Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Merry Christmas from LINC NT!

Merry Christmas from my family and the LINC North Texas family! I hope that you are doing well and that you are experiencing Christ’s love. I love the Advent and Christmas season for many reasons, but especially for the worship focus on Christ, being a father of two little ones. Those of you who are parents know that nothing compares to the joy and wonder on your children’s faces at Christmas-time.

I am thrilled to share with you that God has opened the doors to allow LINC NT to be in relationship with thousands of families in North Texas. We have a clear vision: we are called to transform communities through church planting and outreach to families whose children attend public schools. Our God is faithful and has given us the opportunity to work with 1,400 families in our SALI (Student Advancement and Leadership Initiative) program in fourteen public middle and high schools in Dallas, Ft. Worth, Carrollton, Farmers Branch and Haltom City. In addition, we have launched six parent support groups and now have four Bible studies in Spanish. We don’t do this alone – we are partnering with six churches in planting new missions through SALI.

I want to share with you a story of a life that has been transformed this past year. We met Luis through our parent nights at Long Middle School. He is a parent who was very ill – he was losing weight and was becoming fearful of death. On top of that, his marriage was in trouble. Beto Alzate, our church planting director, began visiting him and praying with him. Through Bible studies, prayer, and counsel, Luis began to improve emotionally and his marriage started healing. The doctors also noticed remarkable improvement in his health. Luis and his wife reconciled and committed to a Bible study that Beto was leading. They are currently finding other couples to reach with the transforming Gospel and may help begin a faith community next year.

The growth has excited us but also overwhelmed us. We are planning to expand our capacity to transform more families; however, we are under budget in contributions for the year. We are praying for God’s provision yet continue to see him open more doors for us. We know that we are at a defining moment for our organization – it is time to take SALI to the next level and begin to see communities transformed, but we need your help.

I get many letters from organizations wanting a contribution this time of year and it’s difficult to only choose a few worthy organizations. Many years ago before I was called to LINC NT, I evaluated many organizations for my church to decide which ones we could financially support. Year after year I chose LINC NT as one of our premiere organizations to support because of its significant Biblical mission. Today, we are even more strategic and sustainable in our goal of transforming communities through public schools and new churches.

Our Board of Directors believes strongly in our mission and has pledged their personal support for LINC NT. They have pledged to match all gifts that we receive to the end of the year up to $28,500. That means that you can multiply the impact of your contributions. We could potentially raise over $50,000 with your help – enough to operate SALI at 4 schools for an entire school year, reaching more than 400 students and their families!

Will you partner with us and help us transform these communities? With your help, we can make up the shortfall in the budget and invest in real life-changing initiatives. A one-time gift of $120 reaches one student and their family for an entire year, or a pledge of $50 a month reaches five students and their families. We welcome your tax-deductible gifts of any size.

From the LINC NT staff, Board of Directors, and partner churches, we wish you a joy-filled Christmas. We pray for you and ask you to do the same for us!

For our King and His Kingdom,





Pastor Oscar Benavides



Donate Now
LINC NT is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization recognized by GuideStar Exchange as a Valued Partner for our transparency and accountability. We are audited annually by CapinCrouse LLP Certified Public Accountants and have previous audits and IRS tax returns available by request.