THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN

"But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" (I John 3:17)

What I'm sharing with you today is a situation that should NEVER happen. It involves an e-mail I received from a missionary to Costa Rica. His name is John Musacchio, and his wife who ministers at his side is Dina Musacchio. The Musacchios are Assemblies of God missionaries to a poor community in Costa Rica. I don't personally know John or Dina. I don't believe I have ever met them. When our church was "up and running" we gave something like $600 a month to various missionaries- which was a LOT for us. I rarely ever said NO to a missionary who wanted to come and have a service at our church. I rarely ever said NO to a missionary who needed our church's financial support, even though we were a tiny and struggling church. In the final 2 years of our church, finances got so bad that many months we did not meet our missions giving commitment, and that just about devastated my family and me. Anyway, I am not sure how I got on John and Dina's e-mail list, but it's probably because I am still an Ordained Assemblies of God minister. A friend of mine, Ron S., who is a very active layman in a Congregational church says there is no reason for any ministry supported from Christians in the U.S.A. to fail- EVER. Ron says there is plenty of money out there, and we should be supporting our ministries and missionaries. Ron is absolutely right. To be very blunt, I started out this day very depressed. I am facing some catastrophic problems this morning, including but not limited to financial problems. I was feeling sorry for myself, to say the least. God used two things to speak to me today. One was a very inspiring piece on Facebook by a friend named Steve Balerna who has gone through terrible problems in his life. The other was this e-mail I received from John and Dina Musacchio. Immediately upon reading this, I thought about what my friend Ron says. Honestly, I had a very dramatic spiritual dream in late December in which God told me I have been gifted and called to be a spokesman for others and their ministries. It was a very exciting dream, but I did not know how to apply its message or quite what to do with it. Today, that has all come back to me. I want to be a spokesman for John and Dina and their ministry to the poor in Costa Rica. I do not have their permission to republish this, and I hope they would not mind. I DO have their e-mail address, their "snail mail" address, and information on how funds can be given on-line to their missionary work. If anyone is interested in helping them, my own e-mail address is given here on my blog. Just send me an e-mail. Due to the fact that I am not allowed to be on-line at my secular job, I only check in "here and there" for my e-mail, but I promise I will respond to you in the next few days. Will you seriously consider helping this fine missionary couple? Here is the text of their letter:

A HUGE DAY!!!

"Tell me what you are dreaming for 'Los Cuadros' neighborhood, because I want to make your dream a reality!" This moment was HUGE, as the Administrator of the Latin American Child Care schools of Costa Rica invited us to open our hearts. Over tamales and coffee, we shared our burden for the 120 teens we are currently ministering to, and God moved in a special way. Today's was by far most significant meeting we've been part of since we arrived eleven months ago. For certain, the school is working through some difficult challenges and is in need of transformational change. This meeting was the beginning of that change. God wants to do something powerful in the lives of teens that live in the core of this barrio, and we now find ourselves in the middle of it. Pray with us for God's wisdom, power, clarity, and favor! Dream with us!!!

We arrived home from this incredible meeting to find this message:

"Hi John,
I’m afraid that due to our policy procedures, I have to write you this. According to AGWM policy, a missionary’s (00) cannot be more than $6,000 in overdraft. Missionary accounts that have an overdraft of $6,000 for more than three months (or sooner at the direction of the regional office) are placed on As Designations Permit (ADP) status, including salary. This means that you will only receive salary and budget funds each month, as funds allow."

Last month, we saw another $2400 shortfall in our budget, accumulating our current deficit of nearly $6000. Our ministry and personal finances are now decimated. It seems that when the need is greatest, giving continues to dwindle.

Friends, we are in the heat of the battle. The fiery darts are flying. We've raised our shield of faith. We've never backed down from the challenges before us. The Lord has taken us over mountaintops, and we find ourselves standing here in the shadow of the valley. We can see the souls that stand on the horizon waiting to be reached. We can see our Leader out ahead of us, and we will follow Him to the end. We are willing to march into battle. Will you go with us?

- Standing in the gap.

John & Dina