 Dear Readers: Seven months ago I made an urgent appeal to all of you to help support the work and ministry of the Mystagogy Resource Center. The ship was sinking fast and this ministry was in danger of shutting down altogether. The appeal was for more donors and monthly subscribers to keep things going. I set a goal that if 500 contributors emerged within 30 days from the tens of thousands of people that visit the websites of this ministry monthly, then this service would continue to be accessible to all; otherwise it would have been accessible only to paid members. It was my personal belief that without question this goal would not be met, and I prepared to privatize this ministry to be available to paying subscribers and donors only. Then the public outcry emerged. I got dozens of emails from literally every corner of the earth begging me not to do what I proposed to do. These were mainly people who were out of work, the elderly, young people in high school and college, and others who were in a severe economic disadvantage to be able to make any sort of contribution, yet they wanted to and were for the most part daily visitors to this website, who expressed deep appreciation for it. Who would have known that a simple little ministry such as this could have such a big impact. Nonetheless, I had to do what I had to do, so the campaign to reach the goal of 500 contributors continued. And when the deadline came, guess what? Yes, the goal was not met. Far from it, in fact. However, there was a valiant effort on behalf of many to keep this ministry going and keep it available to all. A compromise was therefore made to keep things going for six months, to see how things would go. If people keep up their support, and if it even increases over six months, then in six months I will make another appeal to my readers, and it all will be evaluated again. So here we are, now seven months later, and I wanted to update you on what has been going on since my last appeal. Before the last appeal, I had about 150 contributors, and after the campaign was over I gained about another 100, thus making 50% of my goal. In the past seven months, I have steadily increased my monthly readership, and have posted about 900 new posts to my websites, but I have only gained about a handful of new subscribers and contributors, and lost about 25. In other words, though I am deeply grateful to all those who continue to support this ministry, and without you this ministry would not exist, at the same time things are sliding downhill again, and another appeal is necessary. Therefore, as I promised, I am continuing the appeal that I made seven months ago. Before I get to that, the reason you are probably reading this is because you were looking to hear about an "exciting announcement". For months I have said that I would offer a bunch of material that I have been working on to subscribers only. But as the ship of this ministry was sinking, it forced me to focus away from that and instead on other things to help keep the ship floating. As I was thinking what I could do to help boost more contributors to help me reach my goal, I figured it is possible that the 900 posts of the past seven months weren't enough. Perhaps more is needed. And more you will get. I have already created another website that will be part of this ministry, in which some of my favorite Orthodox texts will be made available to English-speaking readers for the first time. I took a random poll some months ago to get a gage of what people were most interested in seeing, and by far the majority wanted the fifth volume of the Philokalia translated. In second place was the 17th century text by Monk Agapios Landos titled Sinners Salvation, which was a popular text of the time and served as a prime preparatory manual for Greek martyrs during the Turkish occupation. The third place winner was another favorite of mine written by St. Nektarios, which I consider his magnum opus, titled Know Thyself. These three books (which may eventually be published), and more, will be available in increments to paid subscribers and donors only on a private website that has already been created. The only requirement is that you must be a monthly contributor of at least $5 a month, or an annual contributor of at least $60 a year. Once you become a contributor, I will soon after send you an email with the details, therefore make sure you provide a valid email. All those who are already subscribers and up-to-date donors will also be receiving a private email from me containing more details. Well, that's my most recent exciting news. And I'm excited to get it all out to you. However, some of you may not care much for the extra material. Perhaps you just like what is already being offered, and look forward to the next 900 posts...and beyond. Or perhaps you appreciate what is being done, and want to make sure that all those who gain great benefit from the work of this ministry around the world will continue to receive that benefit. If so, then please make your contribution today as well. The campaign for this new appeal will end in two weeks. Help me today to reach my goal of 500 contributors who donate at least $5 a month or $60 a year. And help pitch in if you can for those unable to make any contribution. Thank you and God bless you all! With love in Christ, John Sanidopoulos Click on the DONATE button to make a one-time donation (a Paypal account is not needed to make a one-time donation): To make a monthly contribution, choose from the options below to set your amount and click on the SUBSCRIBE button. (If you are using Mozilla Firefox for a browser, the drop down menu may not work. Please use another browser if you would like to contribute more than $5 a month.) To send in your donation, please do so to the following address: John Sanidopoulos PO Box 320284 West Roxbury, MA 02132 |
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