Ways You Can Help GHULP Ministries

Hello. If you are here then you must be wondering what can I possibly do that would be a help to the GHULP Ministries? Some of the many answers are so simple it may surprise you.

GHULP Ministries is a prayer ministry yes, but also a ministry whose purpose and calling is to help those who at the moment can't help themselves, while at the same time sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with them and helping them to get to a place in their lives, where they'll no longer need help. In other words; God called me to work for Him by standing in the gap for people when they were unable to stand on their own.

In recent weeks, we've made some minor changes and realize that there will be some who don't like and/or agree with them. Those who know me well, know I don't do things without leading from my Father through the Holy Spirit, therefore I will stand for the changes we've made. These changes have been very selectively made.

Though some of the various pages throughout the GodHearsUsLetsPray suite of websites have always had a link or two to other pages or sites we've felt were of like purpose; in the past we've never joined any webrings, banner and link exchanges or other methods of promoting the websites. We've depended almost completely on word of mouth and the few random searches that find us on the few search engines that list us. With much prayerful consideration we decided the time to change had come. Here's a list of some of those changes.

We have listed the sites with Christian Top 50 and will have the link on

all main and index pages of all the sites soon if all goes according to plan.

We have joined the Elijah.net Christian Banner Exchange and we will have

a banner on many of the Ministries' webpages

We have joined several webrings, as well as creating a GHULP

Ministries webring. It is our prayer that this will generate more traffic

for all the various Ministries on the webrings.

We have partnered with OurChurch.com in their Spread The Word

banner exchange promotion.

[not currently functioning to our knowledge on this date: 8/24/03]

We have chosen a number of affiliate associations to promote via

the websites, to help with the funding needs of the ministries. At

this time we are affiliates with 3 or 4 and as time permits, when

appropiate new ones are brought to our attention we will apply to

them also.

We have established an account with PayPal and soon will have a link on

all pages of all the Ministries' websites to allow online donations. With

this program, site visitors will be able to make direct online contributions

to GHULP Ministries. The contributions can be electronically transferred

to the my bank account. Once adequate funding is available we will open

an account in the GHULP Ministries name. Until that time we will be

keeping the majority of all donations in the PayPal account, as they've

issued a Mastercard ATM/Debit card for the account and with it the

funds can be directly accessed and used as needed.

The goal of the above are to increase traffic to the websites and to begin bringing in funds with which the fund the mission that our Heavenly Father has called us to. We have done some preliminary research and found out some of the initial costs we are facing in becoming the legitimate organization our Father called me to found.

Please let me emphasize GHULP MINISTRIES IS GOD'S MINISTRIES ... NOT MINE. IT IS THE WORK HE HAS GIVEN ME TO DO TO CARRYING OUT HIS CALLING IN MY LIFE. IT IS ALL ABOUT THE LORD ... IT IS NOT MINE ... IT IS HIS.

Preliminary information concerning incorporating the Ministries as a non-profit as of September 27, 2001:

"To get it done right, with an attorney, in the state of GA, expedited is $545.00 plus the extra fees the state will charge for it being expedited. If it isn't expedited, it would be $450.00. That would include a trademark [name] search, but not the registering of it. The long and the short of registering the trademark, including the extensive legal search to see if the name or design is available, [this is in addition and goes way beyond the above mentioned search] is $800 plus. $325 of that is just for a single class registration with the US Trademark whatever. It's $325 for each class registered.

Plus there are sure to be other expenses to the entire procedure considering we are looking at the incorporation as a Non-profit, hopefully that will get favor with the IRS and get tax exempt status, which would mean all contributors could claim donations on their tax returns, more or less, and I think there's a fee for that, it's been a while since I read up on that particular part. So we are looking at an initial cost in the neighborhood of $1,500.00. And legally, we can't hold a fundraiser to raise those funds without having what said funds are for already. Therefore at this point as I said earlier, we need supporters. Sponsors if you would.

Without complete divine intervention, the incorporation of GHULP Ministries as a non-profit organization will not happen. God's children, saved by His grace must be willing to pray and seek His guidance as to whether or not it is His will for them to 'partner' with GHULP Ministries to spread the Gospel, while meeting people at their point of need.

Above in the Items labeled A-F are those things we are doing to increase exposure of the GHULP Ministries to the WWW and also to bring in funding.

A-D are specifically to get more visitors to the websites, thereby making more people aware of the Ministries and our Mission. {If you have not read our Mission Statement and Statement of Faith click on our banner at the top of this page, and you will be taken to that page.}

D is dual purpose item, not only is it a banner exchange to increase traffic to the site, it also can be a 'funding' source if anyone who goes to OurChurch.com via one of the links from our sites and while there purchases any of the web services they offer.

