‘And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned...” (Mark 16:15-16)’.
Jesus is telling his disciples to get into action.  They are to, ‘Go’.  As His disciples, we also are to get into action - men and women getting out the Word of God to a needy world.  By the way, Jesus is not saying here that that if you are not baptized you will be condemned, but rather that the person who is, ‘saved’ will be baptized.  It is the rejection of Jesus Christ which brings eternal condemnation - “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36).
So hear we see a direct call into action.  It’s a strange world we live in isn’t it - in Mark we see a call to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature; it’s a command from the King, and yet so few people really get this.  We live in a world today which responds to every good cause and need as it arises.  Individuals and nations will dig deep into their pockets to fund these good works.  It is wholly right to help those in need, but the irony is that so few will, ‘dig deep’ to see the gospel preached to every creature.  There is something about, ‘good works’ that attracts us and if we are honest, makes us feel better when we respond to the earthquake, the tsunami, flooding, famine etc.  
But should we not be looking at the multi-millions that are going to hell without Christ as well as feeding the poor and looking after the disadvantaged?  
I personally struggle with the common approach to, ‘mission’, whether it be to the world or closer to home in our own locality.  Let me give you an example of what I am talking about - here are two options of, ‘Mission’:
1.  Heading off to a poor community in a far-off nation, to build a school and set up a food station and medical centre for the starving people that live there.  This will bring much needed relief and a hope for the future (temporal).
2.  Going to Macedonia to preach the Gospel; to see souls won for Jesus Christ in line with Mark 16:15-16.  This will bring much needed relief and a hope for the future (eternal).
Which option are you attracted to?  Which option would you be willing to support?  Which option would you actively help to raise funds for?
Do you see what I mean?  Many will go for Option 1.  Option 1 type ‘mission’ pulls at our heart strings; we can see a, ‘result’ for our efforts; it just feels right to do this and help others less fortunate than ourselves.  This social gospel, well, it just makes us feel good, doesn’t it?  
Sadly the, ‘social gospel’, defined as, ‘good works’, is undermining the, ‘preaching of the gospel’.  I’m not suggesting that we should not care for the sick and needy; those that are suffering and in extreme poverty and distress, but have we forgot to preach the gospel?  There are so many within our communities and nations that do not hear the gospel preached; even in our churches this is so.  When did you last hear a wholly evangelistic message, about the Christ who saves to the uttermost?  When did you hear a message preached warning about, ‘the road to hell’ and the need to be, ‘born again’?  When did you hear a message about, ‘the return of Jesus’?  When did you witness a, ‘call for salvation’?
There is a sense that if we aline ourselves with poverty and suffering we are being, ‘Christlike’ and doing, ‘mission.  Generally, the Church is pretty comfortable with this and doing, ‘seeker services’, or talking about showing, ‘the love of Christ’ in the way we live (whatever that means), but as every day goes by, more and more of our friends, family, neighbours, villages, towns, cities and nations are hell bound.  
You are probably thinking now that I am pretty extreme in my viewpoint.  Well I can live with that, Jesus was somewhat extreme in His views as well.  I have a heart that is burdened for the lost and as Paul was, I am compelled to preach the gospel (I Corinthians 9:16) to see them saved.  At this moment in time there is a great danger that my travels into other countries to preach the gospel are threatened due to a lack of financial resources.  In October I travel to Timisoara for a, ‘preaching the gospel’ mission with the Luis Palau Association.  After that the pot is empty.  Missions are being planned for Macedonia in November and next year to Romania and other nations.  Without God filling, ‘the empty pot’ (2 Kings 4:1-7) this will not take place.  All this work needs financial input.
There are fantastic things happening in our own nation that Gail and I are involved with, some of which you can read about here, however prayer and financial support is vital for this to continue and grow.
Supporting the preaching of the gospel:
I thank those who have been praying for us and I thank those of you who have given financially as well - bless you.
 
If you want to financially support the preaching of the gospel, there are two simple ways to help me.
No. 1:  For all mission work that I do with the, ‘Luis Palau Association’ (Romania, Macedonia etc) you can send a cheque to (make cheques payable to ‘LPEA’) and send it to:
Luis Palau Association
Bushell House
118 to 120 Broad Street
Chesham
Bucks
HP5 3ED
 
Put a note along with your cheque saying that your gift is for Alan’s mission fund.  It would be helpful if  you also send me an email of your intent please.  LPA are a registered charity and therefore Gift Aid can be claimed on your donation. You can either make a one-off gift or you can set up a monthly Standing Order as others have done - this is a great way to give as it allows for planning of missions.  This can be a personal gift or via you business; whatever works best for you.
 
No. 2:  If you would like to support Gail and me in our other ministry activities, please send me an email and I can let you know how best to do this.  
 
Please let me know if you are not already involved in prayer support and would like to be.
 
I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Thank you so much for your support.
 
God bless you
 
Alan