By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO
You may not realize how many men and women there are, who served God’s people faithfully across the years, and now find themselves struggling to meet even their basic needs of food, medicine and electricity. Most of these ministers served in small, rural churches that paid them very modest salaries and could not afford to contribute toward their retirement. In many instances they had to work extra jobs just to make ends meet.
Mission:Dignity™ is the name GuideStone Financial Resources, formerly the Annuity Board, SBC, has given that part of its mission which provides critical financial assistance to thousands of retired ministers and their widows across the nation for housing, food and medications, while seeking to ensure a well-deserved dignity and independence. And 100% of your gifts go to help someone in need with nothing taken out for administrative expenses.
You will be pleased to know your Kentucky Baptist Foundation partners with GuideStone in supplementing those Mission:Dignity recipients living in Kentucky. This supplement is provided from the earnings of the Baptist Minister’s Aid Endowment Fund, which was established 122 years ago.
You can participate in this important “relief” ministry by sending a designated gift directly to GuideStone and/or to the KBF. Your gift can be in the form of a check, appreciated assets like stocks or real estate, a beneficiary designation of life insurance or retirement account and/or a bequest in your will.
For more information about this ministry and how you can support it click on www.missiondignitysbc.org, call toll free 1.888.984.8433 or call me toll free at 1.866.489.3421.
What an opportunity to assist a generation of God called servants, who loved their churches, and their churches loved them, but for whom planning for the future was not emphasized when they began serving. They went into the ministry with no turning back. They trusted the Lord to provide, and they put the needs of their churches first. Now they need and deserve our help. Let Mission:Dignity Sunday, June 24, be the day you decide to help.
The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.