 1) In this age of “it’s all about me” “Christianity,” is it valuable…even critical…to have someone like Don training teens and adults in effective, Christ-honoring evangelism? 2) In fact, is there any other investment more valued? 3) Will you pray and think about standing with the Sunshine’s in order to ensure the continuance of their ministry? If you are already giving, could you increase your giving at least a bit? If you are giving occasionally, could you contemplate giving monthly that the Sunshines might better budget?
And, if you’ve not given to this point; would you allow for the possibility that the Lord has prompted me to write in order that you might sense His leading to be a vital link in the chain of effectiveness that is Don’s ministry?
I encourage you to call Don should you have questions, and if the Lord leads you to action as you pray, let him know of your decision. Literally thousands have heard Don’s training…and those thousands have impacted countless others with the gospel…Let’s keep this unique, effective, and on-the-heart-of-God ministry going!
Thank you for your time…
Serving in His grace,
(Rev) John R. (Jack) Hager Ministry Liaison Midland Ministries www.midlandjack.blogspot.com jack.hager@gmail.com
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