If you have ever served in the military, you likely have experienced life at the hands of a demanding commanding officer, with all the discipline, attention to detail, and expectation of excellence that comes under the command of such a person.
At PMU, we have a different kind of “general” that is nonetheless just as demanding: it is our General Fund! Due to the vast array of expenses that draw upon this fund (everything except missionary accounts and church planting and building funds), the General is never satisfied. It always wants more from us. Consequently, keeping it in the black is a real challenge. The reality is, not many find much excitement in paying for paper clips and postage, and therefore raising the money to meet the daily operating expenses is the hardest fundraising task your Field Director has to undertake.
Of course, the General is not just about office supplies, though there are plenty of those things that are needed. The General also pays for all office staff salaries, utilities, printing and mailing costs, all advertising costs, all office and Field Director travel costs, computer hardware and software, phone and internet…you get the idea. These are the expenses that keep PMU able to support the missionaries and church planters in the field. If you think about the General in this way, it makes it a little more exciting and personally rewarding to strive to satisfy this demanding fund.
At present, the General is very hungry…so much so that the expenses that have to draw on it presently far outweigh the gifts that support it. The office transition is a big part of those extra expenses, but they must be done to ensure a seamless move from Idaho to Ohio, along with the ongoing regular expenses that never end. Your help is needed to get us back in the black! Will you pray with us on what you can do to take part in “satisfying the General,” and then give as generously as possible to make it happen? Thank you, and God bless you!