The following letter apparently went out from “pastor” Jack Trieber to all of his supported missionaries. I’m sure if you’re trying to plant IFB churches in the strangely unconverted fields of wherever-there-are-heathens receiving a missive like this must really be a blessing to your heart.

Here it is submitted for your reading pleasure with a few annotations by yours truly.

From: Tom Apusen [redacted]
To: [redacted]
Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2013 1:40 PM
Subject: Letter from Pastor Trieber

Dear Missionary
Greetings from the North Valley Baptist Church! We are experiencing an incredible summer here in beautiful
Northern California. God has been so good to us.

For the past thirty-eight years, the North Valley Baptist Church has been faithful in its prayer and financial support of its missionaries. I can assure you that your names are being brought before our Lord on a weekly basis. By the grace of God, we look forward to continuing this relationship with you.

Oftentimes as I read newsletters from supported and prospective missionaries, I become mystified at the apparent changes in spiritual direction. Many missionaries are dropping their independent, fundamental Baptist stance and adopting the practices of a liberal crowd. I would like to remind and encourage you that, since you became a missionary with the North Valley Baptist Church, we have not changed. We still believe that Christians ought to do these things:

1. Be faithful to all services—Sunday school, Sunday morning, Sunday night, and mid-week
2. Give tithes and offerings
3. Go soul-winning every week
4. Live holy lives!
o Avoid the movie theater and blasphemous entertainment.
o Men, keep your hair cut and do not wear jewelry.
o Ladies, wear modest skirts and dresses.
o Stay sound in the faith, and stand for old-time religion.
o Preach God’s Word.
o Sing songs, hymns, and spiritual songs—not contemporary or rock-and-roll music.
o Use only the King James Bible. I realize that many of you are on foreign fields and work with various
languages; but those in English–speaking countries should use only King James.
o Get information from fundamental resources, not from compromising material.

Multiple missionary comments and pictures on social media sites [ed. Big Brother is watching you!] have also been alarming to me. The beach, activities, and casualness are regularly being posted instead of ministries, baptisms, and services. God’s Word says, “Always abounding in the work of the Lord.”

I also believe that as servants of God we ought to concern ourselves with our physical condition. Recently, I saw a picture of an overweight missionary family [ed. On SFL, perhaps?]. It was very obvious that their weight would restrict them in their work of Christ. I am not suggesting that everyone must be slim and trim and weigh 100 lbs., but I do think it is very important that we eat right and keep our bodies under control so we can serve the Lord to the best of our abilities.

Please do not think I am trying to single out or dismiss any of our missionaries. We most certainly want to keep you as our missionary, and we are grateful that you are representing the King of kings on foreign fields in our stead. However, we do want to make sure our missionary offerings are being sent to missionaries who mirror the philosophies and direction of our ministry. All I ask is that you please give an honest evaluation of your ministry in comparison to that of the North Valley Baptist Church. I am not looking for “sinless perfection” or hyper-fundamentalism. Our ministry is an open book, and you can capture what we believe through our archived services online at http://www.nvbc.org/.

If, however, you find that your ministry assessment is contrary to our beliefs and objectives, we will not
immediately drop your support; we will undoubtedly wait until you are home on furlough so you can find another ministry to replace our support. It is imperative that we support missionaries who share our principles and vision for the cause of Christ.

Thank you for your consideration of this letter. God bless you, and thank you for serving the King of kings.

Your friend,

Bro. Trieber

“Your friend”? With friends like that I think I’d pretty much swear off having friends.