The Blessings of Team Ministry

Receiving Award for Samaritan's Purse

Dear Prayer Family,

    If you are as old as I am, and I know some of you are so you will appreciate this illustration.  In the early 1970s, the Boston Bruins dominated the NHL (you remember the NHL, don't you?).  Phil Esposito set the NHL record for most goals in one season. But if you remember, it was Bobby Orr who was responsible for a lot of Phil's success. Many of Phil's goals were called 'garbage goals' because he scored many goals off rebounds or great end to end rushes by Orr.

     I have felt like that this week in Venezuela as I am on my way home from a blessed ministry trip. We were celebrating 10 years of Operation Christmas Child here, I am travelling with plaques and recognitions given by the National Leadership Team to the Team at Samaritan's Purse who collect shoe boxes of gifts for children from Teams of parents and children across Canada who send them to SP who sends them to the National Leadership Team who sends them to the Regional Leadership Teams who distributes them to churches who share them with children! Now I would call that TEAMWORK, wouldn't you?  This week I had the privilege of accepting an award that really goes to all the TEAMS that I just mentioned!

National Leadership Team Venezuela

    This week I met a TEAM of over 50 volunteers who work with local churches. Some of these dedicated soldiers for the cause of Christ live 10 hours or more away from the capital city of Caracas and came to receive training and instruction. These are the people who see the boxes distributed to churches and then to the children. What a wonderful group of servants! I will you could meet them.

    The National Leadership Team won a special place in my heart this week.  When I arrived in Valencia, Venezuela last week I did so without my suitcase arriving with me.  If you have travelled at all you will know how frustrating that can be.  For me, this is the second consecutive trip that this has happened. The last time was not so bad as the suitcase arrived the next day and was delivered to where I was staying.  However, that was not the case this week.  All of my clothes, both dress and casual were in it.  Since we had a elegant celebration for the 10th anniversary, I also brought my new suit.  But I could now wear it because I did not have it.  The NLT were very kind supplying some of my basic clothing and toiletry needs! I did go a few days without my usual morning routine as you will note in one of the pictures below.

Nice hair and new shirt!

     Thank you for being a part of this prayer TEAM, your prayers sustain me and encourage me. God was faithful and blessed! I appreciate you all greatly for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until know!

For God's Glory,

Bill

Ministry in Venezuela

Dear Prayer Partners,

     Psalm 62:8 says, "Trust in him at all times, O people;pour out your heart before him;God is a refuge for us."   This verse contains a number of things that run against my human nature.  First is the exhortation to 'trust'.  This is especially difficult when one has been hurt by someone else, trusting runs counterclockwise to how we feel.  Instead of trusting we hunker down and become introverted in our thinking and actions in order to protect ourselves from further damage.  God wants us to trust in Him at all times. When times are good and when times are tough, when people do us wrong and when people are glad that we are around. We are implored to pour out our heart before the Lord.  I know very few people to whom I would pour out my heart.  God is the One to whom we can trust to pour out our heart.  Romans 8:1 says that there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus! He will not condemn us, he understands that we are frail children in need of divine aid.  So trust him (I say to me too!)! We may not now the future, we may not know how a thing will turn out but we know He loves us and works all things for His glory and our good.

     I am on my way back to Venezuela tomorrow for 3 days of ministry. I have been given the privilege of speaking 3 times during the 10th anniversary celebration of the Operation Christmas Child ministry there. Please pray for my travels and my speaking ministry. My spoken Spanish is a little on the rusty side so I would appreciate your prayers for that.  I speak tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 pm, Friday morning at 7:00 am and at 3:00 pm. I fly out tomorrow morning at 9:10 am and arrive the next morning in Valencia, Venezuela at 11:00 am.  My return trip is leaving Sunday, November 4 at 11:45 am and arriving in Calgary next day at 7:10 pm.

     God bless you and your family! I appreciate you and thank God for your support of the ministry.

Thanks for being a part of the Team!

