Special World of Hope Report: Lithuania

The following update just came in from Nathan and Dawn, serving with us in Lithuania. I’m excited to see how some of the needs of Lithuanians have been met by generous Canadians. May we see these gifts supernaturally multiplied!

With rising costs of living and increased unemployment leaving many families struggling to feed their children, and some even devastated by the loss of their homes, the unusually long winter in Klaipeda has been particularly harsh. As the line-ups at the city’s few soup kitchens and social organizations grow longer, the supplies on the shelves quickly run out.

At one church in our city, a weekly food bank helps to provide those who are in need with staple foods, as well as a sympathetic ear, prayer and spiritual encouragement. So, when desperate families, single mothers,  young couples, and pensioners line up with their empty grocery bags on Thursday afternoons, there is often a question of whether or not there will be enough food to help everyone.

Through the World of Hope project, “A Step Up,” our goal was to provide the church’s food bank with enough supplies to make at least 20 individual bags of dry groceries. For a few people, these foodstuffs could mean the difference between feeding their families and going hungry. Through the generosity and concern of people who responded to this need, we are thrilled to report that the World of Hope project has enabled us to purchase supplies for 70 bags of groceries! In addition to the purchased dry foods, the city has also begun a program of collecting dated items and spoiled produce from local grocery stores for distribution through selected charities. This new initiative is helping to expand the resources of the church’s food bank, and is providing extra food, more variety, and increased nutrition to both the poor and homeless.

Each bag of groceries includes:

• 1 bottle of cooking oil
• 1 bag of sugar
• 1 bag of buckwheat
• 1 bag of dry split peas
• 2 tins of meat or fish
• 1 can of vegetables
• 1 package of pasta
• 1 box of tea
• 1 package of cookies

Youth Group Gets On Board World of Hope

When Maria started processing this particular donation for World of Hope, she felt compelled to alert us all to it. All of us at Home Office have all been touched by this, and hopefully you are too. A youth group has clearly followed its heart into contributing to global service, with careful selection of various projects. We are excited with them for what God is going to do through their money, and more importantly their passion.

A Canadian Christmas in Bolivia

Jake and Mary in Bolivia sent in an update about their Christmas. They hosted 40 people around their dinner table on Christmas day, and for many of their guests, this was their first turkey dinner. They also led a Christmas program out in the colonies as well.

They recently visited with Mennonites who had invited them to their homes. What’s starting there is amazing: about 20 adults and 30 children are part of a regular Bible study. One community in particular is already asking about having church there on Sundays. Hopefully this area will see some more workers there in 2010.

At Casa Mariposa (the women and children’s shelter), they are starting to tile the kitchen and great room. Progress seems to have slowed, as finish work is time-consuming, but they’re still confident that they can open in late March.

They’ve also expressed excitement over the papaya project connected to the shelter. They have sold some already, and are now looking for a better price for the produce which will be used to offset some of the daily costs of running the centre.

New World of Hope Project (2 of 2)

For some kids in Bolivian’s children’s homes, choir is a breath of fresh air into their daily routine. Music allows them one more area to grow in and develop. Added to that, singing is something that anyone can do!

This is directly from Jackie:
“Many of the children that join us come with barriers to learning and development. With time and a focus on  relationship we hope to instil positive attitudes, confidence and skills that they can carry with them. We hope that the  participants will become young people who choose to follow the Lord, be active members in their churches and leaders  in their communities.”

The choir has performed for a few churches, and plans are underway to use the choir to increasingly engage with the external community. There are two options that we want to place in front of you to support this initiative.

1) Cantaremos Children’s Choir (Bolivia) #2-2376 Give a child from a home for abandoned children the opportunity to sing, play and make new friends for a year. $100 per year per child.

2) Cantaremos Children’s Choir (Bolivia) #2-2376 Give respite and encouragement to children in need by providing sheet music for an entire children’s choir. $40 per song

You can donate to this by clicking here.

