Newsletters

August 2000

Dear Partners in Ministry,

We are home from Ocean City now, having had a great summer! It was busy but we had good time together as a family on the weekends. I gained good experience in discipleship, working individually with four guys (two from Ohio State!). This experience will serve me well this next year. I will be running the men’s ministry on an area of campus with a total of 1500 men. Working with me will be the ten guys I will be discipling. I now have a better idea of how to lead these guys and develop them into the men that God wants them to be. It should be a great year and we can’t wait to see what God will do through our ministry here at Michigan!

I felt I needed to take some of the space of our newsletter to tell you about a particularly pressing financial need that we have right now. Our monthly support level is fairly good right now and we have many of you to thank for that! We have only $250 per month to raise, with the next few weeks before school starts to raise it. Where we are hurting right now is in our Crusade account. On the next page is a more detailed explanation of how our account works. Right now our account is in the negative and we have over $5000 of ministry expenses yet to come out of it. Because of this, we have already received two short paychecks with the likelihood of more to come.

This has happened for a number of reasons. When Andrew was born, the cost of our benefits went up significantly but we could not take time off in the middle of the school year to raise additional monthly support. In addition, some people who desired to give to our ministry on a monthly basis have not been able to do so. We also were not able to raise all of the support we needed for this summer in Ocean City, even though we were required to go. All of this factors into the state of our Crusade account at this point.

I am writing to ask for your help. First, I would ask you to pray that God would provide the $6300 we need to reimburse all our ministry expenses and make up for the pay we have been short. Second, I would ask for you to consider giving toward this need. Many of you have already given toward our expenses for Andrew or for summer project and might not be in a position to give more. But, if God leads you and enables you, we would appreciate anything you can give. If we are able to raise a significant portion of this need now, I will not have to take time off campus to raise support and thus miss some of the time I have to work with the men I am leading this year.

Please know my heart in this! We are so grateful for your partnership in our ministry! We appreciate your faithful prayers for us and the financial support many of you have been able to give! I did not particularly want to write this note. It is difficult to let other people know that I am in need. We are also reluctant to talk about support issues in our newsletter, but we felt the seriousness of the need warranted including it now.

If you are able to help us at this time you can send a check made out to Campus Crusade for Christ. For our address click here or email us and we can send you a business reply envelope. You can also make a donation online at http://home.ccci.org/ardle/donation.htm

Sincerely,

Nate

Frequently Asked Question

Many people do not realize how significantly their financial partnership impacts our daily living. Though contributions are made to the organization of Campus Crusade, each gift given on our behalf is deposited directly into an account specifically for our ministry needs. It is from this account that our paychecks, ministry needs, health benefits charges, conference fees, etc. are drawn. If this account goes into deficit, we do not receive a paycheck. There is no central fund to cover lost or deficient support.

That’s why we depend completely upon faithful and consistent monthly support. Your promise to partner with us in ministry by giving monthly allows us to focus all of our efforts on reaching students. If you have missed months of giving , have misplaced your envelope or have not received one recently please email us and we can get one to you. Don’t forget that Campus Crusade does not bill you; they only send receipts for gifts received.

Together as a ministry partnership team, we will see God glorified here at the University of Michigan!

We are so incredibly thankful to the Lord for each one of you! We consider it a tremendous privilege to serve the Lord full-time. Thank you for making that possible!

Andrew’s Update

Ocean City was so much fun! There were so many girls there, and they all wanted to hold me. I went to the beach a couple times, but those waves scared me. I like pools much better. I got to spend a few days at Salt Fork State Park with my Grandpa and Grandma Remick and four aunts and uncles.

Mommy has been making lots of food for me and I can start eating it when I’m six months old. I’m sure my two new teeth will come in handy! Daddy’s going to give me my first haircut on my six month birthday too. My hair is down past my shoulders in the back!

Andrew has fun with Grandpa Ardle in Ocean City this summer

“I’m still a little too small for this exersaucer, Mom!”

Online This Month

• Bill Bright is stepping down next summer after leading Crusade for 50 years. Find out who the next president of Campus Crusade for Christ will be.

• You may find it more convenient to make your contributions online by credit card. See the link on our home page.

• See a picture of the project and the guys Nate worked with; Learn about what will happen in Ocean City now that the staff are not there.

• Of course, see new pictures of Andrew!

• All back issues of “Behind the Lines” are now available online—back to the initial issue in August of 1998.

Many of you have said you would be willing to read our newsletter online instead of receiving the printed version in the mail.

If you choose this option we will email you when the newest addition is available on our website.

If you would like to read our newsletter online and not receive the printed version and you have not already told us by email please email us to request the online version.

www.ardle.org

Staff Account #0484633