“Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days” (Eccl. 11:1).  Planting seed or starting a business involves work and sacrifice to be rewarded when profits are reaped.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  People who donate funds to Help A Neighbor join hands in work and sacrifice, but the rewards are great when we help saints who are in need–saints who also help themselves.

Individual donations to Help A Neighbor are tax deductible because we engage in charitable purposes as defined by the IRS.  We do not solicit or accept donations from churches.

Our main emphasis is on helping saints in the Philippines, especially to build church buildings. This does not exclude charitable endeavors in other places.  For instance, Paul and Missy Ing of Shepherdsville, KY are faithful Christians who have a precious son named Nathan suffering from a virulent form of brain cancer.  A friend wanted to give $1,000 toward relieving some of the medical bills of this good family.  We were delighted to help in this way. 

Since our last report, $6,250 has been given to help Filipino brethren needing church buildings.  In one case, a neighbor who is not a Christian saw the plight of the brethren worshiping under a tree after their little meeting place was destroyed by a typhoon.  The neighbor sold them a barn for a very reasonable price so that they could reuse the materials for a church building.  The preacher ekes out a living for his family by driving a tricycle (a small motorcycle with a side car, which operates as a taxi offering fares for a pittance).  The brethren purchased and dismantled the barn, and reconstructed their church building at Luna, Apayao Province on Luzon Island. This is truly a case of helping saints who help themselves!

It was getting dangerous for the brethren at Cordon, Isabela Province on Luzon to meet in their thirty-year-old building which had been put up with the help of U.S. servicemen.  The wood was rotting and the concrete block was cracking.  Attendance runs about 100.  These brethren scraped together what funds they could and started reconstructing the building.  A building which will withstand storms will cost easily $20,000 and these rural brethren have no hope of raising such an amount.  It has been our privilege and joy to help on this project since July as funds permit.  The brethren wrote they thought of “suspending the construction because of lacking funds” until they received a message that I had wired them additional help.  Let’s press hard to help these brethren who are helping themselves to finish their building!

Since the last report, we helped two preachers with medical bills, provided a motorcycle to a preacher for his work, gave funds for a poor young preacher to bury his mother, and purchased Bible study materials which were distributed from place to place.  They send their love and gratitude for your help!

I am gathering information on the needs of several places for buildings, especially where the brethren have already made a start but lack funds to continue.  I leave tomorrow to preach for three weeks in the Philippines and when I return I hope to begin distributing funds to some of these places.

Some companies match gifts equal to employee donations given to tax-exempt organizations.  One friend contacted us and made a donation which was matched by his employer.  You may be able to do this.

One person alone might be able to give $500 for the needs of brethren, but our combined funds and efforts confirm Solomon’s wisdom: “Two are better than one” (Eccl. 4:9).  All who contribute will receive a financial report and a form to file with taxes for a deduction.  Make checks to Help A Neighbor, Inc. and mail to the address on our letterhead.  Thank you for casting your bread upon the waters!