Dec. 1, 2003

Dear Partners in Ministry,

Karen and I are at peace with the decision to continue with the ministry of Real Men of Integrity. Steve unexpectedly came home for Thanksgiving. It is rare to have all three boys travel with us during a holiday.

The weekly Thursday prayer times, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., have been encouraging. Various leaders have joined Steve Janovec and me to pray for unreached people and biblical unity across racial and denominational lines.

There are four couples in the marital intimacy class. Karen and I have never observed such hunger to learn and openness in sharing after only two weeks.

We have added a pastor to our board, Brian Heinen of Central Church, who is also active in the Thurs. weekly prayer times. My board is currently working on a strategic business plan for Real Men. I also emailed a proposal to publish the “Journey to Make God's Story Ours” to a literary agent several weeks ago.

The following gives a brief outline of the need for small group discipleship:

Need for Small Group Discipleship

Many churches around the world are taking seriously the mandate of Christ to make disciples in all the nations. One church in Bogota, Columbia started with 12 people and has multiplied to 30,000 cell groups in 12 years through G12 (government of 12).

The need for a comprehensive resource to disciple the unchurched is huge since biblical illiteracy reigns in the U.S. and around the world. The percentage of Christian youth and adults believing in the fundamentals of the faith have declined sharply to 4% and 5% of the total U.S. population, respectively (George Barna newsletter, Apr. 23, 2002).

The U.S. has 180 to 190 million unbelievers and 95 to 100 million unchurched people, according to Barna. Interest among them is strong because the two most important factors in selecting a church for the formerly unchurched were theological beliefs or doctrine (58%) and people caring for each other (53%) (Thom S. Rainer, Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them, 2001).

Prayer Needs:

· Maximum involvement of leaders to the weekly Thurs. prayer times.

· Spiritual and marital intimacy growth among the four couples.

· Wisdom in completing the strategic business plan for Real Men.

· Right literary agent and publishing partner for the Guide discipleship project.