Impact
- Rich Davis
- Jul 17
- 3 min read
Jo Ann and I are adjusting to our new status, having transitioned from full-time career missionaries living abroad to redeployed missionaries living in the States. There are several good reasons for making this transition, but it could give the impression that we will no longer be involved in foreign missions. By God’s grace, that is not the case as long as He gives us the health, strength, calling, and financial resources to carry out our new ministry.
Prepared for Impact
As we have shared in our prayer letters during the last 12 months, and in our personal reports in our supporting churches, we believe that the Lord is calling us to take our years of cross-cultural experience and academic preparation to places in the world where help is requested for theological and practical training in evangelism, discipleship, and church planting.
ABWE Live Global has a ministry called “Impact Teams” that focuses on helping our national partners strengthen their efforts to evangelize the lost using different platforms. Jo Ann and I are passionate about the “Ministry” platform, which focuses on theological and practical ministry training in areas such as those mentioned above. The Live Global team at ABWE has invited us to participate with them in this specialized ministry during our “Golden Years!”
We just completed refreshing our training using all the evangelism and discipleship tools that ABWE has developed. During the months of May and June, we upgraded our training in the Good Soil tools, including “The Story of Hope,” “The Way to Joy,” and “The Root of Faith,” which covers 100 evangelistic/discipleship stories from the Old and New Testaments.
I am also writing my final paper to complete a master’s degree in biblical studies, which, for me, is essentially a refresher course and a theological upgrade to my previous formal and personal studies. All this preparation has been done to bring the most current tools available to places in the world where such tools and training are not accessible. We plan to prepare seminars or modules for places where national brethren sense the need for training and are requesting experienced missionaries to bring their practical skills and theological knowledge to strengthen their ministries.
Proposal for Impact
The ABWE treasurer recently sent out a form letter to our supporters suggesting a reduction in our support levels, which is natural and necessary. The financial retirement plan that ABWE implements relies on three sources of income for retired missionaries: Social Security, ABWE pension, and reduced support from current supporters. Though this plan is adequate for retired missionaries, it does not account for the financial needs of a continued ministry, such as the Impact ministry that Jo Ann and I are pursuing.
Our first trip since our transition is due to an invitation from Peru. Yes, we are scheduled to travel to Lima near the end of August to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Monterrico Christian School. Jo Ann and I will be speaking in different chapels at the school and participating in the Sunday services at two of the churches we helped start in the Chacarilla and Monterrico neighborhoods of Lima. Please pray with us that we might be an encouragement to these churches and our many friends and colleagues in Lima.
We were also invited to do some training in a limited-access country but cannot be more specific for security reasons. Going to faraway places means paying for airline tickets, housing, restaurants, and materials for the students. This is the reason for our "fourth" source of income.
We anticipate taking three trips a year as the Lord opens opportunities. While the normal ABWE retirement package includes supporting churches by continuing our support at 25% of their current giving, we believe that our impact ministries can be financed if our supporters reduce their giving to 35% of their current giving. We are praying that each of our supporters will consider our proposal for financing this Impact ministry. Please do pray with us as we prepare and develop this new ministry. We are thankful to the Lord and to each of you for the many years of serving together, reaching the world for Christ.
