You may not know what N.E.T.M.A. means, but trust me- you have experienced it! I experienced it as a parent all the time. I’d
be coming home from work and open the front door, only to have one or both of
my high school age daughters running out of it. I’d ask, “Where you going?’ They would shout
back me (never turning around), “Gotta go dad. We’re going away with friends
for the weekend!”
I would continue to the kitchen where I would ask my wife,
the information booth, for the 411. “Are the kids gone for the weekend?” I’d
ask. Christi then would reveal to me the grandiose weekend plans my kids had.
And I had just heard about it a second ago. I then would say it:
NOBODY
EVER
TELLS
ME
ANYTHING
NETMA! This happens
all the time in churches as well. Information is communicated about the church
and yet everyone still wonders why nobody ever told them. So I wanted to let you
know that although March gave us our highest offerings since arriving at our
new location, April has given us some very low offerings. We present our
support trends in each Sunday bulletin as a way of avoiding NETMA.
This, of course, forces us to hold back on what we should be doing. It also puts the staff
at risk with delayed paychecks, which has happened in the recent past. We are
certainly committed to staying within our resources. We are currently trying to
prepare our old trailers to sell so that we could use the funds to put some
signage on our building and to acquire some desperately needed A/V and computer
equipment.
As you know, summer financially hits us hard with everyone
being gone. So I did not want you guys to experience NETMA. We are a spiritual family, which means we “talk”. We communicate,
so that we can do together what cannot be done alone.
I’m committed to keeping you updated so you know where we
stand and the role you might be able to play in moving us forward with faithful
support of our vision.
Pastor Mat
