Well, it seemed big to us anyway!

[Steve & Laura Spinella]

This month we did something that seems especially hard to us, although I'm not sure how you'll feel about it. We released our financial ministry partners from any commitment they might feel to keep funding our ministry. I just wrote all our current ministry partners, but there have also been others who have sustained our ministry, through three sponsoring non-profits, four sponsoring churches, and many years of ministry.

We are very grateful to all these ministry partners. They have sustained our ministry, through good times and hard times, and encouraged our hearts.

I think most supported ministry workers feel this way. It's hard to explain how much it means to have people partnering with us in the ministries to which we've committed ourselves. Launching out to do challenging and uncertain things can be very intimidating. Knowing that people (and churches!) are alongside us encourages us a lot. (The same is true for the non-profit orgs that have hosted our ministries.)

So why are Laura and I releasing our ministry partners? We aren't quitting the ministries to which we are committed--and these emails are part of that, but we are recognizing a few realities that have crept up on us:

-we're getting older,

-our personal finances are stable,

-our ministry commitments are increasingly balanced with other commitments, like family and health,

-we can still do ministry going forward, full-time, part-time, or as volunteers, and

-our sponsoring org, paraclete.net, will still be sponsoring us, although our ability to be reimbursed for expenses or receive personal compensation will drop as our funding drops.

Admittedly, over the years many ministry partners have released us before we released them, and partners always make their own decisions about who they fund, but we want to celebrate them (you?!) all, while we're still around to celebrate. Still, in almost every case we invited their (your) partnership, and in view of the factors above, we felt it appropriate to also intentionally release them (you) as partners!

Over the years we often reflected on this question: What is most likely to keep us from continuing the work to which we are committed? Almost always, the top answer was sustaining our internal motivation and resilience. However, this was only true because of our faithful ministry partners!

Everyone who cares about us, works alongside us, prays for us, encourages us, and so on also sustains us. But guess what? The people who have partnered financially in our ministry do all those things too, and they don't forget us because, you know, "where your money is, there goes your heart!"

Would you join me in celebrating what God has done through these special people and churches? Will you lift them up before God as they continue to make decisions going forward about where to put their money--and their hearts?! Thank you.

And as we head into a New Year, thanks to you all for every way in which you have journeyed with us, come alongside us, cared for us, challenged us, hosted us, and sustained us in this ministry journey, which is not yet done--for any of us!

With love in the one who keeps us, Steve and Laura

PS Just to be clear, we're not retiring just yet, just talking about a rather big and perhaps unusual step in our ministry :-). And our biggest fear is that opening our hands this way will lead to a loss of relationships, which we value so highly. So please know that we invite you to stay connected with us!

Also, if you are still motivated to contribute to our ministry, we (and Paraclete) will welcome your gifts, and seek to use them fully, carefully, and well. 

And here's a picture of us in all our senior glory ;-).

Steve and Laura Spinella

US: 1930 Springcrest Rd, CO Springs 80920

mail: 9685 Otero Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80920

Steve cell 719.355.4809, Laura cell 832.755.4261
<steves...@gmail.com> <

lauras...@gmail.com>