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“search the scriptures” John 5:39
Striving Together for the Gospel
From the moment of his conversion, Paul had a deep love for the gospel. He understood that preaching was central in spearheading the work of the gospel. He further appreciated that prayer was crucial in strengthening such a work for God. However, he was also aware that providing for such activity was critical in supporting the advancement of the gospel and the work of the Lord. The apostle will summarize this in the first chapter of Philippians, when he talks about ‘Striving together for the faith [“furtherance”, v. 12, and “fellowship”, v. 5] of the gospel’, v. 27.
John Ritchie was a man who similarly had a deep interest in the spread of the gospel and all aspects of helping believers develop spiritually. In 1891, he started the publication of a small monthly magazine called the Believer’s Magazine in Kilmarnock, Scotland. With the Lord’s help, the magazine continues to be published monthly. From the outset, news items of missionary activity and the significant progress of the Lord’s work in almost every corner of the world were included each month. These reports were very encouraging and stimulated prayerful interest.
They also exercised some believers to send funds to help practically in the ongoing development of the work. From these small beginnings, the Lord’s Work Trust was established.
One of the key functions of the Trust is to act as a conduit to pass on funds from assemblies and individuals to assembly-based workers and related projects. The significant experience acquired over many years enables the Trust to do this very efficiently and effectively, especially in some of the more challenging geographies in the world. As an example, during Covid, financial support was sent to the struggling believers in Sri Lanka, who had no government support. Funds left the Trust on a Friday, enabling special dispensation to be given to buy goods wholesale in Sri Lanka on the Saturday and be stored in the Gospel Hall in Colombo. After the meetings on Sunday, the supplies were loaded onto a truck for transportation and distribution 200 miles away on the east coast of the Island on the Monday, an eight-hour journey. As a result, the specific practical needs of the hungry believers were satisfied in a very timely manner. It also enabled the work of the Lord to continue to flourish spiritually due to the kindness of the Lord’s people.
Another activity of the Trust is to communicate regularly with those receiving funds so that we can seek to encourage them, and also receive updates on the work that they are involved in. These reports then form part of a monthly newsletter, Look on the Fields, that is published and distributed freely by the Trust. A different report is included for each day of the month, to further encourage a regular prayerful interest in the Lord’s work and workers at home and abroad. Look on the Fields can be accessed as a flipbook via our website, www.lordsworktrust-kilmarnock.co.uk.
During the last year, over £9 million pounds passed through the Trust to the work of the Lord. These funds were transmitted to over 1, 200 servants, assemblies, or projects in almost ninety different countries. Importantly, all gifts were forwarded without any deduction for expenses. In addition, since the Trust is a registered charity, we are able to use Gift Aid, a government established mechanism in the UK to reclaim tax. So, for any donor who ordinarily pays tax (including pensioners), their gift can be increased by at least 25%. This makes a material difference to the help that can be provided at home or abroad. No expenses are deducted from reclaimed tax via Gift Aid either.
Some of the funds received are from legacies. The Trust also has extensive experience in carefully and sensitively handling assets and estates left by believers on their home call.
The Lord’s Work Trust owns the publishing business, John Ritchie Limited. It publishes many titles each year with the express aim of communicating the truth of God in a way that will strengthen and upbuild the Lord’s people and local assembly testimony. During the last year we were also given the opportunity to take on responsibility for the reprinting and distribution of titles formerly published by Gospel Tract Publications.
Through this relationship with John Ritchie Limited, the Trust is able to make available Bibles, tracts, and other helpful literature for the furtherance of the work of God, especially in underprivileged parts of the world. We also support the translation and publication of Christian literature in other languages across the globe.
It is an immense privilege for all of us to play a small part in this work of the Lord. Hopefully this very brief overview gives you some insight into aspects of the Lord’s Work Trust. If you require any further information, please contact the Secretary, Lord’s Work Trust, 42 Beansburn, Kilmarnock, KA3 1RL (email: [email protected] or telephone 01563 521098).
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