Think of a balance scale. On one side is the elaborate. On the other side is the simple –and approachable.
When I think of simple, I think of the American Family Association.
Having grown up running down the halls of AFA, I noticed early on that the physical appearance of AFA, both inside and out, was not extravagant. It is nice but not elaborate. In fact, it was 15 or 20 years before we repainted most of the walls, and we still have some of the same carpet from 1988.
My point? Although a nice new paint job brings about freshness after 15 plus years, AFA has always been very thoughtful about how it spends your money. The leadership always asks: Is this a need or want? If it’s a need, does it fit AFA’s mission? If it fits the ministry’s mission, are the funds available without borrowing the money?
To be honest, I have not always appreciated the ministry’s frugality. As a teenager, I looked at AFA and thought “the more elaborate the ministry, the bigger the reach.” But my grandfather, in all his wisdom, knew better. I’m thankful that he continues to impart such wisdom to me.
Now when I look at AFA and count its 190 radio stations, 900,000 email subscribers and 194,000 AFA Journal subscribers, I realize that it is the Lord’s blessings on AFA that have allowed the ministry to prosper. To Him, I am grateful.
It has been a privilege and a humbling experience to watch AFA be a good financial steward of the money the Lord has entrusted to the ministry. On September 2, 2014, AFA was awarded Charity Navigator's highest, and most coveted, 4-star rating for sound fiscal management and commitment to accountability and transparency. Again, to Him, we are grateful, and for you, we are thankful.
We continually need your help to resist the evil changes against the family that have taken and are taking place in America. Here are a few ways that AFA has used your money over the past year to encourage families and bring about good. AFA …
Launched the Corporate Religious Liberty Index, a questionnaire that seeks to assess and publicize the importance of religious liberty to major companies.
- Produced What Now? Your Church and Same Sex Marriage – a documentary that provides legal analysis of the dangers posed to religious liberty by the SCOTUS same sex marriage ruling.
- Provided a national radio/internet platform for the 15th annual “Truth For Youth” Week. A campaign of Revival Fires International, “Truth For Youth” Week gave over 60,000 Bibles to teens who committed to give the Scripture to their unsaved friends.
- Launched Engage Magazine for the Millennial generation. EngageMagazine.net is an online resource aimed at helping Millennials ground their worldview in the truth of the gospel.
- Established a strategic radio station in northern Virginia just outside Washington, D.C., and is adding stations in Huntsville and Montgomery, Alabama; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Lexington, Kentucky
If you have already given a year-end gift to AFA, I would like to say thank you for trusting us to carry out the mission to which God has called AFA, to biblically defend and encourage the American family.
If you have not yet given, please prayerfully consider partnering with us as we end 2015. No matter the evil changes that take place around us, one thing never changes … and it’s not just the carpet!