Bill Finch

Impacting the World One Child at a Time

Hello my friends, I wanted to share with you this impactful video that demonstrates God's love in a very tangible way! I pray it will be as impactful on you as it was on me.  I know some of you don't use facebook and I wanted to share this with you in this way! Thank you!  Deb and I love you! 

Finch Insider Prayer Edition from Chile

Thank you for your prayers during our time in Venezuela.  We had come with really no agenda other than getting to know the people on the team. God opened the doors to have two days of very meaningful dialogue  and sharing with them. I shared with you some of the God sized achievements that this team has achieved from 10 years of dedicated ministry.  Their goals are even bigger.  You may be aware of some of the political challenges facing this country. Our NLT leader showed a headline saying the the ruling party says the key to their socialist success is the indoctrination of the 7 plus million Venezuelan kids! Her goal is to reach them with the gospel FIRST!! Now that is something to pray for to knock holes in the spiritual darkness!

CHILE

The next couple of days we will be meeting with the leaders of our team here.  This team too has existed for 10 years and has some success. But that success has been limited to the leader's ability to share the work and develop those around him.  He and his wife have been faithful and we want to honour that.  For the team to grow to become more successful some adjustments need to be made.  Therefore, we are going to be having some crucial conversations this weekend.  Your prayers are necessary!

Pray for Deb and Erin at home.  Deb is doing well in her new job at Samaritan's Purse where she is part of the donor services team.  Erin is working for a couple from our church in their painting and redecorating business.

VERTICAL CHURCH

Pastor James MacDonald's book by that title has been blowing me away in the sense that he is saying stuff I have thought of for years!  Get the book you will be challenged and enriched.  Anyway, try this on for size, "We don't worship so that the preaching will be more impactful for us; we preach so that worship will be more impactful for God."  (page 170)

THANK YOU!

Finch Insider Prayer Edition: Venezuela and Chile

This week as I prepare for my next ministry trip, God has place me the classroom to learn some new lessons all over again.  Specifically, He is teaching me to point vertically!  How often I get caught up in the horizontal issues of life and neglect the vertical.  I read this morning about the transcendence and awesomeness of our God from Psalm 8, "When I look at your heaves, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man you care for him."  God is so above us, so transcendent, so awesome that we lose out when we refer to him as "the man upstairs"!  He is so greater than that! Our mission is wrapped up in calling the nations to join us in worshipping our Great King!

In service for the King we continue our South American tour as we visit Venezuela and Chile.  Both of these countries have been involved with Operation Christmas Child for 10 years.  They both have been used by the Lord to reach 100s of children for the Lord. My mission, then, is to get to know these teams better and understand their needs and how I can serve them.  I will be leaving this Sunday, September 23th and returning on October 3rd.  Here is my exact schedule so you can be praying for that:

Sunday, Sept. 23rd Leave Calgary @ 7:00am Arrive Toronto 12:44pm
                              Leave Toronto @ 16:25 Arrive Caracas 21:10

As far as visiting Venezuela is concerned here are some things to pray about.
1) This will be my first time ever in this country, pray for wisdom in picking up things I should and should not do there.
2) Pray for wisdom for me as I meet with the National Leadership Team and help them be more effective as they move forward. My colleague, David Ruiz, will be joining me so that will help me a lot learn about the team.
3) Pray that I would leave the 'fragrance of Christ' with the team.  I want to help each person grow in their personal relationship with the Lord.

I leave for Chile on Wednesday night-Thursday morning, it is a long flight with a connection and a bit of a layover in Lima, Peru. I will forward you prayer items for our time in Chile later next week.

Thank you for being a part of my prayer team!  It is awesome to join together to see God work in our and through us in these days.  If I can pray for you please do not hesitate to let me know, I have lots of time on planes and in airports to pray for you!

Your Servant for God's Glory,

Bill Finch  

Finch Insider Prayer Edition: Thank You!

THANK YOU!!
So much for joining me in prayer as I traveled in Paraguay and Argentina this past week!  Your ministry and dedication was invaluable. 

