December 2014 Dear New Life Covenant Church Family, I am excited to share with you information regarding the special offering, called The Christmas Offering that begins now and continues through January 31, 2015. God has once again blessed our church plant incredibly in the year of 2014. Unfortunately, a number of people left our church for various reasons. This year, we have lost more people than we have received new comers who joined our church. As a result, the size of the church shrunk. However, God has been faithful to our church once again. Even though our attendance decreased, more people are serving and giving than last year. More people went out to the streets of Palatine and prayed, shared the gospel, and promoted our church. God has given us a gift of an associate pastor to help the church to be more effective in taking care of our people. God has blessed us by allowing us to participate in the community event, called Palatine StreetFest, where we were able to be more visible in the community. We prayed for multiple people who came to our table, told people about our church, and made friends with other organizations in the city. We also hosted the Ice Cream Social and the Harvest party in the Fall. At the Harvest party, we had over 150 people, including 60 children showed up. It was huge success. Lastly, our annual Thanksgiving Pot-luck dinner was a huge success. It was the biggest Thanksgiving dinner we have ever hosted. We had 95 people showed up, including 9 visitors. God has also used the Women s Ministry gatherings to encourage and build up the women of our church. Our college ministry is going strong each week, as we invest in the lives of our next generation. Apart from Oasis @ Wheaton, U of I, and Palatine, we have also started the Oasis Tour, where we visit churches in other regions and lead revival meetings for the young people in the region. Through this Oasis Tour, we have visited churches in Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Carol Stream, IL in the summer. The people in these churches have experienced the power and love of Christ during these revival meetings. We also started MarriedPeople in the Fall, which is a small group for married people. We have about 7 couples meeting monthly, learning, sharing, and praying for Godly marriage in their lives. Lastly, we have sent two people this year to YWAM to attend a 6 month long Discipleship Training school. Both Jacob Kim and Elizabeth have encountered God in powerful ways while at YWAM, and they have been impacted greatly through the program. Both of them now know clearly who they are in Christ, what destiny God has given them to pursue in their lives, and have a passion to be on fire Christians. With this special offering, we have the opportunity to deepen our impact in our community, enlarge our ministry to our regular attendees, and engage those without a church in our region and throughout the world. This year, we spent $13,300 on supporting missionaries. We supported pastor Amos Shakya, who is ministering at a Nepali-Bhutanese Church in Chicago. We also supported Amit Kumar, an Indian church leader, who is serving in the state of UP (Uttar Pradesh), India as a state coordinator. In addition, this year we began supporting Pastor Peter & Cindy Oh, who are doing a ministry in Egypt. In addition, we supported and invested in the young people in expanding God s Kingdom by assisting their short-term mission trips/trainings, such as Mission Builders and the YWAM programs. Lastly, we spent $1368, supporting four Compassion International children, in partnership with the Korean church youth group.
We spent $8464 on special outreach events, including the summer picnics, Palatine StreetFest, Ice Cream Social, the Harvest Party, and Thanksgiving potluck, as well as evangelism follow-up meetings and dinners, including OASIS @ Wheaton College & University of Illinois. We also assisted the women s ministry and provided some scholarships to those who couldn t afford to attend the Men s retreat. We spent $2158 on training our staff and our worship team(s), so that they are more equipped to serve our church better. Lastly, we spent $200 as the benevolence fund. We helped our church family who needed financial help. We also helped some of the young people in the church to receive an emotional healing/counseling. I hope you will carefully read over the enclosed documents to learn about this exciting opportunity for us to give sacrificially. Will you begin praying now about what God would have you give, over and above your regular giving, to this special offering? Allow God to stretch your faith! Your friend, Pastor Joon Hwang P.S. The enclosed documents will give you an overview of the special offering and answer many common questions. However, if you have any additional questions or wish to receive our church budget report, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone (847-341-9554) or e-mail (joonhwang@newlifecov.org)
The Christmas Offering New Life Covenant Church December 1, 2014 January 31, 2015 OVERVIEW The Christmas Offering Special Offering is a call to sacrificial giving with a goal of $11,000 for three ministry initiatives: 1. To support Global and US Missions (Nepali-Bhutanese church in Chicago, missionaries & local church planters & leaders in North India, & Peter Oh from Egypt) 2. To fund the 2014 Benevolence Ministry to support our fellow attenders at their time of greatest need (physical, emotional, and spiritual). This special offering will be received through January 31, 2015. Use the envelope in the program with Christmas Offering. To support Global and US Missions THE PURPOSES OF THE OFFERING We are a church that supports both the local & foreign missions. This focus will continue as we have a great opportunity to assist missionaries around the globe who are reaching out to every identified people group, especially those in highly unreached & unengaged countries. Through cooperative efforts with New Life Church (our mother church), we are designating a portion of the special offering to support missionaries in India. Currently we are supporting a local Indian church leader, Amit Kumar, who is serving in Uttar Pradesh, India. In addition, we will be supporting a church planter, who is ministering to Nepali refugees from Bhutan in the North side of Chicago (Led by pastor Amos Shakya). We will support our in-house missionaries like Johnny Kim and Jane Cho. We also support number of college students who go onto short-term mission trips (9-11 weeks) all over the USA and the overseas, including the Discipleship Training School provided by the YWAM (Youth With a Mission). To fund the Local Outreach & Evangelism We are a church plant and we cannot stop inviting people to our church through evangelistic and outreach efforts in 2015. In 2014, we had multiple events where we invited our friends and family to join our church service, picnics, and parties. As a result of these events, we have had a lot of visitors coming to our church and joined our family. In 2015, we are planning to do more of these invitational meetings and events.
