'But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from His sanctuary; my cry to Him reached His ears.'  Psalm 18:6 NLT

Dear Friends,

We are incredibly grateful for the Lord's gracious provision during the past two months.

We looked like being severely overwhelmed by our financial commitments. However in the midst of the economic downturn, many of you prayed as well as gave generously. I was reminded of King David's words: 'But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from His sanctuary; my cry to Him reached His ears.' Psalm 18:6 NLT
Many of you responded to The Hope Project where we aimed to raise $400,000. Although we'd only achieved $300,000 by midnight on the last day of our radio appeal, we declared we would continue to trust the Lord. Well, my friends, I am thrilled that, by the Lord's grace and the generosity of His people, $480,000 was raised in pledges and gifts by June 30! Truly the God we serve not only meets but often exceeds what we ask or hope.

I continue to be truly humbled by the stories of pensioners and others doing it tough who have faithfully sown into this ministry. The spiritual gift of generosity the apostle Paul mentions in Romans 12:8 is very evident in so many of you, our partners.

All of this has meant we have not been forced to reduce any of the ministry projects so strategic to our dream of providing real hope—right when it's needed.
One of the key areas I believe the Lord is using to help UCB's ministry during these uncertain economic times is our Extra Mile Partner programme. We've seen very positive growth in the number of our listeners and readers partnering with us in regular monthly giving. Our goal for the next half of this year is another 500 Extra Mile Partners trusting in the Lord's enabling to support the ministry. It's been over 12 months since your last donation and we know many people with a heart for our ministry and who are willing to support us financially simply get caught up in the busyness of life. By becoming an Extra Mile Partner, your donation happens monthly and automatically. It's so easy to set up and is almost a 'set and forget' commitment. Many people choose to give $1 a day ($31 per month) but what you choose is up to you. Even $5 or $10 a month makes a real difference.
As we approach the major milestone of 500 Vision relay stations, we need to count the costs and be wise stewards of what it takes to keep such a large and growing national ministry successfully operating.
We need on average $10,000 per working day just to pay the operational expenses of Vision, The Word for Today, word4U2day, PrayForMe and UCB Direct. Things like electricity, postage, printing, wages, insurance, repairs and maintenance, as well as vehicles and travel costs to service our far-flung and often remote radio outlets.

We still have many exciting projects and ministry opportunities to explore and undertake to fulfil our dream of providing trusted Christian media for every Australian.
Could I please encourage you again to prayerfully consider becoming an Extra Mile Partner with me and our team? We have a great gift for you for simply signing up. You can change or stop your commitment at any time, so you are not locked in, if your situation changes.

God bless you as you sow faithfully into our ministry and join us in Connecting Faith to Life for real people every day across our country.

In His strong and mighty name

Ian Worby
CEO UCB Australia