For me, David, it is the minus side of the ledger . . . and I’m not talking money here. Perhaps the reason, so long ago, I switched from a Math major to English was that numbers don’t inspire me as much as communication . . . but the minus side of the ledger worries me. You remember Jesus’ parable of the talents? Each one is asked to give account for what they did with what they were given. Each entrusted differently and then asked individually what they accomplished with it. We will all have that conversation with Him individually one day, and personally, that’s a huge reason to get out of bed!
What am I, David, going to have to answer for? (Nancy, of course, is my heart and soul partner in all this).
Need
So many don’t know Jesus! It may seem counterintuitive, but Jesus’ whole purpose of coming to earth was to reach the lost (Jn. 3:16) yet to do that he put most of his energies into training leaders who multiply other leaders, each equipped to guide people into the kingdom. This is what we do at Entrust. My job is to make sure we do this with excellence.
Strategy
I must shepherd Entrust strategy, to carry out our mission of training leaders, which must be developed in multiple contexts where Entrust serves.
Wisdom
A leader’s greatest critic is often himself. That critic can paralyze him. A leader must listen well, think clearly, and act bravely. On a daily basis, I ask God to enable me do all three in the power of his Spirit.
Supply line
Our frontline field staff needs a reliable support framework. Entrust is a team, a network with diversely gifted, interdependent individuals each doing their part. Each one depends on their support team in the States. Our Colorado Springs office channels that support and runs interference for them in the growing number of services and legalities required to keep them on the field.
Priorities
Circumstances push certain issues to the top. Balancing and organizing these priorities remains a constant but necessary challenge as I determine which ones must take precedence.
Recruiting
It has been decades since I slept in a dorm so I had to chuckle when Nancy and I found ourselves staying with students in their dorm rooms as we represented Entrust at the Moody missions conference in October. This is the easiest part of a big learning curve we are overcoming on how to recruit the younger generation. We will be back on campus in a few days representing our newly developed internship program and STEP field experiences. Check them out! (http://www.entrust4.org/involved/serve/internship; http://www.entrust4.org/involved/serve/step
Stakeholders
Since our field staff is supported by personal gifts (as are we – Thank you! Thank you!), one of my challenges is raising funds for Entrust operations. Kind of like your pancreas--most attention goes to the visible parts of our bodies. You might not even realize what your pancreas does until it stops doing it with its usual efficiency. Along with responsibility for our personal budget requirement, I need to raise funds for the Entrust pancreas.
Most leadership training is written by Westerners. Yet who better to do it than those who work in the culture and understand the challenges? There is not much curriculum written by local leaders overseas. Why? Because they don’t know how, they don’t believe they can and they don’t have access to the tools they need. Our staff has been developing methods for equipping indigenous staff in India to create their own leadership training. The results of the workshops our team has led there are quite exciting. The team is currently continuing their field testing in India.
Equipping
Entrust staff is faithfully serving in Asia, Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Russia, and India to train leaders. Nancy’s energies, through our women’s training, serves specifically in Latvia, Switzerland, Texas, Asia, Thailand, Ukraine, Colorado and more - regularly providing week-long growth experiences in these locations for nationals, missionaries, and local lay women. Our staff and trained volunteers work with groups of highly committed, like-minded believers who desire to “entrust” all they learn to reliable people – multiplying leaders who will do the same! It is exciting and exhausting!
Family
Following an inspiring and successful All-Staff Conference in the Caspian Crescent this spring, we turned our attention to Jessica’s wedding and Josh’s graduation from med school. (I should also mention Matt was wooed by another tech company, advancing his career). They are all amazing adults loving God, loving one another. We thank God for each of them! (Grandchild # 4 due in March J!)
That’s a lot to answer for! Please join me and Nancy in praying for all these areas, and see our list of specific prayer requests, below.
Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday
- Commit to pray for Entrust as a whole: its staff, students and areas of work. You can find specific requests at http://www.entrust4.org/involved/pray; scroll to the bottom of the page to find our prayer calendar.
- As God provides and as your finances allow, increase your regular giving, or renew your financial support if you’ve given in the past. This helps us cover the continually increasing costs pertaining to our work with Entrust, especially the great amount of traveling we must do.
- Give a special gift on Tuesday, December 2nd, “Giving Tuesday.” This day has been set aside as a response to Black Friday and Cyber Monday by encouraging people to “give back” to non-profits and charities. Gifts submitted on this day will be matched dollar-for-dollar; your gift goes to your designee and the matching amount goes to Entrust’s operations fund, which is currently running low.
- If you know of anyone who resonates with the work of Entrust and might consider joining our support team, please forward our newsletter to them or ask permission for us to contact them.
We thank God for your friendship, partnership and prayers – we will say it again and again because we mean it! We could not do this without you, your fingerprints are on us and you go with us daily as we serve.
Humbly grateful,
David and Nancy
Thank you for your partnership, prayers and support!
You can also send gifts to:
Entrust, PO Box 25520, Colorado Springs, CO 80936-5520
Attach a note “For David & Nancy Goodman, M125”
Office: (719) 622.1980
Web: www.Entrust4.org
