The Most Important Letter

May 2001

Dear Friends,

As indicated on the envelope, this may be the most important monthly letter I have written in the 24-year history of Focus on the Family. The reason is two-fold. The first is to share something dramatic that happened during our broadcast in March, when we were honored to have Dr. Bruce Wilkinson as our guest. He was here to talk about his book, The Prayer of Jabez, and to help us apply that passage of Scripture to our personal lives. The prayer is found in 1 Chronicles 4:10 and reads:

"Oh that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" (NKJV)

As Dr. Wilkinson and I talked about each believer asking God to expand his or her territory and to help us live a holy life, Bruce suddenly turned the discussion from generalities to specifics. He challenged me and the Focus on the Family staff to extend our reach to every country on earth. We are now operating (or are heard) in 98 nations, which is about half of those existing in the world. Dr. Wilkinson said that our ministry is uniquely positioned to penetrate every culture, and to take the gospel of Jesus Christ and a message of hope to hurting families everywhere.

What occurred next in our discussion was unexpected and deeply moving. The Spirit of the Lord seemed to descend on our studio, touching Gary Bender and me, the technicians, and all the observers in the gallery. Each of us was aware that something very unusual was taking place. Clearly, we were being urged, not by Bruce Wilkinson but by the God we serve, to expand our vision and broaden our horizons as never before. Not so coincidentally, members of both our U.S. and Canadian boards of directors, along with Focus on the Family Canada President Dr. Darrel Reid, arrived here in Colorado Springs that afternoon for our winter meetings, and they also caught the spirit of the moment. As we discussed the following day what had happened in the studio, we again felt the leading of the Lord to expand our outreach, not just internationally, but also to families with whom we have not yet made the greatest impact. There were moist eyes in the boardroom during that very meaningful day.

There have been only two occasions in the history of Focus on the Family when I felt this urgency from the Lord. The other dates back to the beginning of the ministry, when the plight of unborn children was heavy on my heart. That was early in the pro-life movement when few evangelical leaders or churches were talking about the tragedy of abortion. The Catholic Church stood almost alone in its defense of the innocent during that era. But the Lord was clearly talking to me about it. Whenever I would try to explain my concern for babies, I felt a wave of sorrow. There were times when I found it difficult to continue speaking. This is why I have done everything I could in the intervening years to give a voice to the voiceless. I will do that until my days are over, or until unborn babies are again safe in their mothers’ wombs.

The Prayer of Jabez has again elicited that sense of urgency in my heart. It is my great desire to introduce more people to scriptural principles of child-rearing and family living, but especially, to reach those who have no knowledge of Jesus Christ. Ministering to families opens the door to the Creator of the family. Given the intensity of that mission, I am convinced that the Lord would have us think bigger — not smaller — at this stage of our history.

Therefore, our U.S. executive team, consisting of 16 vice presidents and three executive vice presidents, met for a retreat a few days ago to clarify what we believe God is calling us to do. We began with a season of prayer and Scripture reading, which led to a wonderful sense of oneness and unity.

Here is the direction we now feel led to pursue, in keeping with the wishes of our board of directors. If the Lord is truly in this initiative and if His people send the resources to make it possible, Focus on the Family will be expanded to reach not only the remaining nations of the world, but also three other constituencies domestically. They are:

• The very young family, many of whom don’t know about Focus on the Family. We ask for your help in telling them we are here.

• Minority families, emphasizing ministry efforts that reflect our ethnic diversity.

• The "Internet family," consisting of those who have questions and needs that are not being met. (I’ll explain more about that in a moment.)

Assignments have been given to various executives at Focus on the Family to develop plans by which these objectives can be reached. They are working on the details now.

Where will the resources come from to meet this challenge? I don’t know. I hope you will help. As of this moment, however, we have our hands full trying to support the 82 ministries presently in operation. Why then are we optimistic about this new challenge? Because we are convinced that the Lord is leading us to trust Him for the increase.

That brings us to the second reason I have written this letter, which may seem contradictory to the first. Only time will tell. It concerns a striking change that is occurring in the funding of this ministry. Since we began our radio broadcast on March 26, 1977, the backbone of our support has come from relatively small gifts sent by many friends and partners. These contributions have ranged from $10 to $40, often accompanying a request for a book or tape, or from someone seeking advice and counsel. The average person in those days included two such contributions per year, which provided the financial support for us to reach out to millions of people who had nothing to share. There were some larger gifts too, but it was many smaller ones that kept us afloat.

