Do I need life insurance?  (Click here for this month’s download resource)

Life insurance is about protecting the people you care about most.  We cannot know when we will need it, but we do know it is important to have it in place before that time.

Life insurance can help prepare for the unexpected, to make sure your family will have financial resources if tragedy occurs.

How much life insurance do I need?

Let me start by saying, you are worth more than you think.  Life insurance agents and financial planners have their own way to determine what that magic number is for you.  Of course, your very specific circumstances and needs will impact that calculation.

To get a general idea, we suggest you apply the DIME formula:

• Debt – How much do you owe and what final expenses may you have?
• Income – What is the annual income needed to support your family, and for how many years?
• Mortgage – Do you have a mortgage on your home?
• Education – What funds will be needed to educate your children?

As your income and expenses rise, it is a good practice to review your coverage every few years.  If you have other unique situations — such as business entities, providing for charity, taxes — you may want to consider additional coverage.

Reviewing Your Life Insurance Coverage

When you purchased life insurance, it was likely to meet specific needs should your untimely death occur.  Since your purchase, what has changed and how might that impact your life insurance needs?

Some life-altering events may require that you increase your insurance coverage.  Marriage, the birth of a child, a new business venture, and a home mortgage are only a few things to consider when reviewing the amount of your current coverage.

On the other hand, are you carrying life insurance to cover specific needs or obligations which have already been met?  Have your children completed college and set out on their own careers?  Have your home mortgage and other debts been paid from income or other assets?

If you have life insurance that is no longer needed for its original purpose, consider these options:

• Cancel the policy to save paying the premium. This may be especially appropriate if there is no cash value and the premium amount is a burden.

• Check to see if the cash value is sufficient to pay the premium. Some policies have this feature.

• Maintain the policy but name a favorite ministry or two as beneficiaries.

• Gift a policy to a ministry, receive a charitable tax deduction, and help provide for a work you love. Additional deductions may be available for gifts to pay ongoing premiums.

And finally, as you review your life insurance, do not forget to review beneficiary arrangements, settlement options, and its place within your total estate plan.  You may find our eBook, A Steward’s Consideration of Life Insurance, helpful. You can download your copy here. And if we can answer any questions as you make your review, please let us know.

May We Help?

It is always wise to seek counsel and advice from an expert when you consider life insurance as a part of your future planning. Before you do, you may find our eBook,  A Steward’s Consideration of Life Insurance, helpful. You can download your copy here. And if we can provide assistance or encouragement along the way, please do not hesitate to contact Jeff Coon at Jcoon@fameworld.org.

©2021 CDF Capital Foundation

A friend once loaned his light-duty pick-up truck to a fellow church member who was moving. When the truck was returned, something was not quite right.  It seems the light-duty truck had been put to heavy-duty use and it was never the same after that weekend.

Was the man angry and upset?  Sure, for a time he was – after all, the borrower didn’t own the truck and yet he abused it.  Looking back over time, that incident now serves this friend as a reminder that we really do not own all that we use in this life.  The Bible makes it clear that ownership of all things belongs only to God: 

“The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof…”  Psalm 24:1

“The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts.”  Haggai 2:8

“Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.”  Job 41:11

So, the trucks, cars, houses, tools – just everything – is entrusted to us by God but we do not own any of it.  Randy Alcorn, in The Treasure Principle, says it this way, “God owns everything, I’m his money manager.”

Our management strategy must be one that brings Him a great return on His investment. Taking good care of His assets is certainly part of our management responsibility.

Like the two sides of a coin, God’s ownership and our management are inseparable.  The challenge is to remember who the owner really is, and to make wise management decisions to bring Him a good return.  Or as Jesus put it to “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”  Matthew 5:16 (ESV)

What does it mean to be a good manager of God’s assets?  First, God expects us to care for those who are dependent upon us.  Read 1 Timothy 5 and you will see Paul’s explanation that when it comes to caring for widows – and by extension, all dependent family members – we are to do it without exception!  In fact, if we do not care for their needs, according to Paul, we “have denied the faith and are worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8)

A second thought is shown in the generosity of God.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave…” John 3:16.  It’s been said that we are never more like our Heavenly Father than when we give.

A generous heart is evidence of understanding God is the owner and we are His money managers.

Let us know if you would like to discuss managing God’s assets or if we can be of any help in your stewardship walk. Contact Jeff Coon at JCoon@fameworld.org.

©2021 CDF Capital Foundation

This request is urgent – as in, FAME needs to send $30,000 before the end of March. On your behalf, we just wired the first portion to your FAME mission partner and they will start construction in 2 days!  Here’s the story.

You may remember that in late 2019, FAME partners like you paid for an ambulance (pictured) for the work started by the xxxxxxxxx family (unlisted for their safety).  That ambulance staffed by medical professionals now travels to 35 villages where they’ve started churches.  Many thousands of aged, widows, orphans, and families receive their primary medical care – in the name of Jesus – from that ambulance.

The xxxxxxxxx family works mostly with the fishing families of their region – and they’re acutely aware that a lack of healthcare is devastating to entire families when a fisherman is unable to work.  Here’s just one example:

Dhatri was severely injured in a fishing boat and net accident and was unable to work for 6 months because of a fracture that was not set since there was no healthcare available.
There should be no reason for such a crisis!

The xxxxxxxxx’s also know that many more people can be reached through medical outreach and they’ve begun work on a 16,000 square foot clinic.  It will provide primary health care, and a direct opportunity to connect this fishing community with the Great Physician!

To me, this opportunity seems a bit like the story in Mark 1 – “the whole town gathered at the door and Jesus healed everyone with various diseases.”

Here is how our mission partner sees the opportunity:

Children, mostly under age 5, will get regular immunizations and be treated for scabies and other skin diseases.  Mothers will receive prenatal care and the maternal and infant mortality rates will drop.  Fathers will receive medical care that will allow them to better work at their demanding fishing tasks.  Then there is the care for the elderly and widows…

Named after FAME’s first Executive Director, the Reeves Project Fund is for exactly this type of opportunity.  But the fund doesn’t have a bottomless amount of money, so I’m asking if you will make an immediate gift to help with this clinic for India.

The reason we need to send the money ASAP has to do with the coming changes of law in India.  The ministry is required to close their existing bank account and open one with the government bank.  Suffice it to say, getting the funds there by March 31 will save costs and simplify the process greatly.  Can you help today?  Thank you!

You can respond with a check – or, if possible, give online at www.fameworld.org/give to get your gift to FAME in the quickest way possible.

Either way, your gift will make a difference and will serve people working hard to survive and hungry to know the truth of the Gospel

Will we ever think of the numbers “2020” the same? I’ve set goals for 2020 using the 20/20 Vision theme since 2000 – but now we DO have a 20/20 Vision look at 2020, don’t we?

We’ve been asked, “What did you do in 2020 that was a COVID-19 Response?” That answer is simple,
“EVERYTHING!” The impact of this global pandemic was, well, global! Whether we sent funds, equipment and supplies or people – it was a response to the pandemic. Some were because the partner had spent their medicine funds on the starving people in their community. Others were directly related, like ventilators and oxygen related equipment…no matter the help and hope…it positioned our global partners to care for the needs around them and share the good news!

Thank you for your partnership! You have impacted one million of the world’s most vulnerable because of your generosity and partnership!

Click here for our 2020 Year in Review

Big Year ahead; Big plans, Big trips, Big projects

Shipping PPE to a mission partner in China for a barely heard of crisis

Shut down, Separation

Trips canceled, Emergency appeal for a global pandemic

Big Hearted Response from Partners like you

Shipping PPE from Asia to Hospitals in crisis in the USA

Sending PPE, ventilators, and oxygen equipment to global partners

Global partners deal with starvation, lack of access to healthcare

$700,000 worth of equipment and supplies shipped to 32 Countries

Big open doors- Big opportunities

Big Needs, Big Response from people like you with Big Hearts serving a Big God

“Peace on Earth Good will to men.”  Luke 2:14 KJV

What “good will” did the angels mean?

A short Christmas word study shows that this “good will” means

FAVOR THAT RESTS UPON YOU 

Can I tell you that most of the people that your FAME global partners serve have not always felt as if “favor is resting upon them?”  Then they often feel without hope and helpless.

As told by one mom a partner met in Ghana:

It is very difficult for parents who have a sick child.  In times like this, there is pressure on you,  financially and emotionally.  If you fall into such a predicament and you neither have any support or money, then you are bound to lose your child. 

Thankfully to YOU and other partners like YOU- Jamilia’s story ends well!  Her son, who needed heart surgery, was treated and cared for by your FAME global partner.

FAVOR RESTING on you may come in the form of:

• being treated by a dentist in a rural village where there’s never been a dentist before
• being transported by an Ambulance that is only possible because of FAME partnerships
• a diagnosis of a serious illness and surgery because of a doctor who received surgery tables and lights from FAME partnership
• a medical team coming to your hurricane or cyclone ravaged village and caring when no other medical providers were available

Thank you for your partnership – it is bringing PEACE ON EARTH (as people meet Jesus) and GOOD WILL OR FAVOR as people are treated in the name of Jesus during some of their most helpless and hopeless times!

That’s why we tell you weekly, “you bring help and hope through medical evangelism.”

Thank you for continuing the message of Christmas, by partnership with FAME!

This is an amazing open door!

Do you know much about the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)?   Starvation is real, serious illness is chronic, sexual abuse of women rampant, and persecution of Christians is both common and severe in this Central African Nation.

You can imagine, into this kind of darkness – even a tiny light of hope shines like midday.  Recently we were introduced to a wonderful couple – both DRC survivors – who have been serving in the name of Jesus in their home country.  For their safety, I’m just going to call them Dr. and Mrs. DRC.

Since receiving asylum in the US in 2012, the couple has dreamed of helping those still suffering in the DRC.  Their dream?  A series of 7 medical clinics focusing on obstetrics, pediatrics, surgery, and trauma care.

.

Dr. DRC was at the FAME warehouse recently – and I wish you could have walked with us.  As he moved aisle-to-aisle, shelf-to-shelf, bin-to-bin – his smile and relief at knowing we would help was really moving.

Of course, the “we” who can

help ship medical supplies to the DRC is really “you” and “me” and others like us who know the power of medical evangelism.  I can’t tell you how much I appreciate knowing you’re in this with us!  Thank you!

The open door is this – because of COVID-19, the DRC government has lowered the cost of shipping medical supplies into the country to unheard of low costs!  We’ve already been able to ship exam tables and other supplies to help Dr. DRC with 2 Clinics.

But there is only a short time to provide for the other 5 Clinics with this highly discounted custom taxes and fees.  We have many of the supplies on hand – would you like to help cover the cost of getting them to the field?

I’m estimating to acquire, crate, stage and ship will only cost a total of $10,000.  But it would be so much more without the DRC government discount on the cost to receive the medical supplies.  So, we really think this should happen right away before the rates go back up!

Oh, and we’re also helping 2 other ministries in the DRC – they now have quality hospital beds replacing bamboo mats!  Additionally, your gift could help us with sending help and hope to Ethiopia and 18 other African countries where we have active global partners this year!  But like Dr. DRC’s work, they have many other needs for their clinics.  Can you give a gift to “wherever needed” by December 31^st that will help victims of crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo and around the world?

Last thing,  – Dr. DRC’s work is so much more than just medical care.  Mrs. DRC oversees the “trauma care” and these services follow her Biblical Counseling training – so patients are impacted daily by workers sharing the hope of the Gospel!

Ok, that’s the open door I wanted to share.  If you’d like to help FAME with this opportunity and so many more, click DONATE above! Thanks for thinking and praying on what you might do right away.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Bill

 

Watch this video and get a taste of all that ICOM has to offer this year, and maybe this video would be good to share with others or your church!

