Greetings! We appreciate your support of the Providence Foundation.

We wanted to share with you a report of some of the things we did in 2017 in order to bring Godly transformation to America and the nations.

New Website

A new state-of-the-art website was designed and initiated in 2017. This new site not only enables us to present ideas and offer products much more effectively, but we can also manage our data and communication much more efficiently. In addition, our Biblical Worldview University courses have a much improved template for access. Along with the new website design, we also redesigned our logo. Please visit our website and check back often as we add new materials regularly.

Video Clips

We filmed seven videos ranging from 2 to 15 minutes in length covering such subjects as socialism vs. Biblical capitalism, Christians’ involvement in government, the role of the church in society, the Bible as the foundation of America, and the Christian nature of our historic sites. We have released three of these via our email newsletter, Facebook, and Youtube, and will release the remaining videos in the coming months. These videos are posted on our website home page, as well as our Youtube page (Providence Foundation). To make sure you see these, sign up for our email newsletters (sign up at our website) and like our Facebook page (Providence Foundation).

Legislators’ Project

Six new states were reached in the past year, making a total of 18 states where legislators in one or both houses have received this important book.

In January 2016, working with West Virginia State Representative Mike Azinger, we published a new book by Stephen McDowell, The Bible: America’s Source of Law and Liberty. Representative Azinger distributed a copy to every member of the House and Senate in his state in January 2016.  This was so well received that we launched our Legislators’ Project with the goal of giving copies to all 7383 state legislators in the 50 states. Within a few months we had distributed so many copies we had to reprint the book.

Thanks to the generosity of our members and other donors, we have been able to give free copies of this book to legislators in one or both houses in seventeen states – West Virginia, Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, Wyoming, Nebraska, California, Michigan, Oregon, Arkansas, Florida, New Mexico, Idaho, and Indiana. In each of these states we enlisted a legislator or government official to write a cover letter explaining why their colleagues needed to read this book. In his cover letter accompanying the book, Tennessee Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey encouraged the senators to read this book saying, “If this state and this nation is to survive into the next generation and beyond, we must all cherish and pass along this great history and heritage.”

We have received many encouraging responses from those who have received and read the book, including from those who have a differing governmental philosophy. One leftist liberal who read the book said he found it very interesting and had never heard such ideas. We believe getting a copy of this book to each legislator will bear much fruit; thus, we continue to work toward this end. We need your help to accomplish this. We need contacts with legislators who might sponsor the distribution to their colleagues, as well as funds so we can provide these to legislators for no cost.

Here are a few endorsements from state legislators:

“If you are a leader, this is absolutely essential knowledge. On our shoulders rests the future of the greatness of our nation. Read this! Finish it. Read it again. Retain it. Teach it until it is retained!” – Kevin Jones, Kansas State Representative, 5^th District, Former US Army Green Beret

“Stephen McDowell’s newest book is must reading for any legislator—any American!—with a desire to learn the story of America’s Christian heritage.” – John D. O’Neal IV, House Majority Whip, West Virginia, 28th District

“This book looks to be the answer I’ve wanted when I am challenged by a liberal saying our country did not have Christian roots – our Founders were a bunch of opportunists and theists. I appreciate all the research and footnoting that supports this information. This is definitely both a book that inspires and one that needs to be on every conservative’s shelf for quick reference.” – Dennis Guth, State Senator, Iowa, District 4

New Books and Publications

1. No Cross, No Crown – The Life Message of William Penn

In December, 1668, William Penn was thrown in jail for expressing his religious views. While imprisoned for over eight months, he wrote No Cross, No Crown. In this book he states that “Christ’s Cross is Christ’s way to Christ’s Crown.” Penn’s life is a great example of one who bore the cross and, therefore, did bear the crown. This book presents what it means to take up your cross and tells the story of how God used William Penn to bring great blessings to America—blessings which still affect the world today.

2. Why Do the Leftists Rage

This booklet by Stephen McDowell explains why there is such a great uproar among the secularists/leftists in America today. Basically, they see man as god and savior, and having lost control of the mechanism to bring about their salvation (that is, via government), they will stop at nothing to regain control.

3. Transforming Nations through Biblical Work

NEW BOOK

This soon to be released book examines the Biblical doctrine of work and looks at dozens of Christians who have led the advancement of mankind in all spheres of life, including: Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Christopher Columbus, Samuel Morse, George Washington Carver, John Locke, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Johann S. Bach, Daniel Webster, and many others. A copy will be sent to Providence Foundation members in the near future.

4. Providence Foundation Resource Catalog

We published a new catalog in 2017 that contains our growing list of books and materials to train people in a Biblical worldview. Our newest additions include The Bible, America’s Source of Law and Liberty, No Cross, No Crown: The Life Message of William Penn, The Bible: Divine or Human? and others.

