Mission Gifts for. Christmas

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Noah Sanders
5 years ago
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1 Mission Gifts for Christmas

3 Mission Gifts for Christmas Freely you have received, freely give. MATTHEW 10:8 Christmas is coming and our annual Mission Gifts for Christmas event is here! Mission Gifts for Christmas enables you to give meaningful gifts instead of giving another thing, by supporting God s work locally and internationally. Each donation you make gives two gifts: one to help a person, family, or group of people you may not even know; the other to honor your family, friend, teacher or co-worker. I hope this opportunity will bring us back to the reason we exchange Christmas gifts in the first place. We reflect the gift of grace that we have received in Jesus Christ when we grace others at Christmastime. We remember the worshipful gifts brought to the newborn King when we bring special gifts to strangers or loved ones. Through Mission Gifts for Christmas, you can be introduced to NPC mission partners and other great organizations, be inspired to get involved personally, and help to raise significant funds for Kingdom work. Use this catalog to learn and pray, as well as to order gifts! You can shop in Stone Hall on Sundays, December 4, 11, and 18 using the order form in the back of this booklet. Be sure to speak to the representatives in each themed display area to learn about the missions you can contribute to, and how your gift helps. You can also shop online throughout the month of December at May your gifts be a blessing to your loved ones, and to those in need in our community and throughout the world. Let Christ s light shine in you by making Christmas different and more meaningful! In His service, Donna Marsh

PROCLAIMING JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR Beacon of Hope (Wycliffe) in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is an affiliate of Wycliffe Bible Translators.

4 PROCLAIMING JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR Beacon of Hope (Wycliffe) in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is an affiliate of Wycliffe Bible Translators. It brings God s love to orphans and widows who are victims of inter-ethnic and civil wars. Beacon of Hope also provides education for orphans, conducts Bible-based trauma healing, and helps widows develop income-generating activities to care for their children. ByGrace Children s Home and School near Nairobi, Kenya, provides a loving environment for more than 70 orphaned and abandoned children. By meeting physical and spiritual needs of children and partnering with others to provide education and life skills, they empower children to be architects of change in their world. Through Foundation for Peace mission trips, NPC members have helped build a school that has one of the highest pass rates in Kenya. Ecole Renaissance des Sourds serves deaf children in Senegal. Over 100 students, 30 of whom live in on-site dormitories, range in age from 3 to 20. The school provides a comprehensive academic education, with instruction in Francophone West African Sign Language. The program includes professional classes in woodworking, hairdressing, art, computers, sewing, cultural information, math and word practice, and a boutique where students learn to make jewelry and other crafts. wordpress.com European Christian Mission International (ECMI) works in both Eastern and Western Europe and Ukraine to equip and encourage churches in youth and family ministry, as well as evangelistic outreach to their communities. It cares for refugees from the Middle East who have fled to Europe, and is involved in church planting among all the people of Europe. PROCLAIMING JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR

5 National Presbyterian Church Youth Ministry helps our middle and high school students know and follow Jesus Christ. Drawing young people and families from across the metro-dc area, the NPC youth program also helps our kids to discern their call to serve others in Christ s name. Your support helps them to serve on life-changing, relational mission trips and to participate in local mission efforts. Operation Mobilization s (OM) Dalit Ministry in India plants Dalit Education Centers which are open to children of all castes, including untouchable Dalits. Each Center is a hub for evangelistic outreach to local villages, where churches are then planted. The goal is to establish 1,000 Dalit Education Centers. Operation Mobilization equips people worldwide to share the knowledge of Jesus and His love with every generation in every nation. Ted and Joy Carr are missionaries based in South Africa and through their ministry, ProVision International, take the Gospel to villages and rural areas in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Malawi. They work alongside local pastors and community leaders in projects that include home-based care of AIDs sufferers, community feeding programs, outreach to widows and orphans, and job creation and hospitality for the unemployed. Support for feeding programs is a high priority. Young Life North DC is a world-class ministry for adolescents in NE and NW Washington, DC, including Wilson High School, with a mission to introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them to grow in their faith. Staff and volunteers enter the world of kids, focusing on what matters to them fun, adventure, friendship, and a sense of significance. In doing so, YL workers earn the privilege of talking to them about something that matters most of all the truth about Jesus Christ. PROCLAIMING JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR

BUILDING UP THE GLOBAL CHURCH Bethlehem Bible College serves the minority and dwindling Arab Christian communities in the Holy Land with Biblical, leadership, media and tour guide training, and

6 BUILDING UP THE GLOBAL CHURCH Bethlehem Bible College serves the minority and dwindling Arab Christian communities in the Holy Land with Biblical, leadership, media and tour guide training, and engages in reconciliation activities with Jewish and Muslim neighbors. The College has a new Masters Program in Peace Studies, and an Online Education Program to help overcome travel restrictions and allow outreach to the greater Middle East. The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) is dedicated to supporting the continued presence, empowerment, and well-being of Arab Christians in the Holy Land and developing bonds of solidarity between them and Christians worldwide. Their programs include the Birzeit Senior Center and Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish School, with which NPC has long been involved. Indonesian Leadership Foundation (ILF) in Indonesia provides underprivileged Indonesian Christians with education, professional development, and training in order to strengthen their role in the global community. Since it was founded in 2010, ILF has given scholarships to six educators to complete their Master s degrees and to one undergraduate student. The Evangelical Theological Seminary in Croatia is a flagship evangelical school for both Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. It is dedicated to ministries of reconciliation, evangelism, and continuing humanitarian relief in the Balkans, a region troubled by sectarian strife and still recovering from war in the 1990s. The Moldova Marriage Ministry is a partnership of NPC and the Moldova Baptist Union. The ministry goal this year is to provide training materials to regional leadership couples to conduct the eight-week program, The Marriage Course, in local churches throughout Eastern Europe and the Balkans. BUILDING UP THE GLOBAL CHURCH

7 The Yayasan Bina Kasih Foundation (YBK) in Indonesia provides transitional housing to former patients of mental hospitals. It is the only ministry of its kind serving the Christian minority in Indonesia. It serves 62 clients with a staff of University Divitia Gratiae in Moldova prepares Christian men and women to serve as pastors, evangelists, Sunday school leaders, and social workers a very great need in that region. They provide special support to students from countries where it is difficult to receive a Christian higher education. The Armenian Relief and Development Association works in Armenia, one of the poorest countries of the former Soviet Union. This organization provides humanitarian gifts-in-kind from the United States and other countries. Through local churches, it shares God s love and the Gospel as it helps children and the elderly with daily needs. BUILDING UP THE GLOBAL CHURCH

CARING FOR THE VULNERABLE Casa de Luz (House of Light) in the Dominican Republic is a beautiful orphanage and home to 40 severely disabled children who ve been abandoned by their families.

8 CARING FOR THE VULNERABLE Casa de Luz (House of Light) in the Dominican Republic is a beautiful orphanage and home to 40 severely disabled children who ve been abandoned by their families. Disabilities include malnutrition, birth defects, Down s Syndrome, and Cerebral Palsy. NPC s 2016 mission team visited this orphanage, which is connected to NPC mission partner Foundation for Peace. Casa de Luz is run by Pastor Lucas and his wife, who sold their homes to build the ministry. They and their staff have huge hearts, and always need help for diapers, medicines, and other supplies. Central Union Mission in Washington, DC provides for the physical and spiritual needs of underprivileged and disenfranchised men, women, and children. During the holidays, the Mission provides gifts for impoverished children and their families via Operation Christmas Miracle. ChildHelp, across the United States, meets the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of abused, neglected, and at-risk children. The principle theme in ChildHelp s work is providing children with an environment of compassion and kindness. Friendship Place in Washington, DC empowers people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to rebuild their lives. With personfocused programs including services for veterans, families, and youth Friendship Place helps people in the metropolitan area obtain housing, jobs, health care and basic necessities. Hope Unlimited for Children works with abandoned or street children in Brazil. The children are referred to Hope by the Brazilian courts, who have determined that these children are at mortal risk. For the recovery of these children, the program has three main phases: rescue, transformation and reentry. Through a Christ-centered and biblically based program, Hope offers a safe haven and family context where children can grow and develop into responsible adults. CARING FOR THE VULNERABLE

