Church & Ministry Administration | Lecture 4 : BC310-CMA-20260819

Okay. All right, let's take a moment to pray and then we get started. Anyone with the mic? I'd like huh? I hear my hands the mic. Please. >> Thank you heavenly father. Thank you for this wonderful day that you're given us of other God. As we're going to learn your word of other God give us wisdom knowledge of other God. So whatever we learn of other word we can understand properly way of other God. You help us of other God. Thank you Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us of God. I I surrender whole class into your hands. Thank you hearing and answering my prayer in Jesus name say Amen. >> Okay. Um All right, let's get started. Online students you can hear me on okay, right? On online? Okay, fine. All right. So today we move into our next lesson uh in church and ministry administration lesson number three where we're going to talk about uh trust church trust and governance. So this is basically you know, in in India we call it forming a trust a legal entity. So in India it's called trust. In other parts of the world they may call it a different by a different name. In the US they call it uh uh uh a religious and charitable trust or uh uh 501c3 organization. So that kind of gives it a tax exempt status in the in the US. But here in India we call it a trust a religious trust. Mhm? So there are different kinds of organizations you can form. And of course, there is the the organizations that we form for business and all of that, but in in in the space that we are working in, um you can form a religious trust, which is typically if you're a church, or if you're doing any Chris- any religious work, any Christian work, it is important to form it as a religious trust. Or you can form it as um a society or like a NGO or non-profit. But in India, if you form it as a society or as a as NGO, technically, you're not allowed to do religious work. So, the problem that has happened in our country is in times past, and I'm talking about in in times past, what has happened is people got away with it. So, people many people formed an NGO. Oh, I'm running an orphanage. I'm running whatever some social work I'm doing. And along with it, they decided or they also did Christian work. In times past, you know, people didn't they just got away with it. Nobody raised an issue on it. So, they would run an orphanage and they you know, they it would be they would maybe be have uh you know, Bible reading, singing classes, all ministry, all of that together. It was okay. But since the last maybe recent 10 years or so, or maybe last 15 years, things have changed. Hey, government has become very strict. If you say you're a society or you say you're an NGO, you have to function as NGO. You're not allowed to do any religious work. And then they put the same thing on the religious work before, you know, churches, Christian organization used to do a lot of social work. So, even we at ABC, we were working with the, you know, the mission hospitals. Uh we were doing, you know, um uh social action like, you know, when we helped the slums and all of that. Now, things have changed. You're not allowed to do your religious organization, you're not allowed to do religious uh social work. So, we had to stop everything. Because their their argument is you're using social work to get people into the church. Like for conversion. That's why you're giving food. That's why you're working in the slums. That's why you're doing this this this. So, they've maybe become very strict, you know, they've things. So, we need to be mindful of that. So, if you are going to set up a Christian organization, a church, or a ministry, you will most likely you will have to, at least in India, you'll have to register it as a religious trust. Very clear. Right? Um if you want to do social work, purely social work, okay, then you register as a NGO. Now, in India, NGOs have tax benefit. Uh let me let me give me and make So, uh if you're registered as a religious trust, or an NGO, you have a tax benefit in that you don't pay tax on your income. Okay? As long as you apply for it. So, there is a status called 12A. Right? Uh 12A talks about a tax status for the organization. So, the organization First, you form the organization, then you apply for a 12A status. That means you don't pay tax on the money that comes into your organization. You're with me so far? Yeah. Let me just check. I'm hearing some sounds coming from online. So, I wonder if anybody is asking questions or Okay, we'll take up questions. Uh Renita, you have your hand up. Is there a question or Um Do you have a question? No, maybe not. All right, let's continue. Uh so in India, you know, it's called 12A. That means you don't pay tax on your um income. But you have to maintain that 12A status. It has to be renewed every 5 years. Okay? In the US, for example, um it's called 501c3 status. So, if you form a religious organization, you have to get this 501c3. You have to apply, you'll get it. If you get it, then it's fine, right? Uh you So, in India, you have a tax exempt. Then there's another one called 80G. That's another application. In India, religious organizations cannot get that status. The 80G means you you're giving a tax benefit to your donors. That means the people are giving money, they don't have to pay tax on the money they give you. You're understanding, right? So, one is as an organization, you don't pay tax on money that comes to you. That is 12A status. If you also get 80G status, then there's a tax benefit to your donors. That means if people give you money, they don't pay tax on the money they give you. That is deducted from their income, right? So, that is only available for NGOs. It is not available for religious organization in India. So, in India, our people who give money to the church, they don't get any benefit. Tax benefit. They have to pay tax on it. You understood, right? So, uh so, a lot of organizations, you know, will say, "Okay, I want to get ADG status, but I also want to do religious uh Christian work." It's it's very dangerous now. We don't We shouldn't play with the government rules. You know, and a lot of organizations have gotten into trouble because they they want 12A status, they want ATG status, uh and they want to do religious work, but you're not allowed to do that. In India, things are becoming very strict. Okay? So, be clear in your mind what kind of an organization you want. Are you want a Christian religious organization? Stay with that. Form a religious organization, get your 12A status, stay with that. You know? Uh don't try to do this where I form a NGO, I get a 12A and ATG, and I want to do religious work. It is very likely you'll get into trouble. Understood? Okay? So, that brings us to the you know, we want to first of all say that, "Look, the Bible teaches us Romans 13, 1-7. The Bible teaches us that we have to be submitted to civic authorities." Right? So, some people some Christians would say, "Hey, I'm doing God's work. Why I should submit to man? Why should I pay tax? Why should I follow the rules? Hey, Bible tells us follow the rules. Right? Uh recently there was some big big and I don't want to talk about it and stuff. And our our Christian people get into all kinds of trouble because they break the rules. Right? And after breaking the rules, you get into trouble, we shouldn't call it persecution. I'm being persecuted. You're not being persecuted. You broke the rules, so the government is holding you responsible. What to do? Right? So, it is better from the beginning follow government rules. Mhm. So, now last week in our state they came out with a rule. You cannot gather in public places. So, till now we were happily going around, you know, doing you know, we can stand on the roads. And we should do happily go on the roadside, sit there, sing carols, or sing Christmas Christian songs. But now they've come out with a rule, you cannot do that on the roads. They're saying it's government space. You cannot do that unless you have permission. And they won't give permission if it they already said if it's a religious thing, they won't give permission. So, what to do now? Now, we have to follow the rules. You can't say no, I'm Jesus said go preach the gospel to every creature. I will come and stand on the road and sing every Yeah, then the police will come and So, yes, Jesus said go preach the gospel, but obey the rules. And with that you proclaim the gospel, you know, you follow those. Uh otherwise unnecessary. They So, they also follow whatever the rules are. Um Let's go to 2 Corinthians. I want us to read this, please. Uh 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 3 and 4. 2 Corinthians 6 Um, let's read that, verses 3 and 4. >> We'll give no offense in anything that our ministry may not be blamed, but in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God in much base patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses. >> Mhm. So, notice Paul the apostle, what he's saying. We give no offense in anything that our ministry may not be blamed. Let's say I try to be careful. We don't want to offend anybody or offend the government or so that we want to have a ministry that is without blame. Nobody can point a finger. That's how we want to conduct ourselves in the ministry. And so, I want to encourage all of us, you know, do your best. Uh, even when you do your best people will find fault, but don't give reason for fault, right? Don't give a reason. So that you conduct yourself in a blameless way. And he says in in in all things, verse 4, in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God. In everything, you know, the way we conduct ourselves we People should see us and say, "Yeah, that's how a minister of God should carry themselves or conduct themselves basically, right?" So, Paul Paul himself is saying, "Look, we we hold ourselves to this standard." You know, uh, don't give people a chance to point a finger. Right? Now, we are focusing especially on uh, how the church and the ministry is organized and administered. Be very careful. I remember and this was back in the in the late '80s, early '90s. There's a wonderful man of God in the US. One wonderful wonderful ministry. Now, he had to graduate from Oral Roberts University. Beautiful ministry. And God had raised him up at a national level. Especially in the ministry of prayer. So, he had a thriving church, very church with lots of people, growing very fast. One of the At that time, one of the fastest growing churches in the US. And he would conduct prayer. Going to different cities. Stadiums were packed. They would rent the stadium. And people would come for prayer. Packed the stadium. Now, you know, of course, you know, if you have a worship concert, we know. People come for nice worship and music. But, this is you're coming for prayer. You know, this a real move of God happening throughout the US. Prayer. He he he he written some good books on prayer. One of his books, "Could You Not Tarry With Me?" Could you not tarry one hour? You know, so that became a like a best-seller globally. People were reading the book on prayer. And so, God was using him powerfully. But, in his local church in the church where and of course, it's not only him, right? He had a big team, ministry, lots of everything going on. But, one incident uh a TV station came and they just recorded what was it? So, lots of people were writing in those days letters, not emails. So, people were sending their offering check and all by mail. Or they would write letters, check by mail, send it. So, people in the in in in the church, the staff, they were getting all these So, huge volume of mail, letters. So, they were handling it. And maybe they were not handling it correctly. So, they would tear the envelope, take the check, but not even read the letter. Throw it. Sometimes even the check also might go. So, this um this TV station, they came, they recorded all this. Say, this is what is actually happening when you send your letter to this organization, this ministry. This is how they're handling your letters. And it went on national TV. It became a big issue. People are looking, "Hey, you know, when we send a letter to this ministry, see what is happening. Your letters are being in not even read. They're all being dumped in the trash can. Sometimes even check is being Now, it was not this preacher's It was a godly man, anointed by God. He's not sitting and opening the letters. Correct? It is people in the organization who are handling all this. He's a godly man. God has anointed him. God has raised him. God is using him powerfully. But, when this news went on national television. It really shook the ministry. Because both the Christians and the the world laughing at that. What is going on? We're sending letters to the thing hoping that people will open it, somebody will pray for the request. At least read the letter first. Pray for the request and yes, graciously they're putting an offering and sending. But it's it is how it is being handled. Nobody's even reading the letter. Overnight almost overnight. First of all, he was so affected he went into depression. It really shook his ministry. I can say he was a good man. Right? He was just serving God, but something went wrong in the administration. The whole ministry collapsed overnight, almost overnight. Collapsed. I don't know. So, one point one, you know, something somebody found that they could blame. Put it on TV. Those days it was big thing. Uh it really affected the whole ministry. You are understanding, right? So, now we understand how what Paul is saying, you know, we don't want to give any offense in anything. So, that our ministry should not be blamed. In all things we want to approve ourselves as ministers of God. So, you have to be careful. You know? And um it is true that as a as a leader he was not directly responsible. Meaning, he was not the one opening the envelopes. But it was under him. You know? So, to that extent he should have emphasized, "Hey guys, this is what we are going to do. When a letter comes, you must open it. You must read it. You must pray. If there's a request, you have to pray. And maybe even send a reply saying we have received, send a thank you, something." You know, that that that whole thing has to have been put in place. Instead, it went off out of hand and it became a very sad thing. Yeah. So, how we conduct ourselves, we must be careful. And especially in finances. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 21, please. 2 Corinthians 8 and 21. Somebody could read that. >> For we aim at what is honorable, not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of men. >> Mhm. So, here Paul is actually talking about how they were handling money. Right? He's saying, "Okay, I'm sending Timothy. He's going to come. They're going to collect offering." And he was collecting an offering to send it to Jerusalem. The people in Jerusalem needed help. Paul was just facilitating this whole collection and sending it to people in Jerusalem. But even handling that, he says in verse 21, "We want to do it honorable in a way that's honorable not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of man." You see that, right? So, I want to be right in God's sight, but also in man's sight. How I am handling this money. He's doing a good thing. Mhm? Take an offering and send it to people in need. He's doing a good thing. But how you're doing the good thing, you should do it in a way that is right before God and man. Because man is going to come and say, "Hey, what is going on?" You know. So, we shouldn't excuse ourselves saying, "Hey, I'm doing it right in the eyes of God. I'm I'm I'm sending a money to the church who is in need." Of course, that's a very good thing to do. But, do it in a way that's right before God and man. Right? So, that's the objective, right? In in having good governance, uh administration, and ministry. Acts 23:1, let's read one more verse then get into the practical things here. Acts 23:1, Paul says, >> "And looking intently at the council, Paul said, 'Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.'" >> Yeah. So, this is again Paul. He's his own how he's he's conducting his own ministry. So, I want to live with a good conscience. So, ultimately, you should ask yourself, "What is my conscience? Does my conscience allow me to do this?" You know. I remember, and you may have heard this, I don't know. Um but, uh 2008 2008, I think, we had tremendous persecution in Odisha in Kandhamal uh in that Kandhamal area in Odisha, 2008, I think it was. Uh very bad persecution. People were being attacked. And then, uh things spread. Uh we also had we also later on we had a lot of persecution in Karnataka. St- here. Uh churches were being attacked, especially uh in in in in Bangalore city itself. We had a couple of incidents, which is very rare, that in the city you'll have church attacked. But outside of the city, like in in in in in in the rural areas, especially Mangalore side, all that. Uh Almost every other day there were incidents of churches being attacked, pastors being beaten, all these things, churches burned. So, it was a very bad time. So, at that time, pastors here in our city, we got together. Uh and I think when that meeting at there must have been at least 30 pastors, leaders of of all the big churches, all of that. Uh independent churches, you know, not the mainline churches. They were kind of okay, the attack churches that were independent were the ones who were being attacked, because they're kind of alone, you know. Uh whereas you're part of a big organization, like a CSI, you know, they were leaving them alone. But so, about 30 of us got together. We had this meeting, you know, what do we do? How do we First of all, help these churches get back on their feet? Help if the churches are burned, how do we put things back together, all that. So, we had all these meetings, you know. So, we were trying to help, and a lot of plans were done. Anyway, um part of the whole process, we formed an organization, we collected money, all of that. So, there was some work done. And then, uh there was a again, later on we had a meeting, and this skip fast forwarding a lot of things. But later on, when things calmed down, all of that, we had another meeting, and that time we had collected some money to do some work with this to help churches outside of Bangalore. But so, from APC, in that particular contribution, we had given 1 lakh rupees. Not much, but it was initial amounts. Okay, we'll give one lakh to the common pool so that we'll do something. But that particular project didn't actually happen. It was not executed. Then when we had another meeting, we said, "Okay, let's return the money to the church." So, yeah. Okay? Then after all that meeting, like following week, I get a call from the the person who's handling all this. He calls me. He says, "Pastor, you know, we've decided we should return the money. Uh, we received one lakh. Do you want the check in your name or do you want the check in the name of the church?" So, you imagine. You're getting a call. They say, "Pastor, we want to return one lakh." That's 100,000 rupees. "Do you want the check in your name or you want the check in the name of the" So, he is speaking to me. Nobody else is listening. Only God is listening. I got so angry. I got so angry. I said, "What kind of a question this is?" And I kind of you know, on the phone I like try to scold him a bit. What kind of What kind of a question are you asking? I said, "Where did the money come from?" He said, "From all people's church." I said, "Then who should the money go to?" All people's church. I said, "Why are you asking me this question?" Right? Okay, pastor. Okay, okay, fine. But then I was thinking, "Hey, I gave him this answer, but I don't know what I'm I'm not I'm not trying to be self-righteous or nothing, but what what what else is happening there? Like if he calls other people and they say, "Yeah, put it in my name." That could happen. He should not be asking this question from anybody. Right? It came from the church, it should go back to the church. That is it. So, here's the thing. Your own conscience must keep you accountable. Right? Because it is easy, no? Yeah, yeah, yeah, put it in my name. You put it in You go to your account. Only Only he will know and God will know. Nobody else will know. But, will your conscience allow you to do it? No. Paul said, "I have lived with a good conscience." Don't violate your own conscience. Your conscience, you know, it should be a good conscience, clean conscience. Cannot allow you to do these kinds of things. So, even if nobody else knows who I don't care, I'm not living for other My own conscience has to be clean before God. You understanding? Right? So, uh So, these are some levels of accountability. There's the accountability to the government. There's accountability to not only God, but man. And there's accountability to your own conscience. Right? Sometimes we can cheat the government. Sometimes you can cheat other people. But, you cannot cheat God and your own conscience. Cuz that God is always watching and your own conscience is there. It knows what you have done, what you have not done, right? So, I have So, those are some principles, you know, that we have to live by for proper church governance. Now, let's get into what we want to talk about. So, what we want to talk about is uh you know, when you start a church or a ministry, it is a spiritual work, but because we're operating in uh in on the earth, part of you know, all these this these um government rules and all that, it is important that you form a legal entity. Register your organization. Okay, that is forming a legal entity. Uh uh so, uh initially, there's an incubation period. That means when you start, maybe it's just you, maybe one other person. You're starting the ministry. So, there's a time where you just wait for it to for things to grow, right? You may not be you may not be able to do it immediately. So, one thing is to form an organization at least here in India, you need three people. And so, don't be in a hurry to find these three people. You need three people who you trust, who are committed to the vision. They should not become a problem later on. Right? They should be committed. Otherwise, if there is problem within the three people, then the organization itself will not function properly. So, don't be in a hurry, right? Uh un- unless you have three people who are together, one heart, one mind, wait. Right? And um then why must you form this uh legal entity? Uh one is uh first of all, it gives you credibility. That people know that, okay, this is a organization. So, for example, suppose you put sign, House of God church or something, whatever. You give a name. You're starting service, people come. Then they say, "Okay, pastor, I want to write a check. What name should I write? House of God?" Then if House of God is not registered, the name of the church is not registered, it doesn't have a bank account, what are you going to say? You'll say, "Put it in my name." Then immediately they will feel uncomfortable. Cuz they want to give it to the church. But church is not registered. Church doesn't have a bank account. So you're saying put it in personal name, it's this it loses credibility. Hey, personal account, what is he doing? Where it is going? So it is so much better to say, "Put it in the this name of the church. We will put it in the church account." Right? So in many ways, right? Uh having a legal entity, having an account in the name of the organization, whatever it is there, whatever name. People are People are giving money, they feel there's credibility to this. And I'm not giving it to some person, I'm giving it to the organization because that that'll do the ministry. Right? And um also it's very important to have separate bank accounts. Your personal bank account and your ministry bank should be separate. That is again a very big problem. Nowadays, you know, and I And many people may pastors, they don't think about this. Everything goes to the personal account. Then they lose track. Huh? What was supposed to be used for the church, what was supposed to be used for what is actually your personal, everything mixed. Then lose track. Uh there's no idea, no accountability. Right? So it is better to have separate bank accounts and also when you're signing a contract, you're renting a hall or a venue, that contract everything is in the name of the church. It's not your personal It's a church that's renting the place. It's a church that's signing the contract. And also there's a protection from liability. That means if something goes wrong, your personal assets meaning your personal money or personal things are not going to be attached to the problem, right? It's It's the organization that signed the contract. The organization will be held responsible. So, at least your personal things are kept safe. Otherwise, if it's all done in your name, everything you have can be taken. Right? Fourthly, when you want to engage professional agencies, you can engage them in the name of the church. Example, accountant. The accountant will come and do the work for the church. And they get paid from the church. Then there are other benefits like we said, the tax-exempt status. You know, like you can apply for the 12A or tax-exempt status. Then you don't pay tax on the money that comes in. You can have access to certain grants that that that may be available so on, right? When to form a legal entity? You let the work that you're doing gain some momentum. You see that you have a core team and most important, find the right people. Find the right people who are going to be part of this organization, the the members, the trustees who are going to be there. And of course, you need to have sufficient money to pay for the legal expenses and all that. Uh and uh you finalize the articles of incorporation or it's called trust deed and bylaws. We'll go through that shortly. Right? How to select members or trustees or office bearers? They should be people who are aligned to the vision. They're willing to serve, not looking for position. People that you have a good relationship with. Remember a long time ago, one of our people who served with us, he just graduated from Bible college. He worked with us here in Bangalore for 2 years, I think. Then he came and said, "Pastor, I want to go back to my own place and started APC there." Oh, sure. We prayed, blessed him, sent him. So, he went back to his own town. This was in Orissa. And he started He just started work, started ministry, just starting. Uh then one person came. I said, "You might tell him or he told me, 'No, I've just come. I've come from Bangalore, this church, church, etc. I'm here just to plant a new church, new ministry starting.' Then this person came and said, "See, you have to form a organization. Uh I will become one of your office bearers, trustees." Uh so, he called me, the person that we sent, our young person. That time he's young, now it's 20 years ago, but uh So, he called. He said, "Pastor, this person seems to be a nice man. Uh he came met me. He wants to be one of And of course, he was also in a hurry to form a trust, right? To get things organized. He wants to be part of the trust. And I said, "No. How You You just known him for like about a month. And what is his real motive in wanting to be a office better trustee? Is he ready to serve? Is he committed to this vision? Is he going to be with you for the long run, right? Or is he just going to come and cause problems? So I told him I said, "See, don't do anything now. Don't form the trust. And definitely don't put them on the uh on the trust. You wait and see. See, you get to know him. Get to know his heart. Get to know if he's really committed to this vision. Tell him no right now. Told him no right now. After 1 month, he's gone. He's not not around anymore. It means his real interest was not to serve in the vision or be part of the journey. He just wanted a place to control. And especially if money's coming from here, then hey, who knows what he would have done. I don't know. So, that was just a real life example where we have to be careful. You know, don't just uh blindly Oh, you want you're my friend. Come on this trust. Because once their name is on that legal documents, it is official. They can they have power in that organization. You know, and it's very it's not easy to get it out. So, you have to be careful. Right? So, select the people who are going to be part of the trust very carefully. Uh in India, you can have family members. In the US, it used to be you can have, but recent laws have changed. Uh they don't encourage family members to be on the same religious organization. So, the laws have changed. In India, as of now, it's okay. You you know, and you know example, you your wife can be on the same trust. Okay? But those laws might change. We never know. Uh so ideally people that you really were aligned to the vision you know. So when we started APC when we formed trust, so what happened was even I didn't know who all I mean I know I would be on the trust, Amy would be on the trust because we come here to start the work. But you need at least three or more. Right? So I didn't know who who else to have. So we just waited. But when we started APC a friend of mine from school days So I knew Georgie and his at the time he was not married. But I knew Georgie from school days. We used to do ministry together in school. He came and I know his heart and knew his heart. Sincere. So happy. That means I have found a friend whom I know we've done ministry before. Uh yes, there was a long gap because we had gone out of town, but uh now we're connecting again. Now he's married. And uh his wife also seemed to be a good lady. So four of us were the first trustees on APC. Okay? That means I I Georgie was a person I knew. We really really you know, we just had we just knew each other. And so it was was very comfortable. And Georgie was one of our worship leaders from the beginning along with Amy. They used to lead worship in church. So that's how we formed the trust, right? Basically people that you know uh you're aligned with. Right? And then very important when you're forming a trust, you need to have these articles of incorporation. That means what is this trust going to be all about? Um and I've I've given you a sample of the trust our trust deed. Uh we have made some amendments to it. Maybe one or one or two amendments to it. But generally that's the early early trust deed. We'll go through it. Um and let me pause here. We have 10 more minutes. Any questions so far? Okay, there's a question here. 80G status is applicable only for churches. Okay. So Sriraj, there were two things. One is the 12A and 80G. 12A is applicable for churches, religious organizations. 80G is not applicable for churches. So 12A basically is tax exemption for the organization. That means the organization doesn't need to pay tax on the money that comes in. So that's a 12A status. 80G is the organization can give tax benefit to its donors. So that's not available for religious organizations. That 80G status is only available for uh NGOs. Uh non-religious organizations. And so that's 80G status. Yeah, I hope um I clarified that. Yeah? Okay. Uh any questions? I I didn't want to jump into the document now, but uh if we'll take questions before. Okay, you're all good so far? All right, I'll just make mention of a few thoughts and then we'll get into the document next class. So, when you're putting together the articles of incorporation, of course, you can use the sample that I gave you and make it better, modify it. But, here's some thoughts to keep in mind. When you When you're forming a legal entity, you're required to submit what is called as articles of incorporation, or in India, we call it trust deeds. Or some cases, they call it bylaws, the laws of the organization. Some thoughts, yeah, and we'll get into details, but some thoughts. It is important that in the articles of incorporation, write everything that you would possibly do in the future. So, example, let's say you are Let's say you are forming a Christian home for children. Orphanage. Christian. So, you're you're doing it as a religious organization. Okay? But, don't just say "We will run a Christian home. We will have children. We'll give them food." Whatever like that. Anything else that you could possibly do in the future, include it in the document. Why? Because in the future, suppose you want to do something, the reference point is is it legally allowed? Is this this document which you are written in forming the organization, does it allow you to do it? So, you say, "I want to start a school, Christian school." Okay, beginning, you only thought about a Christian orphanage, home. That time, you're not thinking about school school. But, maybe 10 years later, you feel you want to start a Christian school. If it's not in this document, legally you're not allowed to do it. Government can come, hold this document in your face and say shut it down. Why? It's not there. Correct. But, if it was in your document, you can actually go and start former Christian core, whatever. I'm just giving example, right? So, in this article of incorporation, it's important. Think Think big. Like, what could you possibly do uh 20 years, 30 years. You don't want this document to become a a hindrance. So, put everything there. Even if you're not going to do it immediately, maybe 10 years from now, maybe 30 years from now, whatever you can imagine. Maybe we would start a school. So, put it there. Uh this organization is allowed to start a school. This organization is allowed to print books. This organization is allowed to use media. This organization is allowed to, you know, plant churches. This is allowed Whatever, just put it in the document. Otherwise, I'm not saying it cannot be done. Otherwise, what you have to do, you have to go through a process. You have to go and make amendment. Uh when you're making amendment, this person sitting in the office asks, "Why are you changing now?" You can't say because I feel like it. Uh there has to be some reason. You know, unnecessary questions. You have to sit and answer. And sometimes if people want to cause problems, they can simply cause problems. They can refuse to give make that amendment, then you're stuck. You know? So, it is better when you're writing these uh the articles of incorporation or the trust deed, uh anything that you would possibly be doing as a ministry, put it down. Even if you don't do it, it's perfectly okay. Doesn't matter. Nobody's going to say you have to do it. Just saying, you know, this organization is allowed to do all of these things. Put it down. Uh and in the future, when the opportunity comes, you can do it. The problem is, if it's not in there and you go to it, uh you could get into problems. Okay. So, I'll stop with this thought and then we'll pick it up next week. We'll actually go through the document, get some ideas and stuff. Okay? All right. Any questions before we close? Everyone's okay? Okay. We'll close for today. We'll continue this next week. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir.