The BEMA Podcast – "Year-End Gifts That Keep on Giving"

Date: December 26, 2025
Host: Marty Solomon
Co-Host: Brent Billings

Overview

This special year-end episode is a heartfelt conversation focused on the financial status and ongoing needs of the BEMA Discipleship ministry as 2025 comes to a close. The hosts, Marty Solomon and Brent Billings, reflect on the past year—which includes the passing of their colleague Josh—while grounding the appeal for donations in the context of community, stewardship, and ministry continuity. The episode discusses grieving, transparency about financial planning, and the impact of both regular and year-end contributions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Grieving and Stewarding Ministry in Transition

• Josh’s Passing & Impact: Marty and Brent reflect on the loss of their teammate Josh, whose commitment to students shaped the direction and urgency of the ministry (00:18–02:23).
  • Marty explains, “It felt weird to not like... if we don’t steward our financial needs, well, that wouldn’t honor Josh well at all.” (00:56)
  • Brent shares about Josh’s dedication: “He just cared about his students so much… he was just radically intentional with his students way more than I realized.” (01:58)
• Balancing Grief and Responsibility: The team struggled with how to approach year-end giving respectfully in the wake of loss, wanting to both honor Josh and continue necessary ministry conversations.

Financial State of the Ministry

• Current Status (as of December 16, 2025):
  • The ministry tracks closely with typical annual giving trends: “We are trending right now for our annual budget and year end giving. Pretty much just dead on target of what is normal for us.” (03:17)
  • Key metric: They need to be “at least 55% funded for the annual budget coming out of December.” (03:57)
  • Goal: $420,000 needed between December 16 and December 31. Last year, $393,000 came in during the same period (04:10).
• Budget Priorities for 2026:
  1. Fair Compensation for Staff:
     • Moving long-time staff to equitable, competitive pay to match newer specialized hires.
     • “We did 2/3 of the fix… Our goal this year… is to finish that fix… people are paid for the work that they do, no matter who they are, whether they're men or women…” (06:43)
  2. Hiring Executive Help:
     • Marty admits the need for leadership and operational support so he can better focus on teaching, fundraising, and vision (07:51).
     • “I’m not the type of guy that you necessarily want in a three-hour meeting about an employee handbook. That’s not where I shine.” (08:18)
  3. Sustaining and Growing Content Production & Campus Ministry:
     • Filling gaps left by Josh, supporting production roles, and ensuring healthy workloads for all staff.
     • “We have needs to just keep making sure that what BEMA needs to produce the content we’re producing is good content and that we’re able to produce it in a healthy way.” (09:13)

Donor Recognition & Encouragement

• The Two Types of Givers:
  • Monthly Givers: The “engine” of the ministry—small, consistent gifts that form the foundation.
    • “If you’re the person that gives $15 a month and you think this gift is not making that big of a difference, like you’re just wrong.” (11:12)
  • Year-End Givers: Larger, seasonal gifts that balance the budget, especially crucial in December.
    • “Some 60 to 80% of nonprofit giving, including ours, comes in between Thanksgiving and December 31st across this country.” (12:37)
• Every Gift Tells a Story:
  • Brent describes the power and impact behind individual donor decisions: “I am constantly blessed by the stories that those gifts tell… there’s a human behind this, making this decision, joining us on this journey, believing in our mission.” (15:22)
  • “The Talmud will often talk about drops of rain that become rivers, and that’s really how it works financially for us. It’s little drops that become mighty streams.” (13:59)

Looking Forward

• Continued Transparency & Stewardship:
  • The ministry promises ongoing updates as things develop, and welcomes feedback and continued engagement from listeners and supporters.
  • “We are just trying to steward that as well as we can. Bringing it back around to Josh for a moment. Like, the ministry that he built, we want to continue that work…” (16:04)
• Invitation to Join on Any Timeline:
  • If people miss the December window, gifts in January still matter: “If you happen to be listening to this and you were a week or two late and it’s January 17th, it’s okay, you can still give.” (13:17)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Grief & Strange Timings:
  • “Grief does not care about making us feel awkward about anything we’re doing.” – Brent (00:42)
  • “It just felt weird, felt squishy.” – Marty (00:29)
• Legacy of Ministry:
  • “He pastored them so well with such care.” – Marty on Josh (02:23)
• Value of Small Gifts:
  • “If you’re the person that gives $15 a month and you think this gift is not making that big of a difference, like you’re just wrong.” – Marty (11:12)
  • “Drops of rain that become rivers, and that’s really how it works financially for us.” – Marty (13:59)
• On Growth & Equity:
  • “We want to move forward, but it felt wrong to move forward without fixing some of the stuff that we were bringing with us.” – Marty (06:12)
• Personal Connection:
  • “All of those stories… there’s a human behind this, making this decision, joining us on this journey, believing in our mission. And I just—I can’t say thank you enough…” – Brent (15:22)
• Ministry as a Kingdom Investment:
  • “I always pray and hope it would be something that makes you smile and makes you go, yes, that is a great Kingdom investment.” – Marty (17:33)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:18–02:23 – Reflecting on Josh’s ministry and how grief impacted their year-end giving approach
• 03:17–06:43 – Financial state of the ministry: budget, goals, historical giving trends
• 06:43–09:13 – Three big funding priorities: wage fairness, executive help, production/campus ministry needs
• 10:02–13:59 – Types of donors, impact of consistency, significance of year-end gifts, “drops become rivers” imagery
• 15:22–16:04 – Brent’s gratitude and the personal stories behind each donation
• 16:04–17:54 – Stewarding the legacy of Josh and the future direction of BEMA ministry

Final Thoughts

Marty and Brent close with deep gratitude, a summary of how donations directly impact people and ministry, and practical details on how to give (links in show notes or at bemadiscipleship.com) (17:12–18:37). Their tone is humble, sincere, and transparent—making a heartfelt case for supporting BEMA as a “Kingdom investment” guided by the memory and legacy of their late colleague, Josh.

For listeners who wish to support or learn more:

• Show notes and donor links available in your podcast app or at bemadiscipleship.com
• All financial gifts, large or small, monthly or annual, are celebrated and stewarded to extend the BEMA mission.