Legacy Planning – A Message from the President
Dear Ministry Partners,
I pray that you are doing well. In my Bible reading I came across a gold nugget that I wanted to share with you. Psalms 145:4 says, “One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your might acts.” The NLT says, “Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power.”
That is a wonderful thought. When Joyce and I started Siloam Missionary Homes in 1992, I began to journal our experiences. I wrote often about God’s faithfulness and how He provided people along the way to make this campus what it is today. What a blessing to read those journals and see not only the things we were praying for, but also how God chose to answer them. When I give tours of Siloam it brings back memories of why we built each home. All of the buildings and places are named after people that were involved in a particular project. We did this so future generations will be able to carry with them the legacy of how God used people. Now that Siloam is 27 years-old we are seeing the next generation bring their children and grandchildren to see this place.
Why is Siloam still needed? Because the missionaries continue to come. Recently a missionary family had to come back to the states unexpectedly due to political unrest. They had just bought new furniture and were making plans to spend the rest of their lives there and were suddenly uprooted. After their return to the states they lived in 17 different places before coming to Siloam! We praise the Lord that we had an open house for them when it was needed. They are just one of the 300+ families from 97 different countries that call Siloam “home.”
The board of directors desires to ensure that we are able to continue to offer these missionaries a place to call home. We praise the Lord that we will be debt free by the end of the year, but time has taken a toll on the buildings and equipment used to maintain this ministry. Over the past few months we have had to replace a roof on the first duplex and several HVAC unites have needed to be replaced or repaired. We continue to make preventive maintenance a priority but that requires a lot of time and money. With that in mind we realize we must also look to the future so we are working on a new 20-year plan that will be unveiled in the fall.
Joyce and I plan, Lord-willing, to continue serving as long as we are in good health, with the support of a great staff and a wonderful board. “Retire,” you say? I don’t see that in the Bible. But I do see the call for discipleship and training and that is what we are doing. You can rest assured that if something was to happen to any of us, the board of directors would continue to lead this wonderful ministry. I pray every day that God will help us carry the legacy of Siloam to the next generation and the next.
I have been blessed through the years by many faithful supporters whose lives came to an unexpected end, and with that, their faithful support to Siloam stopped immediately. In most cases, at the funeral, the children will say dad or mom thought a lot about you and Siloam. But then it’s over. The much-needed support stops. The prayers of the saints stop. And the missionaries suffer.
With this in mind, Siloam has created a Legacy Planning team to address future funding for the ministry. This team of financial and legal experts, who are also believers and supporters of this ministry, are available to work with you to ensure the smooth transition of your estate upon your passing. They will keep your financial information confidential and will not discuss your business with us. Joyce and I are going to be the first to have them help us with our planning.
We are so grateful to each of you and pray that you will seek the Lord regarding including Siloam Missionary Homes in your Legacy Planning to support the ongoing work for generations to come.
Larry and Joyce George