Now, can I count on you to pray for me as I count to serve God?  Next Sunday, I am going to Venezuela and then onto Chile.  There are always to pray about with all of my teams as they are at different stages of development. 

Stay tuned as your ministry in prayer is just beginning, I will keep you updated as to new ministry trips. 

I appreciate you all greatly,

Bill 

Picture taken before Argentina (blue and white shirt) played Paraguay (red and white shirt)
Did I mention that Argentina won the game!

David and Pablo, my ministry partners

Sharing the ministry of OCC with our new NLT Paraguay

Finch Prayer Bulletin Insider Edition from Argentina 2

Thank you for your prayers this past week! It has been a huge blessing to me personally.  Let me share with you what the Lord is doing in Argentina as far as the Operation Christmas Child world is concerned.

As I shared with you one of the biggest obstacles that we have faced here is the importation of the shoe boxes.  Tuesday afternoon we met with the Bible Society of Argentina. At this meeting there was the president and two of his top staff members.  We  shared the OCC ministry with them and they were very excited with the possibilities of its growth.  This organization has been here for over 100 years and has all the government ties we need to import the boxes.  There was an openess on their part to provide us with a data base of churches to contact, they are willing to be our consignee as well.

I mentioned that we were going to interview potential members of our National Leadership Team.  I learned a lot about when NOT to hold this type of meetings.  One is in the morning and the other is when the Argentina national soccer team is playing! Both of those happened. Despite that we had some good candidates with whom we will be following up in the days to come.

Our team of Pablo, David and I have really enjoyed our time together as we have served here in Paraguay and Argentina.  We have prayed, laughed, and ate together.  As we each go our separate ways tomorrow, we do so with a sense that God has begun a good thing in these countries.  There are some very important decisions to make, especially in Argentina.

Later today I begin the trip back home leaving Argentina at 4:45pm and arriving back in Calgary at 9:10am Mountain Time.

What to pray for?
1. Thank God for my co-workers, Pablo and David
2. For Paraguay team as they begin to step out and begin ministry there.
3. Thank God for the Bible Society of Argentina's willingness to help us in so many ways.
4. For important decisions to be made in the next while as we build the Argentina team.

Thank you for your encouragement during this week. I am home for a few days then take to the skies to Venezuela on Friday, September 21!

Your Fellow Servant in Christ,

Bill

Finch Insider Pray Bulletin: Argentina Edition

¡Buenos Dias! Good Morning!

Greetings from Buenos Aires, Argentina! It is wonderful to be here again, this is my 3rd trip "home" this year.
Perhaps the most important trip I have made here.  As you pray for our time here this week let me give you a little bit of background. Operation Christmas Child has been ministering here for 10 years.  Recently there have been many challenges that our team has faced.  One of the greatest ones is the problem of the importation of the shoeboxes, this has been a problem not just for our organization but for many ministries and even multi-national companies.  It is a government problem as they try and protect their national companies market from the invasion of inexpensive products from outside the country.  The government paints everyone with the same brush, they don't look at the fact that we are bringing aide to the poor children of their country.

The second thing that you need to know as you pray is that we are in the process of recruiting a new National Leadership Team that will be centered in Buenos Aires, the capital city of the country.  We want the team to meet on at least a monthly basis, something that has not been happening with the current team as they are so spread out all over the country.  We believe that Argentina has a huge potential to be able to import at least 10 containers of shoeboxes.  In order for that to happen, we are making adjustments to the team here.

Please pray for:

     1. Recruiting meetings that will take place tomorrow at 10 o'clock in the morning and at 7 o'clock in the  
         evening.
     2.  A good cross section of people who will come to the vision casting meetings, especially those with the
         gifts and talents to lead our team.
     3. For David, Pablo and I as we make contact with these people and are sensetive to the direction of the
        Spirit as we interact with people tomorrow.
    4. For a team to be named before we leave on Thursday.
    5. For God's blessing and intervention in the importation of the boxes.