5. Memory Disk with Spanish Resources

With our extensive travels to Latin American in the past few years, we have begun to make our many books and Powerpoint presentations available in electronic format via memory disk. Our Spanish resources disk contains Spanish versions of 6 books, 3 articles, and 14 Powerpoint Presentations.

Our books, videos, and courses have impacted hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. and in many nations. While not listed in our catalog, we have books and writings translated into 18 different languages and published in 17 different countries. Copies of our non-English books have only been available in the nations where they have been printed, but with our new website we have begun to offer electronic copies of some of our books, making them accessible to anyone in the world.

6. First Prayer in Congress Magnet

This magnet depicting the First Prayer in Congress serves as a great reminder to pray for the Providence Foundation. Let us know if you would like a magnet.

New Film

In the summer, Tim Mahoney interviewed Stephen McDowell reenacting Thomas Jefferson for a follow-up film to his successful “Patterns of Evidence: Exodus.” Filming took place at James Madison’s home, Montpelier, and included discussions of how these American Founders applied ideas originating with Moses and the nation of Israel.

McDowell Chosen as One of AFA’s 40 Faithful

In 2017, in observance of 40 years of ministry, American Family Association spotlighted 40 faithful men and women who have appeared in their AFA Journal and worked with them to promote faith, freedom, and family. Stephen was one of the “40 Faithful who represent the best of Christian and conservative activists in our midst.” A few of those 40 were interviewed in their July-August Journal. Stephen’s interview was posted on our Facebook page (in a July 19 post) if you wish to read it.

Christian Heritage Week

Stephen wrote a series of American history lessons that will form the core of a project we are working on with David Barton and WallBuilders to provide teachers with resources to teach about the Christian heritage of America. We will be encouraging governors and legislators to set aside one week during the school year as Christian Heritage Week. The online resources we are developing will provide teachers all the information they will need to impart this important history to their students. We have special days, weeks, and months for all kinds of things but neglect the most important item for students to be learning; that is, God’s hand in our history.

Presentations and Interviews

Scores of seminars and presentations were given at numerous churches, schools, and social impact organizations in many states and nations. Stephen was interviewed on a number of radio programs on topics including: judges and the constitution, religious liberty, the Ten Commandments, why the leftists rage, and America’s historic monuments.

Christian History Tours

Stephen and John conducted numerous tours of Washington, DC, and Virginia for various groups including the three annual week-long tours we do with Tim Wildmon and America Family Association. In addition with assisting with the AFA tours, John also conducted numerous tours on his own.

International

Transformation of Colombia

God is doing something special in the nation of Colombia. During three separate visits, Stephen spent six weeks in seven different cities in the summer and fall of 2017, speaking to thousands of pastors, lawyers, businessmen, and Christian leaders. These Colombian pastors desire to be equipped in Biblical principles of government and economics in order that they may train their congregations, believing this is vital for the future of the nation.

Last fall the nation voted to reject a peace plan that their socialist President Santos negotiated with the rebels in hopes of ending 50 years of fighting. It was a bad deal, giving away land and permanent seats in the legislature, yet everyone thought it would be easily approved as the government and most of the media supported it. However, the people rejected it. The vote was as surprising as Brexit (where the English people chose to leave the European Union) and the election of Trump in America.

Unfortunately, after the vote Santos decided he would go through with the peace plan regardless of the will of the people. That action, coupled with a flood of people coming into the nation from Venezuela who are escaping the failure of that nation’s socialist leaders, has caused many pastors and Christians to awaken. Not wanting to become like Venezuela, and fearing that many people may fall for the false promises of socialist leaders (as happened in Venezuela), thousands of pastors are attending many training events in many cities like the ones Stephen conducted. Two hundred pastors from 30 cities came to a three-day conference in Cali (see picture at right top). Stephen also spoke to 2000 church leaders at another event in Cali, and 200 more attended another two-day training event in a nearby city.

Many of the primary Christian leaders in the country are also supporting the newly formed political party, Justice Colombia. Stephen spoke to the leaders of that party in July, and they have plans to use our courses to train all the party leaders and their candidates for the national elections in March 2018. They see next year’s elections as a crucial time for the country. Stephen will be returning in February 2018 for further training events in many cities.

