A Mixed Model

Vision: Everyone Fully Mature in Christ
 
Mission: Fostering Christian maturity through the promotion of spiritual mentoring via teaching, training, and publishing.
 
Last Wednesday, Graceworks had its annual planning retreat. We met at a lovely venue provided by our dear friend and supporter, Wei Leong. At the retreat we reaffirmed our vision and mission (see above). We reviewed the year that was passing and asked the Lord to guide us as we look forward to 2022.
 
Ministry

We are humbled when we look at what the Lord has tasked us to do.

Publishing

This is a tough time for publishers in general and Christian publishers in particular since our target audience is even smaller. But we publish because God has called us to do so. We publish books that directly promote the key concerns of Graceworks like the A-B-C book on discerning your calling. We are also privileged to publish books like:

• The Bruised Reeds series where we grapple with prevailing issues in Singapore from a biblical perspective, including same-sex attraction, mental illness, and racism.
• The Invisible People series, for children and their families, to help them understand the worth of everyday folks like bus drivers, construction workers, etc. and how we should value them. 

In 2022 we are looking forward to publishing more books that will connect the Word to the concerns of life.
 
Mentoring
 
Mentoring has always been a core ministry for Graceworks. This is a primary way we promote our agenda of relational transformation — seeing lives transformed through authentic loving relationships. This includes our concern for spiritual friendship where we want to see people following Jesus in the company of friends. We want to go beyond the practice of mentoring to equipping and empowering people to mentor.

• Helping churches — more and more we are receiving requests from churches to help them make mentoring a vital part of their culture.
• We also see growing partnerships with seminaries and parachurch groups that understand the critical importance of mentoring. 

Next year we will work towards offering a certificate of spiritual mentoring that will be our preferred platform for equipping mentors.
 
The Generations Project (TGP)
 
What is perhaps the most exciting thing that Graceworks has been called to do is The Generations Project. We are living in a unique point in history where at least five generations live and work together. But because of different formative experiences, each generation has its own culture and therefore different takes on life and faith.

• TGP seeks to identify how the different generations in Singapore view life and faith through research that actually involves interviewing the people of the different generations to see the trends that mark their respective generations.
• Our goal is unity through empathy. We want to help the different generations understand themselves and the others in order to minimise conflict and to encourage interdependence between the generations.

 
Publishing, mentoring, and TGP are only three of many other things we do but they represent three prime areas of ministry now and in the year ahead.
 
The Team
 
Having a vision is not enough. You need the right team to carry out the mission of the organization. At present Graceworks has a team of six, including Soo Inn and Bernice. (Strictly we have five and a half because one of the team members is on half time.) In the 14 years of Graceworks’ existence, this is the closest we have ever been to an ideal team. The team members provide strengths in leadership, management, editing, video production, research, writing, teaching, preaching, training, and mentoring. What is more, there is a great spirit in the team which makes it a joy to work together.
 
Financing
 
Sometimes folks will ask us how our work is financed. We will say we function with a mixed model. About 2/3 of what we need comes from our work — the sale of our books, honorariums for our speaking, etc. But we still need to raise another one third. That amounts to about S$10,000 per month. A bulk of our budget goes towards the salaries of our team. Bernice and I may not always take our salaries but we ensure that the rest of the team are paid in full and on time.
 
These past two years have been financially tough for many businesses and ministries, including Graceworks. Many of the usual sources of our income have just not been there. There have been stressful months but the Lord always came through one way or another.
 
Graceworks is not a charity so we can’t receive donations. But we can receive sponsorships. We hope you will consider partnering with us so that we can continue to do what the Lord has called us to do.
 
As you consider year-end giving and plan for your giving in 2022 would you consider helping to sponsor our work? And as you do that, you could designate what your sponsorship is for:

• Publishing
• Mentoring
• The Generations Project
• General expenses

 
We live in uncertain times. There has been much suffering. But it has also been a time for the church to relook at her life and mission. We believe the work of Graceworks is more needed than ever. Please pray for us. Please partner us.
 
Here’s wishing all an Advent where we rediscover hope for ourselves and for others.