As the new year unfolds, we are going to find more and more challenges in our daily lives.Increasing costs, uncertainty with the direction our government, the near daily threat of terror somewhere within our world…the list goes on and on. But I have good news, it isn't new news, but it is something we should remember every day:

"Be not afraid, I am with you," said the Lord. What powerful words we can cling to every day!

February 15th, 1913 was a seemingly uneventful day. But there was something very important that happened, a legacy was born. That legacy was Lester F. Sumrall…born into a poor, but hard working family, with many kids, a blessed, God fearing mother and a father who worked in the shipyards in New Orleans.

What makes a legacy is not just what you do on earth during a lifetime, but what remains afteryou depart this earth. Lester Sumrall's work on earth remains and touches people in every corner of the world today.

Last year, 2009, was not an easy year for most of us; in fact, the decade of the 2000s was not an easy decade. Fear stemmed from the surge of terrorist threats, new forms of disease rose up,changes in governments around the world and the birth of the 24-hour news cycle that keep many, like me, informed of the moment-by-moment, life-changing events happening everywhere. But 2009 was especially a challenge for all of us with the economy, the loss of jobs, massive government shifts in policies, and for us, it was a year of opportunity to rise to the challenges.

Thankfully, I can tell you that we continued to broadcast the Gospel around the world!

Yes, we were regretfully forced to reduce every expense and cost, and while it was not easy, the Word of the Lord still touched every corner of the earth. We made many sacrifices and many of our staff willingly and sacrificially accepted salary cuts so the great legacy of Lester Sumrall to spread the Gospel to the "untold billions yet untold" would not be diminished!

But 2010 is different, we have to move on, we have to reach every possible part of this world with the Gospel. That is the driving force that started with a very young Lester Sumrall when he was called in the early 1930s to reach this world with the Gospel.

My friend, we can't just shut them off! Too many souls are watching and waiting! We have many other expenses that we never thought we would encounter, such as fees for cable systems around the world in countries such as India, Israel, Pakistan and even here in the United States. It all adds up to a huge burden, one that none of us can shoulder on our own, but that is why God teaches us about partnership and expects us all to carry our share.

What portion of the burden will you carry this year? I have to tell you that God has laid on my heart a vision for 2010 of "double." Doubling what we have already done in the past in Bibles would mean equaling this year what we have done in the past nine years! We need to double our coverage with broadcasting here in this country. We already cover at least 25 million homes, but can we reach 50 million? That's still only half the households in our country. And in India as well as in other countries, we have tremendous opportunities—satellite systems are requesting we add them to our programming schedule…but it all costs money. We just don't have the resources right now to expand in the way we believe we are being called to expand.

What pleases me, and would please Dr Sumrall today, is that the ministry continues to go forth. His teachings are on all of our shortwave radio transmitters and all of our television channels everyday. It is an incredible blessing to see the teachings that were taped years ago, subtitled in Arabic and showing in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia. The Gospel does not stop. Somewhere in the world today, people are receiving the Good News of Jesus Christ and frankly, it's because of you, our partners. We cannot do this alone. We need you.

As always, we need your prayers; we ask you to consider setting aside time every day where you will pray for the ministry and those who serve here. Most importantly, pray for the people who are listening to, watching, or reading about the ministry that has gone out for so many years and continues every day. Will you let us hear from you that you are praying and that we have your support? Without your help, we can't do this. We can't even continue, much less grow.

Will you help us "run with the vision" during this month which commemorates what would be Lester Sumrall's 97th birthday? To help celebrate his vision this year, we are releasing a new book by Dr. Sumrall, The Treasury of Lester Sumrall, a devotional with 366 daily inspirational messages gleaned from all the published (and many from the unpublished) writings of one of God's most prolific authors, my dad, Dr. Lester Sumrall.

Every day, the Gospel goes out, every day prayer goes out. Thanks to you, we can accomplish the legacy that Lester Sumrall was called to and it is a legacy of reaching people with the Gospel. More than ever before, we are called.

Click here to partner with LeSEA and help spread the Gospel around the world!

Yours for the untold billions (that are) still untold,

Pete Sumrall