Simplicity Ministries

What it reported doing in 2024

TRAVELING PREACHING MINISTRYEvangelist Mike Thibodeaux preaches at ministry events each year in partnership with local churches, primarily in the Northwest, including but not limited to: youth and college camps and events, revivals & evangelistic events, Sunday services, Simple Evangelism conferences, men's events, marriage conferences, etc. Thibodeaux preached at 15 ministry events to approximately 1,194 people in 2024. There were 21 recorded public decisions of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and 94 public decisions of repentance and renewal. EVANGELISM TRAININGThibodeaux conducted evangelism training at two events, training a total of 37 people to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who do not know Him as Lord and Savior. The first was for seven volunteers with Northwest Baptist Disaster Relief preparing them to do evangelism during crisis response. The second was for SOL (Spring of Life) Bible Academy, training 30 Ukrainian Christians over a three-day weekend in December of 2024 (15 hours of training) in Simple Evangelism. LOCAL PROJECTSMen of Simplicity (MOS): MOS is a three-year journey of weekly discipleship groups for men, occurring September through June each year. MOS began in 2009. In 2024, Mike led a group in the Gresham, OR area on Monday nights. The Gresham MOS group has grown to 43 men with an average attendance of 36. In 2024, that included 24 men from Go Church. In addition, via Zoom video conferencing, churches, groups, and individuals from outside the Gresham, OR location participate in MOS on Monday nights. We call this MOS Connect, a live, fully interactive video conference call via Zoom. It was first launched in September 2017. The goal of these groups is Biblical manhood - men leading and living simply and purely devoted to Christ (2 Cor. 11:3). This means that men are no longer living for themselves but for Christ who died and rose again on their behalf (2 Cor. 5:15). The MOS guys focus on developing a biblically healthy relationship with God in Christ, with other believers and their family, and with those who are non-believers in the community to introduce them to Jesus Christ. The Men of Simplicity discipleship journey continued to grow as we moved into 2024. January - June of 2024, we had 9 churches/groups with a total of 89 men involved and an average attendance of 69 men. In the September - December 2024 term, Men of Simplicity had 12 discipleship groups from Sept-Dec 2024 with an average total attendance of 75 men. In addition, Thibodeaux did one-on-one discipleship with two young men and mentoring with an additional 2, one of those being his son, Zach Thibodeaux, who is preparing for music ministry.S.E.A.D.S. & Bright Lights: Debbie Thibodeaux continued to lead the weekly Simple Evangelism and Discipleship Strategy (S.E.A.D.S.) women's group on Tuesday mornings which she has faithfully led since 2001. There were 15 women involved in 2024, seven of those were from Go Church. Debbie is in the tenth year of leading a weekly discipleship group called B.R.I.G.H.T. Lights for teen girls on Wednesday afternoons. There were 13 teens girls in B.R.I.G.H.T. Lights in the 2024 school year. Three of these girls are leaders in training (meaning they are discipling younger girls, teaching before the whole group at least once a year, and running the special events for the group). The total number of people discipled through weekly discipleship in 2024 was around 105-117 people. All glory and praise to God for the work He did through this ministry in these lives in 2024.Go Church - East County church plant: This local project has been a church planting partnership that the Thibodeaux family and Simplicity Ministries entered for a period of at least 2 years with lead church planter, Mark Ford, and his wife, Kristy, in planting Go Church - East County in Boring, OR, about 20 minutes from where the Thibodeauxs live. Simplicity Ministries partners in this church plant through the ministry work Mike T

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 59.7%; rating input score 60
• Program expense ratio: 67.6%; rating input score 68
• Fundraising efficiency: $8.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 12.7%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.16; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 83%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: Limited
• Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings