Adopt Our Staff
Agape is a unique mission because it is doing two (2) things at once. We want to be a self-supporting medical center AND do ministry at the “Ends of the Earth”!
Agape has a licensed medical center in Moscow where doctors, dentists, nurses, technicians, and others work and see patients every day.
But it is very difficult to be self-supporting when we are constantly taking our medical staff away on expeditions to the remote parts of Russia!
We also have other staff who are involved only in “ministry.” We provide “space” for them free of charge through our medical center. These are non-medical people who deal with visas, LOI (letter of invitation), registrations, project coordination, airport pick up, repair and maintenance, house-cleaning and evangelism. None of these people work at a job that “generates” income like the medical staff.
What to do? Join our “Agape Russian Family”!
Most everyone knows Dr. Bill and Dr. David, but we have more than 50 Russian staff. These are the people who witness throughout Russia in word and deed.
We are opening a special program called “Adopt-Our-Staff” for people who would like to get better ac- quainted with our Russian staff. We are inviting you to join a special group of people who will help to SEND and encourage our Russian staff in their individual and collective ministries.
In order to “be involved” with this program, we are looking for people who will donate “something” each month to the “Adopt-Our-Staff” program. Think of it as supporting one of your children overseas! In a spiritual sense, they are. The donations for this program will go into a special fund to SEND Russian staff on expeditions, as well as for special staff ministry needs that may arise from time to time.
How will this help Agape’s mission?
Adopting our staff will help Agape in several ways:
- It is not easy to hire good Christian medical people knowing we may have to “fire” them the next month because of faltering cash flow. These regular monthly donations will help to smooth the “roller coaster ride” that we experience from month to month. As a result, this will allow us to hire and “keep” good Christian medical people for the clinic.
- It will allow us to have more medical people for the clinic AND Expeditions. Currently, we must “pull” people from the clinic to go on expeditions, and this is not a good solution. It is not possible to “close” the clinic for two weeks, 4-6 times a year while we go on expeditions. We will loose our regular patients. FYI, all Agape labor contracts contain a clause which requires the staff to go on at least 2 expeditions each year.
- It will free up other Agape funds to buy medicines, eyeglasses, medical supplies, and health kits. Currently, we are not able to do this.
- It will provide more flexibility in our working schedules so that Agape can SEND Russian medical teams to minister in the area near our clinic and work with “local” churches through our “Hands of Love” program. Staff can not physically be in two places at the same time!
- We will be able to add more staff for ministry and evangelism. Currently, our funds provide for salaries for both the clinic and the ministry. Often we must rob Peter to pay Paul. This is not a fair situation.
Your support will be an encouragement to our staff. For many of them, their work with Agape is more than a job, it is a ministry. There are other reasons, also, but the bottom line is that it will allow us to do more ministry by keeping good people and stabilizing our staff need. We pray continually for more “laborers” and especially for Russian “laborers” who are the backbone of our ministry here in Russia.
Would you pray about adopting our Russian staff? They are some of the most precious people you will ever meet. If God leads you to do this, please mark your gifts staff and it will be allocated accordingly. To donate, send your check to the address below or click here.