In the past 40 years, the number of Christians in Colombia has risen from 10-15,000 to over 8 million (20% of the population). This is a huge growth, but typical of many nations in the world. What is not typical of all the nations experiencing a great outpouring of God’s Spirit is the stunning increase, mostly in the past year, in the number of pastors awakening to their civil duties and getting training so they can teach others. To help them, we have had many of our books and materials translated and published in Spanish. With new and prior efforts we now have in Spanish 6 books (Watchmen on the Walls, Liberating the Nations, The Ten Commandments and Modern Society, Crime and Punishment, Rendering to Caesar the Things that Are God’s, and In Search of Democracy), 2 articles, one course manual (Biblical Economics and Business), and 14 Powerpoint Presentations.

Bibles to Nigeria

We reported earlier how Nigerian John O. became a Christian as a result of reading one of our booklets (four of our books have been printed in Nigeria), and how he then led 104 people to the Lord. He asked for Bibles for these folks, and as a first step we arranged in early 2017 for 37 of them to get their first copy of a Bible through a local bookstore. Many of these recipients wrote how much this gift meant to them. Here are two:

“I had no Bible and my stand in Christ was not strong until I received the Bible you sent. I started reading it daily, having fellowship with other Christians, and attending church meetings. Because of this Bible my life changed completely. I read my Bible daily in church when we are asked to read any passage. I quickly jump up and I read it out. Each day that passes by my faith in Christ becomes stronger and stronger. I can now use my Bible to tell others about Christ. I am the happiest person. I thank you very, very much.” – Micheal C.

“Today I am the happiest person on earth because I have completely decided to follow Jesus. I almost went back to living my old life because I lacked a Bible to read or take to prayer meetings, but today I am filled with joy because of the Bible you sent through Brother John. I have been reading my Bible every day and I am gaining peace with God and do go to church regularly and participate in the activities and also in telling others about Christ’s saving grace.” – Edward M.

Thanks to gifts from our friends and supporters we arranged in the fall of 2017 for the other 67 converts to get a Bible. Please pray that God will continue to use and protect these new believers as they face much opposition. John wrote that he and friends were evangelizing door to door when “a group of Boko Haram Muslims attacked us with cutlass and rod; we have to run for our dear life. Only 3 people were wounded but no body died. Please, we need your prayers. They cannot stop us from spreading the gospel of Christ. We are not ashamed.”

Training Bolivian Leaders

We conducted our first training event in Bolivia when Stephen traveled to Cochabamba, Bolivia, in July to teach Biblical principles of societal transformation to pastors, government officials, educators, and business leaders who had traveled from many cities for the three-day intensive seminar. These leaders plan to teach others and put into effect the nation-changing truths they learned.

Book Publishing and Sales

Since our founding in 1984, we have published about 40 different books, over 20 Biblical Worldview Courses, a dozen videos, and scores of audios and other resources. Over 300,000 of these have been sold in the United States. Our books and materials have been translated into 18 different languages and distributed to one million people in about 100 countries.

America’s Providential History is our most popular book. It has been used by many well-known ministries and Christian leaders including American Family Association, Joyce Meyer Ministries, and Actor Kirk Cameron who wrote:

My family and I have been captivated by Stephen and Mark’s America’s Providential History. It is the best book I’ve read that shows God’s miraculous hand in American history. If you want your children and grandchildren to understand why America became the freest nation in all of history, then you need to read this awesome book. I highly recommend it.

On-Going Classes

1. Monumental: Restoring America as the Land of Liberty

Many churches continue to use our Monumental study (a 12-session course we put together with Kirk Cameron) that teaches how to restore America as the land of liberty. In October, Stephen taught at a conference at a church in Ohio who had offered the course.

2. God’s Blueprint for Life, Liberty, and Property: A Bible Study on the Ten Commandments

Thousands of individuals, groups, and churches have been going through this study, and we have received much positive feedback. One woman said it was the best Bible study she had ever done. One man wrote, “This study of the Ten Commandments was a refreshing study of God’s Word. It is an important combatant in the war against lawlessness in America.”

3. America’s Providential History has been used as a textbook for classes in homes, churches, and schools for nearly 30 years. It remains our biggest seller, with Joyce Meyer Ministries alone ordering 4000-5000 annually.
4. The Threat of Islam to Liberty and Christianity –The Institute on the Constitution is one of many groups that uses our book as a regular part of their training courses.

New Articles and Presentations

We authored a number of new articles which were not only distributed through our network but also via other publications, such as Stephen’s article on “Why Do the Leftists Rage” published in the AFA Journal. A number of new Powerpoint Presentations were produced including:  Biblical Revival, Overcoming Socialism with Biblical Capitalism, No Cross, No Crown, and Matrix of Liberty. We reach tens of thousands of people each month via our bi-weekly email newsletter and almost daily Facebook posts.

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Your support has enabled us to accomplish the above items and more. Thank you so much! Your continued support will help us spread Christian liberty and truth among the nations and train others to transform the culture for Christ.