Thank you for your prayers! I am delighted and thrilled by your participation in our ministry here!

Have a God filled day!
Bill

Finch Prayer Team Insider Report #4

Dear Prayer Team,

     Thank you for your prayer support during this week.  Our training sessions were wonderfully blessed by God in many ways.  Let me share a few with you

     1. My co-workers David and Pablo did a phenomenal job in their training sessions.  Their experience and wisdom in the ministry of Operation Christmas Child was invaluable to the team and for me.
     2. God is building a wonderful sense of camaraderie among this young team.  We do not take this lightly as we know how hard this is to achieve.  The individuals on the team come from different denominational backgrounds and some even from different social-economic backgrounds. But God has formed a team of people who like to be together!
     3. Perhaps the most exciting 'God moment' we experienced the last few days was how He brought to the team a Consignee to partner with us in the importation of the shoe boxes into the country. The director of this  organization has had a wonderful ministry of serving the poor of this country for many years. They do evangelistic campaigns and have a radio ministry.  Their director said to our team yesterday, "This is God's time for the children of Paraguay."  He asked forgiveness for concentrating so much on ministering to adults and ignoring the needs of children.  There is a growing awareness on our team of the great challenge before them to reach this generation of kids for Christ. 
     4. Please pray for the Paraguay team now that they have received the instruction on how conduct the ministry.  I know that some left the meeting today wondering how they were going to put it all together. We have all the confidence in God that they have the gifting and desire to impact this nation for the Lord. 

     Tomorrow is a new chapter on this trip, at 5:00pm we travel over to Argentina where there is a different set of challenges awaiting us there.  I will send you more information about that tomorrow.  

     You are a huge blessing to me!  Thank you so much for praying for me, I appreciate greatly the relationship I have with you through many years of serving the Lord together.  

In His love and for His Glory,

Bill 

Finch Prayer Team Insider Report #3

We have begun our training sessions with the Paraguay NLT! David and Pablo are doing a great job teaching! Continue to pray for the national leadership team as they absorb all the information they are receiving.

Thank you for praying! Our team and I really appreciate your dedication!

Yours in Christ,

Bill Finch

Finch Prayer Team: Insider Prayer Bulletin #2

Hello, Prayer Team

Thank you for your prayers as I travelled.  It was interesting when I arrived in the Sao Paulo, Brazil airport and waiting for the next flight to Paraguay.  As I was standing there, a couple came up to me and began asking me questions.  I also try and blend in when I travel but leaving in Calgary must have made me a little more 'white' because they were asking me questions in English.  They are from Lansing, Michigan and they have a son who is working for the US Peace Corp.  As we talked I understood that they were Christians and concerned for their son who had not found friends or a church to attend.  They asked me if I knew anyone.  I gave them some ideas and some possible connections their son could make.

Tomorrow we begin our three day seminar on the ingredients of a National Leadership Team.  We will begin each session praying together and looking into God's Word.  Then we will dive in.  I believe I told you that this is a brand new team, therefore they will now learn the details of what it is they are going to be doing as a team and as individuals on the team. Here is what you can pray for tomorrow:

     1. A growing sense of team unity
     2. Pray for clarity for me as I explain these things in Spanish, which is a little rusty these days.
     3. Pray each team member as they hear about their responsibilities that they do not get too overwhelmed.
     4. For our leadership team (Pablo, David, and I) that we will use the time wisely to build relationships
         with our colleagues.

Pray for Deb and Erin as I am away, Deb is getting into her new job and Erin just began a new job yesterday!

God bless you,

Bill

Finch Prayer Team: Insider Prayer Bulletin #1

Thank you for your willingness to uphold this ministry in prayer.  We know that without prayer nothing on God's agenda will succeed.  You have been an important part of my life and ministry and for that reason I am so glad that I can share with you some things that are personal and close to my heart.