E & F are both obviously for funding reasons. With the affiliate programs mentioned in E, anytime someone clicks through a link on one of our sites and either signs up for a membership, subscriptions or places an order while there, we either receive a preset amount, or a precent in "commission" from that affiliate. When the total 'commissions' reach a specified amount during their particular period [most pay quarterly] they mail a check to us. [This is also true with D when services are purchased on a click through from our sites.] It is to be noted that if you bookmark the affiliate and go back later to sign up for a membership and/or make a purchase, GHULP Ministries will not receive a commission. We only receive the commission when you go there to do so directly from our

site(s).

Here is the list of what GHULP Ministries receives from each affiliate:

TIME Magazine: For each trial subscription $6.00

Crossings Christian Books: For each valid membership $5.00

Bravenet: For each account $1.00 [Bravenet services are free]

VistaPrint: For each 250 Free Business cards ordered: $1.00

DentalPlan.com: For each plan purchased: $40.00

We also have joined Homestead.com's Affiliate Program and hope to get the accompanying graphics in place soon. Homestead.com [in our humble opinion] is a wonderful company to do business with. Our websites started there, and even our GHULPMinistries.org domain is hosted there. Anyone can build a professional appearing website using Homestead's Sitebuilder software and if they go through a link on one of our wepages, GHULP Ministries will receive $50.00 when they pay for their first year's service with Homestead. Their rates start as low as $70.00 without a registered domain.

Now that I have listed the various things we've added to enable you to help GHULP Ministries; I am sure you are still asking "how though?". With the banners and exchanges listed in A-D, by visiting them through the banners and other links on the sites we earn exposure of our banner. (You can view our banner on the main index page on this site it's the one directly above the narrow one that states "Prayer is........"). Of course the purpose of earning exposure for our banner is to get visitors from other Christian sites, who come here by clicking on our banner. The exception is with A. The Christian Top 50. With it, the more unique visitors from our sites to their Top 50 listing of sites, the further up the list we move. The GHULP Ministries site that will be listed with them is the original GodHearsUsLetsPray site. The meaning of "unique visitors" above is different people, their tracking system picks up IP Address, and if there are numerous back to back repeat visits through a particular site's link from the same IP address, that site is disqualified and removed from the program immediately.

We are also diligently trying to get the sites listed with as many search engines as possible. And usually we submit the Original Site, as it links to all the others, and it has been listed with several engines in the past, little known to most is that most sites have to be resubmitted about every 30 days. A few search engines keep them in queue for 60 days, but very few, most list for 30 days and if a new submission isn't made before the end of that period, [as well as approved, again]. At the moment I know we are definitely listed with Excite, Infoseek and Northern Lights, AOL, Yahoo and Google. [Those listings were accurate as of the first of August 2003.] We are also listed with OurChurch.com for the original website and the GHULPMinistries.org has been submitted to them.

Other ways you can help get visitors to the GHULP Ministries sites is "word of mouth recommendations", using the "recommend/refer it" features, just emailing a friend with a link/URL, or perhaps with a link to us as a signature in your email. If you have a website and you'd like to add the link to our sites, email us at GHULPMinistries@aol.com with your link and we'll check it out and if we feel it is a good match we'll send you a link and/or graphic to use {depending on which you use/prefer} in addition, we'll add yours to a special link section for sites that do feature ours.

Do you have a Newsletter, Inspirational Page, or other list that you own or are a list leader on? Running a few lines promoting the sites with the link would be great, or if you had just a section of links that you regularly send, perhaps you can ad our sites once or twice a month. This is another one of those, if you want to help out with this one, send a sample copy to the email address above and as with the websites we'll get back to you. And if we say yes, we'll run an ad for your list in return if you'd like.

I would be very willing to join together with other Christian websites in getting a link exchange set up, but it will take other's willing to work it, in addition to being listed.

Hopefully sometime in the near future we will be able to have a small promotional package for the Ministries that can be mailed to those who would like to help spread the word offline as well. It would of course consist of materials to help lead the lost to the Savior, and in turn let them know who cared enough for their soul to provide it. I would venture this will be late spring, 2004, at the earliest.

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For those items listed in D & E, if it is a product and/or service that you would use/purchase we ask that you please go through the links/banners on our sites to sign up for or to purchase. If you aren't sure the first look and it's something you'd like to think on, please bookmark [add to favorites] our page rather than theirs. Then when you decide to sign up for/purchase the product/service you will be able to find the link again readily. Please remember, [example] if you go to Crossings.com now but aren't sure whether or not you want to join; and decide in 3 or 4 days that, yes, you definitely do.............

