Worldview Weekend Foundation
1016 West Poplar Ave #106-228
Collierville, TN 38017
www.wvwfoundation.com

Dear Friends,

Thanks in part to your partnership with us, 2014 was a great year of ministry and 2015 appears to be a year in which we will reach more people with Biblical truth than in any year in our ministry’s history.

In 2013, after spending 23 years crisscrossing the country speaking, and 21 years of hosting nearly 300 Worldview Weekend conferences, we made the decision to put our time, energy, and limited resources into the technology that would allow us to reach the world, and not just America, with the truth of God’s Word.

The technology that exists today was not even an option in 1992 when I formed Worldview Weekend ministries and hosted our first conference in February of 1993. Today, through our free apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, other smart devices, our Roku channels, and our websites, we are teaching, equipping, and training people all around the world. In a one month period we have seen people in 120 countries watch our television programs through our various broadcast outlets and the various technologies we have developed.

This fall we released brand-new apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android, and other smart devices. These apps allow people around the world to listen for free to all the radio programs we sponsor and to watch for free all the television programs we sponsor and produce. These apps cost us around $17,000 to build due to the intricate programming required for the various platforms on today’s market. We allow people all over the world to download this app absolutely free as a ministry of Worldview Weekend and Worldview Weekend Foundation.

Recently, my friend Justin Peters was in Great Britain speaking and a man that attended a service held up his smart phone and showed Justin the Worldview Weekend App through which he listens to the numerous programs we broadcast using this technology.

On January 1-3, 2015, we will hold our 2nd annual Contend 2015 conference that is free for high school and college students. In January of 2014, students from 23 states attended and we have an  even larger registration this year with students from 25 states. The testimonies from the students that attended in 2014, confirmed to us the need to offer this weekend of Biblical training again January 1-3, 2015 at absolutely no charge. 

The Contend conference is not only free, we do not even take an offering because we want the students to know that the cost of the weekend has been covered by people like you that wanted to invest in their spiritual growth and Biblical training. Last year we gave each student two hard cover books for free so they might begin to build a Biblical library. This year, we will once again give each student three, free books to add to their growing theological library.

As we come to the end of 2014, If you have not already done so, would you please consider a generous, tax-deductible contribution to the Worldview Weekend Foundation so we might go into 2015 knowing we can accomplish the ministry work to which we are committed?

Let me share with you some of the 2014 budget requirements for Worldview Weekend and Worldview Weekend Foundation that will also be required for 2015:

• For the Contend 2015 conference, we need to fly each speaker into Memphis, put them up in a hotel for two nights, feed them, cover their rental car, and give them a very reasonable honorarium for their time. We also need to pay a soundman/power-point technician $1,000 for three very long days of work. We also have to rent tables and tablecloths. We have the students sitting at tables facing forward so they can easily take notes with the workbook we provide. We are also mailing over 36,000 pieces of mail that will assist in letting families know about this free ministry opportunity. The total cost for hosting the free Contend 2015 conference is right around $20,000.00.
• We spend over $1,250 per month in web streaming and data storage fees.
• We spend on average $3,000 per month for a computer technician to maintain, update, and secure the millions of lines of computer code, the large computer servers that host all the free programs, and the numerous broadcast websites and apps. 
• In 2014 our website was attacked by hackers attempting to bring it down. One evening the attack was so intense and unrelenting that we had three computer guys working to stop the attack and keep our broadcasts online and websites up. Having three computer programmers working late into the night cost us over $1,000 and that was just one night and one attack.
• We spend hundreds of hours each year post-editing the television programs we produce from our Memphis, Tennessee studio.
• Our utility bill is rather expensive because of the studio lights as well as the fact we must keep the air conditioning running a large part of the year in order to keep the television studio temperature regulated. With the studio lights that are required for filming, we have seen the temperature in the TV studio reach near 100 degrees, and that is with the air conditioning running. It is not uncommon for the hosts of these programs to walk out of the television studio, take off their sport coat, and to have their dress shirt soaked in sweat. Again, this is with the air conditioning running. We often have to take breaks from filming and turn all the studio lights off and bring in fans to cool down the studio before continuing with another program.
• We have numerous website domains that each year must be renewed if we want to maintain them. We have too many to list but an example would be worldviewradio.com, wvwtv.com, contend2015.com, worldviewweekend.com, wvwfoundation.com etc.
• We are required to spend several hundred dollars each year in licensing fees in order to maintain access to the editing software we use for television and radio production.
• We have an accountant and an attorney that we talk with almost weekly as they handle all the red-tape and filings that are required by law. Each year we find the burden of this to be ever increasing.
• While many families have cancelled their telephone land-lines, we are required to maintain two phone lines used to interview our radio guests and hosts.
• We also must maintain a high-speed cable line for our radio and television studios.
• We cover the transportation, lodging, and meals of the television hosts that we bring to Memphis so we might film and produce the numerous free, television broadcast ministries you watch at wvwt.com. We film, produce, post-edit, and distribute programs hosted by Dr. Tommy Ice, Mike Abendroth, Justin Peters, Michael John Beasley, Usama Dakdok, and Mike Gendron.
• We produce and print a full-color magazine at least once per year and mail it to around 36,000 homes so we might let families know about the free radio and broadcast ministries we offer as well as our free Contend conference.
• In 2014 we purchased a third television camera for the TV studio and in 2015 we will need to purchase more P2 cards that go into the cameras upon which each program is recorded. The cost of just one P2 card is $600 and we have three cameras that each require one card that will hold about one hour of programming. We recently purchased 2 more cards, but we need to purchase about 6 more in order to rotate cards so we can keep filming while other cards are downloading onto a hard drive for post-editing.

As you can see, broadcasting free radio and television programs around the world, offering free Biblical articles, research, and resources on our websites as well as hosting a free conference for high school and college students is very expensive to maintain.

I have never laid out this much financial detail to you before in a letter but I believe it is necessary so you can understand what it really takes to administrate this global ministry.

I must confess to you that there are months that I sit at my desk and look at our financial obligations and feel a bit overwhelmed. One of my greatest concerns is having to tell some of our broadcasters and those that have come to depend on the Biblical truth we produce, that we are going to have to eliminate some of our programs or the Contend 2016 conference due to costs. I don’t see that happening at this time, but without the support of enough Christians partnering with us each month, that could become a reality.

Thank you again for your continued support of our work through the Worldview Weekend Foundation. Some have inquired about the ability to contribute automatically with a monthly contribution. You can set this up at www.wvwfoundation.com

You can still make a one-time or occasional contribution on our website as well. If you prefer to send a tax-deductible gift by check, our address is at the top of this letter. Thank you again for partnering with us in ministry. You can also leave a donation on our personal and secure office voice mail at 901-853-8792.

Sincerely,
Brannon Howse
Worldview Weekend Foundation
www.wvwfoundation.com