Let me share with you what my ministry is all about, in case you are unaware.  I am sure you are familiar with the domestic side of Operation Christmas Child, your church probably collects these boxes every year.  You perhaps have packed several yourself over the years.  My ministry has to do with the international side of the ministry.  I colaborate with National Leadership Teams in the distribution of shoe boxes to needed kids. But it is much more than meeting the physical needs of children, it has to do with meeting their spiritual needs. At every distribution event the gospel of Jesus Christ is shared clearly. For that reason we say that every shoe box that is packed is a gospel opportunity.

On this trip to Paraguay and Argentina, I will be working with brand new National Leadership Teams.  In the case of Paraguay, the last trip I made there we interviewed candidates and named people to the 6 positions that comprise that team.  On this trip we will begin the process of training this team to receive boxes, hold distribution events and to disciple those kids who make a decision for Christ.

In the case of Argentina, we are consolidating a new team. The meetings that we will have there from September 9-13 will be for the purpose of recruiting people to form that team.

Here are some prayer requests:

1. For safety as I travel today, I leave Calgary at 5:00pm Mountain Time and arrive in Paraguay tomorrow at 4:15pm local time there.
2. We will begin our retreat with the new team in Paraguay starting Thursday going through to Saturday.
3. Also pray that the Lord will use me to encourage our new team in Paraguay.
4. Also, pray that I would have alertness and sensetivity as I lead the retreat.
5. For the Paraguay team as the assimiliate all the material that we will share with them over the next few days
6. For my co-workers, David and Pablo, as they lead different seminars.

I will be sending more prayer requests as things move along over the next few days. Thank you again for joining together with me in this wonderful ministry.

Your Co-Worker in Christ,

Bill Finch
bfinch@samaritan.ca
finch1959@gmail.com

PRAYER LETTER OF BILL AND DEB FINCH – JULY 2012

Dear Friends, In E.M. Bounds book, “The Necessity of Prayer”, the author states, “When we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we are, in a measure, shutting tomorrow out of our prayer. We do not live in tomorrow but in today. We do not seek tomorrow’s grace or tomorrow’s bread. They thrive best, and get most out of life, who live in the present. They pray best who pray for today’s needs, not for tomorrow’s…” God presently is blessing our lives with the privilege of serving the church in Latin America through Operation Christmas Child and Samaritan’s Purse. We feel so humbled to travel and interact with Pastors and church leaders who desire to reach the children of their nation with the gospel of Christ. How blessed we are!

In the last couple of months we have made visits to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. In Argentina, my co-worker David Ruiz and I were interviewed on a Christian television program in which we were invited to share the vision of Operation Christmas Child. On that program the viewers were invited to send us inquiries through email. It is very evident from those emails that there is great interest across the country from churches to become involved in the ministry. We also met with 17 people who also have expressed interest to participate. Please pray that God will give us wisdom as we develop a National Leadership Team to carry out the ministry in Argentina. There are many obstacles that we are facing there from a governmental point of view but we are confident that the Lord will enable us to overcome.

In Paraguay we were assigned the task of naming a new National Leadership Team. I had a particular challenge in even getting into the country as I needed a visa to enter. I did not know that and so showed up at the Buenos Aires airport ready to board the plane but could not because of the visa problem. I spent the next day running around the city trying to get a visa and rescheduling my flight. Thankfully it was all resolved and I was able to get to Asunción. We spend the next few days interviewing candidates and with much prayer we were able to name a team before we left the country. Please pray for this team as they get up and running. David and I are scheduled to return in September and participate in their team retreat to encourage them and to develop a strategic plan for the next few years.

Dedicating new NLT Coordinator

Our Uruguayan team is also facing some changes. Our National Team Coordinator was wearing many hats and so we needed to relieve some of the stress he was under. God went before us and has been preparing another team member to take the Coordinator’s mantel as we move forward. The team was challenged to develop more Regional Teams to expand the ministry more aggressively. This team accepted the challenge and is moving forward with this initiative.

Family wise we are doing very well. God has led us to a local church where we feel comfortable and are growing in the Lord. It is really tough, tougher than it appears, to go from the pulpit to the pew. But we have developed some good relationships with our small group and are beginning the process of becoming members of the church.