Beginning early in 2000, however, we began seeing a significant decrease in the amount of personal letters and telephone calls coming to the ministry. It was a curious and somewhat perplexing development, because there was no easy explanation for what was happening. We saw no surge in criticism or dissatisfaction that would account for perhaps 10 percent of our friends simply disappearing. I mentioned the situation on the radio last August and again last November, expressing confusion about what was occurring.

Now, nine months later, the picture has finally been clarified: many people who used to call or write are turning instead to our Web site for answers, materials and information. More than 40,000 people log on to our site every day. These are not just "hits" in the usual definition of the word, where one person can register a large number of responses. They represent individual visitors who browse through the various categories and stay with us for up to 16 minutes or longer at a time. How exciting it is to know that over 200,000 people per week, or 800,000 per month and 9,600,000 per year, are finding family-related support and advice on our site.

Not only is it encouraging to have so many people turning to us, but responses to our Web site, www.family.org (www.fotf.ca for the Focus Canada site), have doubled in the past year. That site is now one of the largest sponsored by a Christian ministry. Consider the chart below, which depicts the number of people who have signed up for our CitizenLink newsletter via our Web site this past year. The letter is a byproduct of our CitizenLink Web site which provides up-to-date information on the struggle to defend morality and family values in the United States. The site can be accessed by going to www.CitizenLink.org.

CitizenLink E-Mail Members

When a major issue in public policy occurs, or when a popular broadcast is aired, the responses from our listeners go through the roof. The point is that we now know where some of the mail and calls to Focus on the Family have gone. They (you) are coming to us through a different medium, and we are able to minister and assist with new electronic tools. That is very good news, and we are thankful for it.

There is a downside to this changing pattern, however. Whereas people who contact us directly often send small contributions, as described above, those who consult our Web site do so less often. Those smaller gifts are the life-blood of this ministry. Therefore, it doesn’t take an accountant to predict where that trend will lead. If it continues, we will have to make some significant changes in the days ahead. We are prepared to do that if necessary, but I felt it was my obligation to share the situation with those who have stood with us through the years. Ultimately, the ministry belongs to the Lord, and He will bring the resources we need. If He doesn’t, we should be doing something else.

This fine organization, which God has clearly ordained, now consists of 82 separate projects ranging from radio broadcasts reaching 200,000,000 people per day, the creation of Adventures in Odyssey programs and other materials for children, a hotline for pastors, a counseling service for troubled families, a Focus on the Family Institute for outstanding college students, an array of activities produced by our women’s ministry, a Focus Over Fifty ministry, the creation of books, tapes, videos and radio drama programs, and many other services too numerous to describe here. If they are to continue, and indeed, if they are to expand according to the prayer of Jabez, the support we have known must be re-established. I ask you to pray for the Lord’s direction and blessing as we consider these programs and where we will take them in the days ahead.

Those of you who have followed this ministry for years know that it is rare for me to make an appeal of this nature. In fact, I’ve never written a letter like this one, and I don’t intend to repeat it. We are prepared to accept the outcome, whatever it might be. If you feel impressed to help us financially at this point, your participation will be deeply appreciated. I am not speaking, however, to those of you who have no discretionary income, or to those who haven’t met your obligations to your local churches. We never want this ministry to be in competition with those who are doing the work of the kingdom on a local level.

Either way, we ask that you pray for us at this time. We are at a crossroads that will determine where we go from here.

God’s blessing to you all.

James C. Dobson, Ph.D.
President

P.S. What would be especially helpful and encouraging is for a large number of our contributors to sign up for what is called "Friends of the Family." This provides an easy way for those who wish to give to the ministry on a monthly basis. These funds will help us meet the needs of those who ask us for assistance, including many who are unable to support our outreach financially. One method of doing this is through "electronic funds transfer" (EFT). Please see the enclosed brochure for additional details. You can also sign up online by visiting our online electronic funds area on www.family.org.

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For those of you who are interested, here is the response to our Web site from my February letter, in which I was critical of former President Bill Clinton and the policies he promoted: