take another look at your c.e.l.f.

A Closer Look at the Church Extension Loan Fund by Richard Adams

For more information about the FWB Home Missions Department (now North American Ministries), please visit www.FWBNAM.com.

THROUGH THE GENEROSITY OF INVESTORS in the Church Extension Loan Fund, the Home Missions Department loaned more than five million dollars to Free Will Baptist churches in 2005. However, CELF does more than help churches, it is a good investment for the following reasons:

1. When you invest in CELF, you invest in souls. Your money builds churches where people are introduced to Christ, where the gospel is taught and preached, and where people take the message of Christ from door to door through their communities.

2. CELF provides a good return on your financial investment: 3 1/2% for amounts under $25,000.00, 4% for $25,000 to $50,000, 4 1/2% for  $50,000 to $100,000, and 5% for any investment over $100,000.

3. You can withdraw money on 30 days notice without a penalty. Most banks require you to sign a contract for 6 months to 5 years, and you incur a penalty if you withdraw the money, even for emergency reasons. Such penalties sap the amount you earn in interest.

4. Your investment is safe. With 127 active church loans and a track record of more than 300 loans in the past 16 years, you can have confidence in the CELF program. If a loan should default, the other 126 would carry on until the property could be liquidated. To date, however, CELF has not foreclosed on a single loan issued to a church.

Without your investment in CELF, many churches could not obtain loans. Although more than $5 million dollars was loaned to FWB churches in 2005, additional churches need your help. Make a sound investment in building churches. For more information, call Richard Adams toll free, at (877) 767-7674.

charting the growth of the c.e.l.f. program