A Sincere Letter from My Heart to Yours

Dear Friends,
Hello and warm greetings in Jesus, Lord of the Church and of the University. We sincerely hope you are prospering in the fruit of the Spirit. In this letter the Anchor board and I want to ask you to consider financially supporting this ministry. We are currently underfunded by about $400 per month, even after we reduced the budget. We trust that our regular updates give you a sense of confidence in the Anchor vision and goals, and of the Lord's impetus behind us.

Over the past 5-6 years, since we have assumed the leadership of Anchor Ministries, God has given us a positive rapport with a growing number of Christian churches, ministries and families who share our vision and passion for engaging Muslim people with the transforming gospel of Jesus Christ. As a result, some have joined with us financially as missionaries to the Muslim community--in the local neighborhoods and the universities. We hope you will too. We have much work to do, and this requires your resources.

Some churches and families have invited us to visit and/or speak, or to do ministry training of some kind. Many others have sent volunteers to participate in our frequent, local outreach activities. And some have encouraged us in other ways, as you have done. Thank you for that. We hope to be an encouragement to you as well, and we consider ourselves a valuable kingdom resource to you and your church. We think of ourselves as a portal to you and what God is doing in the Detroit-area Muslim community. Please help us fulfill this strategic role by investing in Anchor Ministries.

Through Anchor and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship with which we partner, we are very intentional about developing a vital network of God's people who are missional and want to see Muslims wrestling with the claims of the gospel (which always happens when a person really considers them). We believe we have an important role in helping less missional churches and families become more missional in their daily faith and practice. This is relevant for reaching Muslims in the neighborhoods and on college campuses, as well as for ordinary Americans living among their ordinary American neighbors (as though anybody is really "ordinary"). We want to see local churches and saints like you engaging real people on all levels, both evangelistically and holistically.

Well, Muslims are people too. They represent the "nations" of the world that we read about in Scripture, from Genesis through Revelation. And God has a great passion to reach them. In America, they are living among us and attending our universities in growing numbers. And like our ancestors did, they are becoming Americans. We all know there are barriers we must overcome to do reach them meaningfully with the gospel. Perhaps for you the best way to do that is by funding a ministry like Anchor.

Let me be honest: partnership and fund-development is no easy task for "home missionaries", especially to Muslims in the United States. (Some of the larger missions organizations do not even appoint missionaries here; America is not even a "field" to them.) ...Why? Some churches and Christian people are enthusiastic about sending missionaries to Muslims in their native countries on other continents (e.g. Lebanon, India, Iraq) but much less comfortable with the reality that God has brought them to America now too (see Acts 17:26,27).

Many people fear them, especially on American soil! It is very challenging to help people think biblicallly about this, to adjust their attitudes and work through their fears. But that is a part of what Anchor must do. (Having said that, this doesn't mean that we want to eliminate or even minimize the very real concerns that Islamic ideology presents to the nation and the Church. Rather, we want to foster perspectives recognizing the complex facets of this complex reality.) Some who have adopted such perspectives--or who are in the process of doing so--already partner with us financially, or with a similar ministry. But our current base of support is not completely sufficient, and there is always "attrition".

We remind ourselves often that our Sovereign God is our full Sufficiency...and yet He uses means. These come through churches like yours and people like you. Presently, much of our finances come from outside of the Dearborn/Detroit area that have embraced a like passion to make Jesus an issue for every Muslim, for the joy and deliverance of those held in bondage to Islam. This is our mission. And we're are asking you to support us in it. We invite you to embrace this unique kingdom opportunity.

Please reply to this letter. We would like to arrange a time to meet with you to discuss this further. We would love to have you over for dinner, or treat you to a Middle Eastern feast at a local Arabic restaurant. We can also visit you in your home if you prefer. If you're satisfied with what you know about the mission and vision of Anchor already, we invite you to pledge your support at the following address. If for some reason this is not feasible, we urge you to continue praying for the Cherry family and this ministry. *Our 2009 Ministry Goals Statement is also in this blog, which you can read by scrolling down to the entry below. Thank you again for your prayers and your prayerful consideration of this request.

If you sometimes think that it is impossible to lead Muslim people to Christ, you are partly right. The gospel is foolishness to those who do not yet believe. It is always a miracle when any person--of any nation or ethnicity--is rescued from the bondage of darkness into His marvelous light. We must remind ourselves that God loves the glory of the impossible! (the motto of the Legacy Conference that we are helping to organize, June 17-20).

Sincerely, Scott Cherry
and Anchor Board
313.485.7153
anchorcherry@aol.com

*To make monthly pledges or one-time contributions, please send checks to Anchor Ministries at this address: 6142 McGuire, Taylor, MI, 48180. Automatic bank payments are welcome. Again, thanks for undergirding our ministry in prayer and learning more about God's heart to redeem Muslim people for Christ. We pray that you will be encouraged by our reports, and please let us know how we can pray for you.