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asking for your help There's an expression in business, "you don't ask, you don't get." I've been thinking a lot about asking, and by that I mean asking for your help. Non-profit organizations like Gesher need the financial support of people like you to carry on the current work and expand into new areas. It's a reality that won't go away. The more I consider that fact, the more I'm glad about it. Why should I be reluctant to ask for your help? Perhaps it's because I don't like what I've seen out there in the "world of charities and ministries." Something inside me cringes when I feel that I've been approached in a sensational way for the sole purpose of soliciting my donation. Yet the other side of me says, "they're just trying to keep their organization afloat." When I have a quandary like this, I turn to the Scriptures.
From this passage, we can see the following principles regarding asking and giving: 1. First, it's not wrong to ask. 2. Second, sometimes it takes some effort to look around for those who may answer and knock on their doors. 3. Third, be specific in your asking. For Gesher, if we need your financial help, we need to ask for it specifically.
From this second passage, I discover a few more principles: 1. First, when your cause is just, it's not wrong to ask for help from anyone who is in a position to help. 2. Second, when you ask for help,both for finances and for prayer, you can't just ask once. Be persistent and don't grow weary asking again and again. 3. Third, asking people for help is
really asking God. People's gifts are the result of God working
upon their hearts compelling them to give. There's another expression--this one from politics--that applies here: "people like to be asked." As I thought about this one, that the politician always needs to remember to ask the voter for his or her vote on Election day, I said to myself, "that's right." If we respect people, we'll respect them enough to specifically ask for their help, that is, let them know that their help can make a difference. So here it is: I need your financial help. Your love and spiritual support for the Beta Yisrael Ethiopians is giving life to those in great need. If you will give to help the work of Gesher in Ethiopia and the world, it will make a difference--you will make a difference:
Please help us reach across the world to find other's like you who will surorund Gesher with both prayer and financial support. Today, please prayerfully consider providing a lifeline of hope for Ethiopian Jews by giving a financial gift to Gesher (make a gift to Gesher's humanitarian and medical work ).
May the Lord bless you from Zion,
Robert Winer, M.D., Gesher President
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