We discovered where Spruce Meadows is located and have been there a couple of times enjoying the equestrian events there as well as the summer weather. Deb and Erin are both gainfully employed. We are enjoying the summer weather (finally arrived in Alberta, we thought it would never get here!). Thank you for praying for us! God has been faithful. We are learning much about our walk with God, our work for God, and the wonder of knowing Him. It is a privilege to serve Him where He has called us to be. If we can pray for you or be an encouragement to you we would love to hear from you.

Serving the Lord for His glory, 
Bill and Deb Finch
finch1959@gmail.com
Home: 587-360-0030
Office: 1-800-663-6500 ext. 8613

March 9, 2012

Sharing the Gospel through a Shoe Box

The last couple of weeks I have been on a huge learning curve as God has lead me to work with Operation Christmas Child, which is a ministry of Samaritan's Purse (http://www.samaritanspurse.ca).

As we travelled today from our staff retreat in North Carolina, we made a pit stop at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte.  I must say that if you are ever in that part of the United States you need to stop there.  What a wonderful legacy Billy has left for the rest of us who follow him.  He followed Jesus Christ with all of his heart, I would even say that he has lived his life to exalt Jesus.  I feel so privileged to be a part of that legacy as I begin to interact with folks in Latin America.  This trip is a result of Billy's obedience to the call of God in his life.

It reminds me that all of us are now building a legacy for others to follow. 1 Corinthians 3 talks about how church builders construct the people of God (His temple).  With what kind of material are will building, something that will last forever (gold, silver, precious stone) or that which is here today and gone tomorrow (wood, hay, stubble)? 

Thank you for your prayers and joining me in this God-given ministry!

Delight in the Lord

Psalm 37:4,"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart," is a verse that I have quoted often in my life.  Usually I do so trying to twist God's arm to give me the my desires that are not necessarily his.  Many times those desires did not line up with what God was trying to teach me at the time.  Some were very legitimate desires, desires of service, but God was teaching me patience and more importantly, teaching me other valuable and vital character lessons that were much more important than the desires I was expressing. 

I have often been frustrated in my Christian life because I felt that verses like Psalm 37:4 were not really true in the practical sense of the word.  "This is a fine verse for those who get what they want but what about the rest of us?" I would say to myself and the Lord.  But I have come to understand in experience of living and trusting God that the Lord does indeed have His own timetable.

The most valuable lessons that I have been learning in my Christian walk is that God is constantly teaching me character lessons way before He shows me what He actually wants me to do for Him.  Many times, I found myself trying to twist my wife's arm to convince her of what I thought was God's will.  How strange for a Christian man, a pastor even, to go against the teaching of 1 Peter 3:1-6 and still expect God to honour his desires?  God wanted me to learn to walk in harmony with my 'helper that is fit for me' before I could ever hope to have my desires fulfilled.

Christian husbands need to learn to listen to their wives.  We are so busy most of the time trying to tell our wives that they need to submit to us, while we forget that there is a mutual submission that the Apostle Paul talks about that is just as valid as the submission that the wife is to give to the husband.  Wives do have a sixth sense about things, they do have a sense of spirituality and intuition that we men lack in a big way.  I needed to learn that lesson.

God, through His Spirit, has put into my spiritual DNA, the desire to serve Him.  That is first and foremost.  Our spiritual desires to please God and serve God come from God.  Therefore, we must wait for God to bring all the strands together.  We should not force situations or persons to do what we want.  We must be humble enough to see God's timing in each and every circumstance.  There is a reason for the 'no' answer you maybe receiving from God.  We need to be attentive to what the Lord wants to teach us at that moment because it will prepare us for what lies ahead.

To serve God is the greatest privilege that you and I will ever have! It is my prayer that wherever you are in your spiritual walk that you let God be God and learn the lessons he has for you at this particular moment in time.

For God's Glory,
Bill