Dear friends,
Would you consider supporting the work of Graceworks? Income from the sales of our books and the honorariums we receive make up about 2⁄3 of what we need to operate. It is friends and communities who know us and who believe in what we do, who help make up the rest. Below is a write-up of our ministry. Could you take a few moments to read it and pray about helping to sponsor our work as you think of year-end giving and planning for your ministry support for 2016? Thank you. This means a lot to us.
Soo-Inn
The ministry of Graceworks
• Our primary mission — relational transformation
We believe that lives are transformed, not just through knowing the truth, but through walking with people who will model for us the truth and who will help us integrate the truth into our lives. We are therefore committed to the cause of relational transformation, seeing lives transformed through authentic relationships. Our tag line: “promoting spiritual friendship in church and society.”
Our goal is to help followers of Jesus grow in Christlikeness through spiritual friendship. Therefore we see spiritual friendship as a key expression of discipleship. As Paul J. Wadell puts it:
. . . spiritual friendship is a discipleship life, a way in which people who are committed to growing in Christ help one another imitate Christ and grow in gospel virtues. Spiritual friends, through their life together, learn from one another what discipleship means and how we can acquire and develop the attitudes and virtues of Christ — they help each other become better friends of God. (Paul J. Wadell, Becoming Friends, 108.)
• A special focus — ministry to young adults
We are committed to ministering to the whole body of Christ, with believers of all age groups. But in recent times we have also been led to pay special attention to young adults, followers of Christ making the key transition between adolescence and full adulthood.
We are therefore committed to understanding the key challenges of “emerging adults”, the issues that are unique to their stage in life at this time in history, and how we can help them fulfil their potential for Christ. In our ministry to young adults, we are seeking to answer the question posed by Dunn and Sundene:
What can we do in this generation to empower and equip emerging young adults to reach their God-designed potential for spiritual transformation? (Shaping the Journey of Emerging Adults, 17.)
(The photo above was taken at a 2013/14 Friends in Transition meeting, a ministry to young adults who have just started working.)
Our basic strategies
• Training
A key part of our ministry is education. We want to help the body of Christ understand the “what, why and how” of relational transformation in general, and the relational transformation of young adults in particular. We do this through preaching, teaching, seminars, and workshops. We run these educational initiatives ourselves and we also work with other organisations — churches, seminaries, parachurch groups, etc., who share this vision.
We also practice and try to model relational transformation by running mentoring groups and other groups that practice spiritual friendship. We do a lot of ad hoc mentoring when individuals seek us out for counsel. We believe the best ministry is mutual and we are often blessed by those we minister to, even as we seek to minister to them.
Some of the topics that we teach on:
+ spiritual friendship
+ discipling
+ relational leadership
+ young adult ministry
+ spiritual mentoring
+ healthy small groups.
• Publishing
We also want to see lives transformed through the publishing of key books that help apply God’s truth to daily life. We focus on publishing two kinds of books. First, we publish books that help readers understand and apply practices that encourage relational transformation. Next, we focus on books that help followers of Jesus integrate their faith to the challenges of daily life.
We are especially on the lookout for authors from our part of the world. We appreciate the books we get from the West but we are also committed to publishing local authors who are often better able to address the local context.
We do print books and also e-books.
How we are funded
• By our work
One key source of income for our operations is through our work itself. We get income from the books we sell. We also request fees when invited to minister though this is not always possible. Mentoring work for example is relational and it is not always possible to charge for relational ministry. And some groups are not able to pay because they are financially disadvantaged.
• Through sponsorships
We invite individuals who are so led to help sponsor our work. We are not a charity and so we cannot request for donations. But we are allowed to receive sponsorships.
Our work alone cannot bring in enough income to meet our ministry budget. Therefore we invite those who want to partner with us to help us financially by helping to sponsor our work.
Possible items for sponsorship
• New book projects
The publishing industry is very challenging. Your sponsorships can partially underwrite some books or provide seed money to launch new books.
• Mentoring
The mentoring ministry is by nature highly relational and it is not always appropriate to charge money for such work. Your sponsorships help us to continue to come alongside individuals in their times of need.
• e-Commentary
Two to three times a month, we send out a reflection via email/on our website, that seeks to connect the Word of God to some pressing issue of the day.
• New initiatives
Lately we have felt the Lord guiding us to bring our ministry regionally. Some of those countries have economies that make it nearly impossible to pay even the basic costs of our ministry trips. Your sponsorships help us to bring the vision of relational transformation beyond the shores of Singapore and Malaysia.
• Operational costs
We have three staff including Bernice and myself. We all take a fixed salary. We maintain a website. We also run an office. We need space to house the staff and to keep our stocks of books.
Would you pray about sponsoring the work of Graceworks?
We are grateful for one-time amounts but really hope that more will be regular sponsors.
Please contact us if you need more information about the work and/or sponsoring our work. You can email me at sooinn@graceworks.com.sg.
Please make cheques out to GRACEWORKS PRIVATE LIMITED and send them to:
Graceworks Pte Ltd
22 Sin Ming Lane
#04-76 Midview City
Singapore 573969
Our greatest need is prayer. Pray that we will continue to hear the Lord and have the faith and courage to follow where He leads. We believe that if we obey Him, He will provide for our needs. Please pray alongside us.
Thank you,
Soo-Inn