August 01, 1983 by Ralph and Roberta Winter

On Sept. 1st, the final $6 million "balloon" payment on the USCWM campus came due. Since paying $1.5 million as a down payment in 1977 and 1978, we have paid $175,000 every quarter for the last five years at the low interest rate of 8%. The entire balance, however, came due on September 1st. Despite careful and effective plans to enlist the $6 million necessary, all we had on that day was $300,000. As a result, our contract with the former owners shifted us to a much higher interest rate which we had long dreaded. Also the quarterly payments almost doubled.

In a phrase, we are now "out of the frying pan and into the fire!" But the Bible says that fire purifies We believe that God is purifying us. Perhaps He saw that had He given us the $6 million right away, we might have relaxed in our efforts to awaken a million Christians to the cause of the unreached peoples in the world. One thing is clear: God graciously gave us the absolute minimum we needed and thereby left us under the obligation to seek out and give vision!

This is Our Situation

1. Once more God has saved us from foreclosure. In California alone 26 bankruptcies take place every day due to balloon payments! God has protected us from that, for which we are indeed thankful!
2. Yet obviously the doubled payment schedule and the increased interest rate has built a fire under us that is hotter than ever. (We still do not know what the new interest will be. But the former owners do deserve a higher interest rate.)
3. Therefore, we believe God surely wants us to hurry forward with our TOUCH TEN Campaign, which has the.dual purpose of paying our debt and involving a million people in frontier mission concerns.

We Have 90 Days

Only 90 days? Why?

If we are well along toward making the $6 million, the next $300,000 will be simple. It's not the quarterly payments we fear now but the high interest each day brings. We feel God wants us urgently to pay the entire amount as soon as possible.

The response in these last six weeks indicates that people are willing to help and eager to get new hope about the world. We believe God wants us to push forward even harder with our campaign of hope.

We also believe that the sooner we touch a million people with vision, the sooner God will help us complete our balloon payment. The sooner we complete it, the less interest we will have to pay.

Unfortunately, if we simply postpone this $6 million balloon payment for the two years which this new period allows, it will then pile on top of the $3 million we owe for the off campus housing in September of 1985! Obviously it would be very difficult to handle a $9 million payment, even in 1985.

Therefore, NOW is the time to press forward. We have just begun to fight. May God help you as you touch your ten and encourage others to do likewise. May He give you the great joy of seeing new vision born in them. After all, passing on new vision is more Important than money! But DON'T FORGET TO PRAY!

Dear Friend of a Friend

This is Roberta writing. (My husband has the last say on the other side! ) You are one of ten special people whom your friend who sent you this letter prayerfully chose as most likely to understand and appreciate this invitation and hope filled report. P11 plunge right in'

Ours is a strange story of miracle after miracle that God has done, apparently because a few missionaries determined to follow an unusual commission they felt God had given them. At His bidding we have claimed a former college campus (see picture below) to be used exclusively as a center where mission agencies can cooperate together to finish evangelizing the unreached peoples of our world.

At first we had no backing. (Some friends wondered if we were out of our minds ) We had no money, no mailing lists, no staff and no fundraising expertise. What's more, after God miraculously provided our first $850,000 payment, we were convinced He wanted us to fund the entire campus through onetime 'Founders" gifts of $15. 95. Friends told us this plan was suicidel

Yet we knew God did not want us to compete for funds with the very mission agencies we were here to serve. Because we have tried to obey, not only have sufficient funds come in as needed, but hundreds of mission agencies are now our closest friends.

Today, after seven years of miracle after miracle, we still face a final balloon payment of $6 million on a campus worth $20 million. Why do we need a campus? Here are a few of the many things that we are doing here

1. Researching the unreached peoples of the world 300 full time staff, including missionaries from 64 mission agencies, work together, sharing their expertise and knowledge, reaching out to link with Christian leaders in other countries.
2. Launching a global mapping project, involving 7 computer scientists on staff.
3. Dubbing the Jesus film into 32 languages and producing the Narnia cartoons.
4. Publishing Perspectives, the most widely used missions textbook.
5. Providing the only missions course with credit transferable to secular schools.
6. Producing World Christian, the only popular magazine on missions in the U.S.A.
7. As of now, il?ing the only graduate degree program in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) taught by Christians. Its graduates work in 30 countries composed mainly of unreached peoples.
8. Writing the Rjy,Prayer r_Guide for the 17,000 Frontier Fellowship participants.
9. Monitoring the preparation and involvement of thousands of potential candidates.
10. Providing the home base for various strategic mission organizations directed by such people as Ruth Siemens (Overseas Counseling Service), Don McCurry (Samuel Zwemer Institute), Greg Livingstone (Frontiers, formerly NAM Associates) and Don Richardson, author of Peace Child.

How Do Christian Leaders Feel About the U.S. Center for World Mission?

From the very beginning Billy Graham has been behind us. In a recent personal letter to Ralph he said. You are often in my thoughts and prayers. There is no one whose ministry I have admired are!" And there are others: Bill Bright. Jack Hayford, David Howard. Chuck Smith, Donald McGavran. Don Gilt, Cordon McDonald. Robertson McQuilkin. They all know us and are behind us. Ask them!

Or take Dr. Jack Frizen, head of the oldest association of mission agencies, the IPMA. After visiting our campus, he said, "I had no idea of all you are doing. The Lord won't let you lose this campus; it is just too important to the cause of missions.

Why did your friend send you this invitation? No doubt for the same reason we have: to ask for your help (my side of this paper), and to offer you b,22 my husbands side). Even though we accept whatever God sends us as from His loving Hand, we do not ask for more than 515.95 from anyone. The 95 cents pays for the things we send you (see over) The rest the entire $l5  goes toward the final $6 million campus payment.

September 1st is almost here. To make our payment we need 400,000 new friends. Is that possible' Yes. Is $15.95 from each one enough? Yes. But it will be another, miracle from God. Is it worth $15.95 to you to see this important mission center survive? "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him ' (1 Car. 2:9). Join us in God's miracle!