9 Martha s Table in Washington, DC feeds the homeless and hungry 365 days a year and provides many other services to break the cycle of poverty. Programs include day care, educational programs, and food to individuals, families, seniors, and veterans. New Endeavors by Women (NEW) in Washington, DC is guided by a mission to partner with homeless women to create new futures. We provide a nurturing environment so that women can recognize their worth. NEW transforms lives by providing housing, fostering the development of life skills, and promoting education and employment to end the cycle of homelessness. NEW operates seven housing programs that serve chronically homeless women and children. Project Mercy works in four rural farming areas of Ethiopia. Its approach starts with working collaboratively with people in the community, identifying solutions to the current needs expressed by the community, and implementing and propagating the solution in a holistic fashion. Project Mercy is working to strengthen the community and alleviate systemic poverty through education, skills training, health care, nutrition, agriculture, orphan care, and spiritual formation. STAARR (formerly known as Committed to Freedom) works in North America to develop recovery resources for survivors of sexual trauma and abuse that facilitate strategic empowerment and nurture the well-being of body, mind, and spirit. They also develop prevention and awareness resources for families, communities, congregations, and organizations. STAAR produces online course resources that are accessible to survivors at their convenience, anonymously, and without fear of disclosure as they seek help. Unique Learning Center (ULC) in Shaw, Washington, DC is a ministry providing critical support to inner-city children and families. ULC empowers children and youth through its after-school and summer youth programs. Both include literacy, project-based academic activities, recreational and cultural outlets, family support, and opportunities for Bible study. CARING FOR THE VULNERABLE

EMBRACING THE REFUGEE Our Missionaries in the Middle East are a couple that ministers with the PC(USA) to Kurds, Yezidis and a large number of Christians and civilians of other religions fleeing

10 EMBRACING THE REFUGEE Our Missionaries in the Middle East are a couple that ministers with the PC(USA) to Kurds, Yezidis and a large number of Christians and civilians of other religions fleeing violence. Although the liberation of Mosul from the so-called Islamic State is underway, over 1 million civilians in Mosul are at risk. The needs of over 550,000 refugees and internally displaced people in Duhok province remain acute with the onset of winter and another year of turmoil in northern Iraq. The Outreach Foundation is supporting Presbyterian Schools in Lebanon that teach Syrian refugee children. Many young refugees are unable to access education in their new homes. Through this project, the Presbyterian National Evangelical Synod of Iraq and Lebanon is striving to give a future to Syrians in a foreign land. Preemptive Love works in Iraq and the Middle East to provide emergency food, shelter, and supplies to families on the run and lifesaving support to those still behind enemy lines in the war with ISIS. The tens of thousands victimized by ISIS don t need a hand-out, they need a handup. Preemptive Love empowers victims, turning them into small business owners, employers, and sustainable sources of revenue and hope for their families and local community. Soap making is one of those activities. www. preemptivelove.org The Refugee Family Project is NPC s effort to welcome a new family being resettled in the D.C. area from Syria or Iraq. We will be a friendly face and provide support for the family s first year in the United States as they adjust to the housing, language, culture, school system, food, and job market in our area. EMBRACING THE REFUGEE

11 Jeremy and Stephanie Seep, missionaries with International Teams in Traiskirchen Austria, serve at The Oasis, a Christian ministry serving asylum-seekers in Europe. Their passion is demonstrating the love of God in word and deed and restoring dignity and respect to these people who have endured so much. oasis.iteams.org Solar Household Energy promotes the potential of solar cooking to improve social, economic, and environmental conditions around the world. Over half the world s population cooks with wood, charcoal or other biomass, leading to respiratory diseases, economic hardship, and environmental degradation. Solar cooking offers a practical, affordable, and sustainable alternative. SHE distributes solar ovens in refugee camps, and works to promote solar cooking in developing countries and demonstrates solar cooking at DC area schools and events. EMBRACING THE REFUGEE

12 Mission Gifts for Christmas 4101 NEBRASKA AVE. NW WASHINGTON DC

Mission Gifts for. Christmas

Mission Gifts for. Christmas Mission Gifts for Christmas Mission Gifts for Christmas Freely you have received, freely give. MATTHEW 10:8 Christmas is coming and our annual Mission Gifts for Christmas event is here! Mission Gifts