World of Hope Update

I just saw the numbers:

World of Hope has already raised $5,428! For being one month in, and still a ways off from year-end, this is wonderful! (As a reminder, to make donations count towards your 2009 contributions, we need them before 2010!)

A deep thank you goes to you for contributing to God’s work around the world through the EFCCM. Please continue to pray for the missionaries and ministries that will be blessed by World of Hope. There are many avenues of service needing further investment.

New World of Hope Project (1 of 2)

As the most widely translated book in the world, the Bible is a valuable tool for learning a language. It fits really well into an ESL classroom, and students can follow a translation in their language and in English simultaneously.

Shaun, serving with in Hungary, told us that Eva (pictured above) received an English/Hungarian New Testament as a gift.  She wanted to learn more English so she began to read the New Testament in English and also the Hungarian text at the same time.  By receiving this gift, Eva was encouraged to read the Bible in both languages.  She really hadn’t been reading the Bible before even though she and her family had a Hungarian Bible at home.”

You can help to ensure get we get a Bible into the hands of eager students and members of English camp, not only to learn the class content and gain linguistic skills, but also to explore the truth that the Bible contains. To contribute follow this link to our donation page, and when prompted please enter project account 2-4290.

World of Hope 2010 is Here!

World of Hope this year strives to really introduce you to people’s stories. We’ve put a high priority on making each project engaging, not just informative. And we’ve got something for every budget.

This is what we’re saying about World of Hope:

“While planet Earth is full of dysfunction, misunderstanding and despair, we are called to hope, and hope actively. World of Hope is our opportunity. Here we reframe humanity’s feeble, foibled stories into testimonies of supernatural intervention. This is where we stand against the tide. We stake our claim in the promises of a loving God, and we take Him up on His invitation to participate.”

We feel this strongly, and we believe that you do too. Chances are good that you will see this piece in print. In fact, in the 4+ years that I’ve been here, I’m pretty confident saying that this is the single biggest mailout we’ve ever planned! However, if you would like a sneak peak, please feel free to download it below. This copy is web resolution for easy reading on the screen — if you need a version that will print well, just ask.

World of Hope 2010 (web resolution) — ~0.5MB

If you would like any element of this (eg the logo, pictures, etc.) for your church’s use (bulletin, website, PowerPoints, etc.), please contact us with your requirements. We’ll do whatever it takes to help as many as possible embrace our World of Hope.

Finally, please pray for World of Hope 2010. All of the projects in here are worthy efforts put forward by committed missionaries, and we are trusting God to bless their work through this. Thanks for your interest and support!

World of Hope is Coming!

This is just a far-in-advance heads-up about the EFCCM’s 3rd annual World of Hope. Our dream is that it is even more connected and useful for our supporters and churches this year. We were told that some churches had made their decisions about the international projects they were supporting before the World of Hope brochure arrived. We’re trying to avoid that.

Each year, the World of Hope booklet provides a comprehensive list of the EFCCM’s active international projects. There’s something for everyone! We work to appeal to a wide variety of budgets and ministry objectives. The projects represented in World of Hope are important, strategic, and feed directly into our missionaries’ calling.

Ideally we would like to see World of Hope help to inform the decisions of our supporters and donors. If you would like to be a part of that, please contact us (here are the best ways) and let us know how many copies of the brochure you’d like, and where you want them sent. (If you’re contacting us on behalf of a church, please let us know which one.)

I made up a little promotional flyer for this. You can download it here (470KB).

A World of Hope First Official Update

I was just handed my first real World of Hope update. It was on a slick spreadsheet and everything! We’re already up to $2,255! This is a wonderful start.

Our deep gratitude goes out to those who celebrate and support missions.

Please keep in mind that if you’re planning to donate, to qualify for 2008 tax receipts we must receive your donation before January 1st.

The First Return!

Lisa just announced that we have our first a World of Hope ’08 donation this morning! Hurray! Thanks for your continued prayers: we’re trusting God for this to offer a major boost to His work around the world!

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