The ministry of MB Foundation continued to experience growth in 2018 with a couple of major milestones. The most notable was reaching over $200 million in assets. While growth has been steady over the years, assets grew by 12 percent in 2018 when the previous two years saw a 3 percent asset growth each year.
Reasons for the significant bump in 2018 was donor contributions over $25 million in real estate, commodities, stocks and other personal property. MB Foundation will manage the assets and eventually gift them to ministry at the direction of the donor.
“We expected to pass this milestone one day, but God blessed us to do so in 2018,” says Jon C. Wiebe, president and CEO. “We serve a generous God and we are grateful to be a part of the work he is doing through the foundation.”
Another highlight in 2018 was receiving the largest gift ever from a living donor, a gift worth $4,595,000. The donor couple were at a point in their lives of wanting to downsize and reduce their real estate management responsibilities. They gifted an apartment complex to MB Foundation and set up a charitable trust. The trust will provide the donor with income for life and provide for charity at their death.
The loan portfolio reached $90 million, the largest in the history of MB Foundation. One ministry that has benefited from the loan program is South Mountain Community Church (SMCC) in Utah. In conjunction with the USMB National Convention, MB Foundation hosted a ministry tour of SMCC and the Salt Lake City area. The 88 participants gained a better understanding of the Mormon culture, the ministry of SMCC and the work of God through the Mennonite Brethren in Utah.
Other 2018 highlights included:
- The development of the Seven-Day Generosity Challenge Devotional in English, Spanish and Russian. The Russian version is being used by 65 training locations in 14 countries in Eurasia.
- Appreciating pastors by sending 279 pounds of Dale’s Hometown Sausage, an original cuisine of Hillsboro, Kansas, to 61 churches, feeding at least 408 people.
- Donations of $4,766,207 made through MB Foundation to benefit 336 charities.
- The addition of a chief operations officer to the staff. Tracy Halydier, and his wife, Dara moved to Hillsboro, Kansas, from Brownwood, Texas, to serve in this position.
- An annual gift to support our national Mennonite Brethren church family continued in 2018 with a gift of $186,369 to USMB.
“We are blessed to be involved in providing biblical financial stewardship solutions that will help grow the kingdom of God,” Wiebe says. “The numbers and stories from 2018 are evidence of what we can do together when we share our resources.”
The 2018 Annual Report can be viewed at www.mbfoundation.com/2018annualreport.
MB Foundation is the stewardship ministry for the Mennonite Brethren church family in the United States. MB Foundation, headquartered in Hillsboro, Kansas, encourages and assists individuals, congregations and ministries in the Mennonite Brethren community with biblical financial stewardship solutions.
