This is a text summary of Justin's newest video announcement.
Click here to view the video itself.

Hi, I'm Justin Lee, GCN's Executive Director.

I start off today's video announcement by reading some stories from GCNers about how this ministry has impacted them. It's obvious that so many people have been touched by God through GCN, and I want you to know that because you're being used in an amazing way! We'll be posting a lot of these stories on the website for you to read as well.

I'm not just interested in those stories, though. I'm also interested in the stories that have only been half written: the people who know the depression, loneliness, and struggles with God that so many of us experienced, but haven't yet found support and reconciliation. Those are the people GCN is still eager to reach.

We're already reaching many of them. You might remember the growth graphs I posted a couple of months ago as part of the "Green Video."

Well, that trend continues. We're now serving up an average of 1.5 million web pages every month, and that number is just continuing to grow.

Last month, the Board of Directors voted to hire Nate, our Office Manager, partially to help us handle all the letters, phone calls, and e-mails we get. He's already had interactions with people who are overwhelmed just to have someone to talk to about their struggles, and it's given him new appreciation for what we do here.

At the same time, the Board also had a private meeting in my absence, after which they informed me that they had voted to give me a raise. I had previously requested that they not give me a raise while we were still unable to afford to hire an IT Manager, someone to handle our growing technology needs. They understood my concern, but also felt that it was inappropriate for the Executive Director to be making only $24,000 a year, making me the lowest paid employee on GCN's staff.

Based on that concern, they had decided to raise my salary from $2,000 a month to $3,000 a month, bringing my salary to $36,000 a year. I told them I'd rather put the money towards an IT Manager, especially as we're experiencing the technological growing pains of server slowdowns, software bugs, and a greater need for technical support. Plus, I want to be able to take advantage of the latest technologies to really get our message out there in a powerful way. I feel strongly about this, since I know it could have a tremendous impact on the number of people we can reach and the ways we can reach them.

I was overruled, so I made a decision that I had not revealed to the Board until posting this video.

I've decided to make my own monthly pledge of $1,000 a month back to GCN, starting today. I've also decided to make this pledge public in hopes of encouraging others to join me in supporting this ministry. I'm putting my own money where my mouth is because I believe in this ministry with all my heart. That's why I'm promising to keep writing $1,000 checks every month for at least as long as we are unable to afford an IT Manager. That's just how important this is to me.

You can join me by making a pledge at our new GCN Giving Center, where you can make a pledge by credit card or check (new feature!) and when you pledge, you can write 1 or 2 sentences about why you support GCN. These will be posted on a public "donors page" so that your pledge can help encourage others to give as well!

The new GCN Giving Center also has information about our budget, stories of people who have been touched by GCN, and more, so check it out.

In addition, today we're introducing a new donation meter (as promised in the Green Video) that lists both the amount we must bring in to meet our budgeted expenses and the "goal" amount that would allow us to hire an IT Manager.

I'm giving up 1/3 of my salary, but I'm not asking you to do that. I'm just asking you to pray about it and decide how much God is calling you to give to support what we're doing here. Giving isn't easy for any of us (me included), but it's important and I believe it's well worth it.

If you have any questions, we're discussing them on this message board thread.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I challenge you to join me in making a sacrifice to change lives!

In Christ,
Justin Lee
GCN Executive Director