YOU MUST COME BACK TO OUR SITES

AND GO BACK TO CROSSINGS USING A LINK

ON ONE OF OUR PAGES WHEN YOU APPLY

FOR YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN ORDER FOR US TO RECEIVE THE CREDIT FOR THE MEMBERSHIP AND SUBSEQUENTLY THE AFFILIATE COMMISSION

FOR SAME. WE WILL NOT RECEIVE

THE CREDIT/COMMISSION IF

YOU GO STRAIGHT TO CROSSINGS.

____________________________________

If you feel lead to make a direct contribution, at this time, please email me at Rhonda.R.Parton@GHULPMinistries.org for details as to whom to make checks and/or money orders payable to and the address to mail to.

Anyone who feels lead to make a regular pledge, please contact me as above, please.

We have some specific goals for GHULP Ministries and you can learn more about this on the "Our Goals" page.

Also if any of you have services you feel the Lord would have you us to help us out with, please email as above.

Please visit the New Help Pages for a list of all our Affiliate Memberships as well as the various other ways you can help GHULP Ministries grow and further the Gospel of Jesus Christ, while striving to meet people one on one at their true point of need with the Saviour's love and compassion, just as He did when still here on earth.

OTHER WAYS TO HELP

There are times that our greatest need of the moment is simply someone giving of their time. Whether to help out someone else or to help out here online, such as web research.

Do you like to talk on the phone? There are times that a 30 minute phone call may be all it takes to encourage someone to keep trusting in the Lord and to keep pressing on. Or it could be the call, that proves the love of Christ to a lost soul, and because you took the time to call, they accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. With some of the prepaid cards available today, if they are used from home, you get long distance at .04 a minute, but seldom more than .08 a minute. Not to mention that often what is long distance for one, may well be local for someone else.

You don't feel comfortable calling someone you don't know? Then you could purchase a card every couple months for those of us here at GHULP who try to make telephone contact with as many as we are lead to do so with. There are probably some other list members who would gladly make the calls, however their budgets are just too close to do so.

I very much need to know about other Christian sites, the "link to" program they have, banner exchanges, so forth. To know whether or not their mission and goals are different from ours yet could be coordinated to where it might be possible for us to refer people to them and visa versa. The time for small ministries to join forces and truly become, ONE BODY with MANY MEMBERS is now. Currently on the WWW various ministries pretty much function as "several bodies, with few members". So if "web surfing" is an activity you enjoy, let me know or just ferret out other ministries online, visit their sites, and send me a brief overall description of their ministry and their URL.

Another thing that would greatly assist me would be if someone was willing to take a day or two around the end of each month and check various search engines to see if any of the GHULP Ministries sites are listed, and then drop a note with the list of the yeses to me. Many of the search engines require monthly submissions, and a great lot of them have to be submitted individually, unless one purchases a submission package for a certain term [usually 12 months] that guarantees part of their submissions to be listed. There are numerous "free submission packages" from almost all the ones that sell the service, but one must be careful not to submit to the same engine via more than one service, or else the search engine will most likely ditch the submission for that listing period. It takes the better part of a week to submit just a couple sites to a large number of search engines, and at this writing [6/28/03] I am still keeping the websites up and taking care of all the additional duties associated with the GHULP Ministries, alone aka 'single-handed'.

In addition, to those duties, I have duties to three Yahoo Prayer Groups as a moderator, as well as being a moderator on a Christian Women's Depression Support Group, which is also hosted at Yahoo Groups. This is on top of being a single Mom to a 12 year old budding Nolan Ryan, a 16 year old [he'll be 17 on 11/24] special needs child, and a 22 year old son who is currently out of state, serving time in County lock-up for trying to 'run his own life' instead of letting God control him.

Our Father has called me into His service full time, as well as being a full time Mom. I do the very best I can with the ability and provision He provides. I can tell you this page and the accompanying page ["Our Goals"], come with much kickin' and screamin' and beggin' of "no Father, please no........anything but needs and the how's and what's of that". He just tells me to do it as He tells me. Reminds me, as I do others so often, that I must die to self and to pride. Often I am reminded that if my heart's treasure is in Him, that all the daily needs will be met. As He has opened my eyes to opportunities that will help in supplying the need; He reminds me also, that if no one knows about the need or the ways to help, except through 100% supernatural working, how can anyone [He doesn't touch supernaturally] help. I am learning, 'yes Father', to be a wonderful response. [The alternative of continuing to kick, scream and beg often results in His using of a 'heavenly 4 X 6' that has my name on it and it really ouches........Ü]