Every Fall thousands of people from around the globe descend on a USA city to connect and be encouraged at the International Conference on Missions (ICOM).  This year was to be no different – and Indianapolis was to be the city for 2020!

But, nothing has been normal in 2020- so ICOM is a combination Virtual Event and Live Virtual Exhibit Hall AND an in-person Exhibit Hall in Indy.  Many fewer exhibitors will be in person, and that’s disappointing – but HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS!

No matter where you live, you can ATTEND THIS WEEKEND!  Check it out at www.theicom.org

FAME will have a Virtual booth- You can “walk /scroll” through the exhibit hall – or search for us!  There are 3 Bible Studies with Jeff Vines, the president of ICOM that FAME is sponsoring this year- we had fun shooting videos with Jeff Vines when he was in Indy awhile back – he is a real “fan of FAME!”

FAME, as usual, is sponsoring the Short-Term Trip Workshops which, along with the main sessions will all be virtual-only and online!

Maybe you are a Central Indiana friend of FAME- ICOM has safety measures in place (masks provided by FAME) to make it an enjoyable experience to head downtown Indianapolis to the Convention Center to connect with many of FAME’s Global partners!

Thank you for your friendship and partnership, you are impacting lives every day around the world!

We in the USA are not alone in the roller coaster year of the pandemic impact.  I’d like to give you an update on one of our global partners.

Because of generous partners like you, there are 5 Clinics in a mountainous region of Mexico just south of Saltillo.  In 2016 many of you met Esly and Sandy Fuentes from Mexico and Bolivia respectively, who met in Medical school in Cuba!  You may have met them at the Night of Hope Banquet raising funds for their Hospital which is currently under construction.

In this mountain region, the church in La Biznaga has supported them as they not only have the clinic attached to the church, but they have added clinics and pharmacies in 4 other villages as well.  These villages are the type where everyone knows one another, the deaths impact all, and births cause all to rejoice.  These people are hard-working farmers, and you may even buy the 3-pack of peppers which are grown and packaged by many of them!  At each of these clinics, the church has begun Bible Studies and evangelistic medical outreaches!

Esly reports, “The first wave of COVID did not affect the rural areas very much.  But now the second wave is hitting us hard, because everything opened up and now people are out and began to visit our rural communities and the virus has moved into our villages.”

Esly shared that this week they lost 5 dearly loved elderly folks, and last week they lost 8 due to COVID.  They are sending many to the hospital, but they hope to see a downward trend soon!  Esly continues, “We are the only clinic and pharmacy that meets all the health codes set by our local and state government.  We have been setting an example of how to be a blessing to all those around us.”

Can I say “Amen!” on our behalf?

Isn’t that exactly what you and I hope to hear from those around the world with whom we partner?  “…setting an example of how to be a blessing…”.

I am thankful to be in partnership with Doctors like Esly and Sandy, aren’t you?

I am also thankful to be in partnership with people like you- who make partnership possible!

Bill Warren
Executive Director

Taking local traffic patterns into account, rural Americans have an average travel time of 17 minutes to the nearest hospital, while those in suburban and urban communities have an average travel time of 12 minutes and 10 minutes, respectively.

In Africa, nearly 50% of the population have more than 2 hours to travel to the nearest hospital, with 28% of those being more than 24 hours of travel to reach such a hospital!

 

With that fact – Obstetric crises are common!  One FAME global partner is a CMF (Christian Missionary Fellowship) Clinic which has served expectant mothers for many years.  A focus of this clinic has been HIV+ mothers – with wonderful results of 98% success in no transfer of HIV to the babies!

But this wonderful clinic has had to halt all services except prenatal care.  The Ivory Coast Government is requiring them to have an Ambulance for emergency situations before they are allowed to continue with maternity services that include the delivery of babies!

This Ambulance is one of the 11 sustainable projects for which Bill Warren is running on Saturday, November 7th in the Monumental Half-Marathon.