To fund the 2015 Benevolence & Counseling Ministry Since 2012, we have set up a Benevolence Ministry that approves all valid requests for benevolence funding to come along side of people in distress due to difficult financial times, a death in the family or a need for Christian therapy & counseling. We are anticipating and preparing for a benevolence requests in 2015 due to the current economic climate. Frequently Asked Questions WHY A SPECIAL OFFERING? As part of God s plan to grow the faith of the people in His church, He calls us to sacrificial giving from time to time. This special offering is an opportunity for us to grow in our faith and to prepare us for what God wants to do through our church in 2015. This offering is not because we are behind on budget, but rather is to position us to make a greater impact in 2015, in our city, in our church and around the world. WHAT S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE REGULAR OFFERING AND THIS SPECIAL OFFERING? The regular offering is the proportional amount that we set apart on a systematic basis and give throughout the year. From time to time there are opportunities to give in a sacrificial way. This special offering is one of those sacrificial occasions that stretch us to grow in our faith. The special offering should be over and above what you regularly give. HOW MUCH SHOULD I GIVE? Since the goal is $11,000 this special offering will involve everyone. Please prayerfully consider a sacrificial gift that will stretch your faith. The precise amount you give is between you and God. Many in our church can give a $250, $500 or even a $1000 gift. Others will be able to give between $20 and $100. The issue is not equal giving, but equal sacrifice. What amount can you give that will stretch your faith? WHY IS THE GOAL SO LARGE? The goal of $11,000 is a large goal. We want to be a church that has dared to dream big dreams for God. The ministries supported by this offering are BIG. Big Dreams require big faith and big funding. The accomplishment of these big dreams will be determined by your gifts to this special offering. By the way, we reached out goal of $10,000 last year. So, I believe we can do this again! WHEN SHOULD I GIVE? The best time to give will be the first Sunday after you receive this packet. Please pray about making your best gift on that day. However, you can continue to give until January 31, 2015. Please use the Christmas Offering envelopes or include a note designating that your gift is for the special offering. CAN I GIVE ON-LINE? Yes! Please go to our website: www.newlifecov.org and click on the icon, Online Giving. It is very easy to follow the instruction.
ARE MY GIFTS TAX-DEDUCTIBLE? All gifts to New Life Covenant Church, whether via the regular offering or this special offering, are completely tax-deductible. Your gift will be deductible in the tax year given (i.e., gifts given in 2014 will be deductible on your 2014 taxes). Please be sure to include your name and address when you give so that a receipt can be sent to you for your tax preparations. You are not required to utilize a tax-deduction for your gift, but it is available for all gifts. HOW DID WE ARRIVE AT AN $11,000 GOAL? The $11,000 goal was prayerfully set by the pastor. It is approximately five times our regular weekly giving. It is a God-sized goal that can only be accomplished through 100% participation and sacrificial giving by our New Life Covenant Church attenders and members. Since we are expecting God to bless this special offering, it has been determined that any amount over and above our goal will be divided equally between local and foreign Missions. HOW WILL I KNOW IF WE REACH OUR GOAL? Please pray for God s guidance as we all give sacrificially. You will be updated on our giving progress through emails and during the Sunday services. Reaching this goal will be a celebration of what we can do together as we stretch our faith under God s leadership. Have additional questions? Please contact Pastor Joon Hwang at joonhwang@newlifecov.org or call 847) 341-9554.