April 01, 1984 by

That you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" Romans 15:1?

(Ed. Note: Questions often arise precisely from those of you who are drawn strongly to hope and pray that the' Center for World Mission here will survive.)

One of our newer staff members can perhaps voice for many of you some of those questions you have had, and, so you'll know where we are, I will try to express as best I can just what Is our understanding right now 01 the answers God has given to us.   Ralph D. Winter)

I Need to ask about your unusual financial policy

STAFF MEMBER: you say you cannot ask churches for money, and you cannot ask from Individuals more than a single one time $15 gift.

Do you really believe God told you this?

RALPH WINTER: Not in so many words. But back in 1977 75 we did pray about this for three months before we began with this policy. And we got input from many mission executives. Have you ever slopped to realize that a city government cannot start city owned businesses that run competition with the private businesses it seeks to attract? Neither, for example. can the central office of the Evangelical Foreign Missions Association go out and campaign for money from churches (on which its member mission agencies rely for support).

In that sense we are similar to the EFMA: vital though they are and we are to the mission cause, we feel we must consider fundraising of that sort off limits.

STAFF: But If the EFMA lives off the support of its member agencies, why can't the USCWM ask. the people who are working here from the 10 mission agencies to put up the necessary money to pay off the campus?

WINTER: Good thinking! As matter of fact, already a huge amount of money does flow through this campus from the hard pressed, limited funds mission agencies have available.

They are already paying their share of rent and utilities and many other expenses occasioned by their work here. That, by the way, is why we have had, from the very start, a completely self sustaining operation except for property payments.

Ok, Let's talk about the 'Touch Ten' plan and how it could ever work

STAFF: Last fall you were able somehow to harvest 14,000 new people In your "Hope Chest" version of the Touch Ten campaign,

But that didn't come anywhere near the large number of people you needed to reach your $6 million campus payment and the additional $2.5 million housing payment, which. I understand, will become due together on September 1st of next year.

WINTER: Right, we didn't come near the total number of people we will eventually need to make the $8.5 million payment due next year.

But arduous effort did tell us that an astounding 30% of the invitations mailed out by our friends to their friends brought in $15 gift,, (and then planted the beginnings of new awareness and hope in the lives of those new one time donors.)

You work here. You know already that our new approach contacts all those who have just responded to someone else's invitation and Invites them now to a party where they can in turn reach out to ten others.

The invitation is the same, the 30% expectation is the same. We feel coming to a small home group meeting, seeing the exciting new slide show on the Vision of the Center and then also the Center itself, will encourage many to sit down and start praying about which ten of their friends are susceptible to new hope vision, and faith.

Is there some potent new factor in this new touch ten cycle?

STAFF: What do you consider the really novel feature in the new plan?

WINTER: It's a bit artificial for you to ask me that, since you and others here have had a lot to do with the new element.

I'd have to say that the overwhelmingly important new factor is the "endless chain" feature. Each Hidden Peoples party is designed to generate not only new Founders but at least two more parties to which Founders may be invited.

And, the Party Kit we sent out has materials for two more such parties.

Also, we pack with each box samples of the two newest, best books we have advertised recently, and we expect enough orders to come in from those samples (even at our huge discount to the buyers) to cover the total cost of the materials sent out!

This means we can go on prayerfully multiplying parties until the million people we seek have been touched with new frontier vision. If each party turns up two more hosts, it will take only eight generations to reach a million people.

Once our campus is paid for, then the invitations to become $15 Founders of the CEnter will be replaced by invitations to give to other worthy frontier mission causes.

(By the way, you'll never find out who is serious about frontier missions if there is no money involved!)

But, obviously, the crucial thing is for each party to double itself through guests volunteering to host their own parties.

"This could never happen if God were not out there across America creating a tinderbox of responsiveness"