My dear friends,

Season’s Greetings are in order and let me and my staff extend them to you heartily and sincerely with this letter. Christmas has a special meaning to this ministry since we have a “birthday” each year at this time. This year will mark our 5th birthday on television since our first program was a Christmas Special in 1978. We have made two television programs with footage from past programs—sort of anniversary shows—which some of you have already seen. Thank you, by the way, for your kind responses to those new programs.

You know, it’s a rather melancholy Christmas season in one respect where our ministry is concerned. As I began to write this I had hoped to be able to send a completely cheery letter, but things being as they are, there are matters of some gravity on which we should comment.

You will be seeing that we have discontinued the rest of our series “Yeshua” because we haven’t got the money to produce the rest of the programs. You seem to have expressed your will on this and I have no choice but to follow it. The gifts we have been receiving are not adequate to make new productions and so we’ll go back to reruns even though we unfortunately have excellent footage just waiting on the shelves. It costs some $4,000 per program to make the location footage into proper television shows and you simply haven’t sent enough for us to chance it.

I think I realize what the problem is. Practically every ministry, and especially the larger, wealthier ones, claim to have some sort of crisis all the time. You get tired and bored of putting out all these fires and I don’t blame you. I get tired and bored with it myself. But the difference is, when I tell you that we have a problem I’m telling you the truth. When I said to you last month that the new shows would finally have to stop I meant it. They have now stopped and it is a bit frustrating. We’ll try to produce the rest of the series in the spring if your gifts warrant that. Please know that our hands are simply tied. We must operate with the funds you give us and that’s the only source of funding we have. We’re not kidding when we say that we’re out of money. I have never written anything in any of our publications that does not describe the exact situation of this ministry. I am aware, by the way, of how to do what is being done by the large funding organizations on behalf of others who are teaching the Word. I personally am not able to do that as I am steadily conscious of the fact that I work for the Lord, and I would rather discontinue the new programs instead.

I also said that there would come a day when even the reruns would have to go off the air but I don’t see that happening for quite some time. I’m totally stymied by the sheer numbers of those who we know are watching the program without supporting it. I don’t know quite what to do or say. As I told you, I’m a soldier, not a beggar and I don’t know how to get everyone to do his rightful part. You may have not liked the new programs or perhaps you don’t like the show in general and I have to take that into consideration. But for the second consecutive year we have won the top prize as the best produced religious program series by the International Television and Film Festival of New York, and we have more viewers watching than ever before.

I’m completely puzzled and I don’t have the answer. I do know that quite a few of you have told me that because I spend a minimal amount of time on the program mentioning donations that it is easy to assume that we are well off. I cannot in good conscience begin to use a large portion of our precious airtime in asking for the viewers to support what they are watching. If you’ll pick up on the giving that you may have omitted thus far, we’ll be able to go on with the new programming, but if not, we won’t. It’s as simple as that.

Of course, none of this is addressed to those of you who have given and given in good measure. As a matter of fact, in a way this letter shouldn’t be going out to those who have been helping us but to those who haven’t. There is no way to reach out to those who watch and don’t support us except to say it on television and then when I do mention such a thing, I am criticized. So if God gives a solution to any of you in our family of viewers, please know I am ready and willing to hear ideas.

I’m sorry that all of this came out so negative. I really don’t plan my letters in advance and of course, we have no fund-raising organization to write them for us. I simply tell you what is on my heart and even though this is a Christmas letter and I do send my sincere Christmas greetings, I can only tell you what I am thinking.

Our ministry will not shut down. It will recover slowly by playing reruns and husbanding the available donations very carefully. Not producing the remaining programs of the series will allow us some breathing room to plan for the future, and I really do look forward to a brighter future.

Despite all I’ve said concerning the TV programs, our ministry is in good shape in its other areas. We have sent out some quarter-million books in the past 5 years! We have taken hundreds of people to the Holy Lands and given them the experience of a lifetime. We have taught, we have ministered, we have counseled. People have rededicated their lives and unbelievers have been saved. Truly I can say that with your help we have fought a good fight.

And so “Merry Christmas” to every one of you and may the Lord richly bless you and yours. We’ll be at our posts on your behalf until the King comes and we can hold a proper birthday party for Him!

In His love,