ONE LESS
GIF T
2017
what is one less gift? One of our favorite Christmas traditions at College Heights is our One Less Gift initiative. Between Thanksgiving and New Years we set aside money that we would have spent on ourselves to give to others in need around the world. Last year over $100,000 was given to people who have greater needs. Half was used locally and the other half was used internationally to those struggling with hard issues that confront the poor. This year we would love to be able to give away $115,000! In this catalog you will find a variety of wishlist items from our Community and Global Partners. We want to fully fund each request. As a sponsor, your contribution will go toward the One Less Gift fund. We then distrubute these financial gifts porportionately to each of our partners. Come be a part of this amazing opportunity to make a difference this hioliday season! Gather your family , sit down with a cup of your favorite hot drink and consider how you will give to those most in need. You can give at church any Sunday between November 26 and December 31, give online (just mention One Less Gift in the description), or donate at the church office. If you would like to donate to One Less Gift in honor of a friend or family memeber, we have gift certificates available so you can let them know. This would make a great Christmas gift or stocking stuffer! These are available at the Sign Up Counter in the Atrium.
MILESTONES & MEMORIES
2010
2011
2012
2013
$100,088 $107,500 $101, 091 $107,419 This year of One Less Gift we gave approximately $49,000 locally and $51,000 internationally to projects that would directly impact individuals and show them the compassion of Christ. Little did we know what God would do through One Less Gift in years ahead!
Though we ourselves were recovering from the tornado, we were still able to bless a pregnancy crisis center in Serbia, a therapy center for disabled children in Africa, houses for persecuted Christians in India, and a training institute for Christian leaders in Sudan.
One Less Gift funds in 2012 were used for surgery to return sight a near-blind woman, utilities for a family who had lost their jobs, a water well among the poor in Asia, cows for milk for an orphanage, and motorbikes for evangelists in India as well as other projects.
The money this year went toward many projects including cleft palate surgeries for children in India, a water well in Uganda, supplies for Neighborhood Lifehouse in north Joplin, wood for windows in Eastern Europe, and therapy supplies for boys rescued from sex trafficking.
2014
2015
2016
2017 GOAL
$134,680 $121,563 $104,222 $115,000 This year we gave some of the funds to buy goats for a children’s home in India, micro-loans for farmers in Togo, a playground for kids in Sudan, food for families in Serbia, Bible translation in Eastern Europe, and food and blankets to widows in India.
In 2015 we were able to help provide care packages to Syrian refugees, a dental clinic outreach in Northeast Africa, seeds for farmers in Eastern Europe, meals to Joplin residents struggling with poverty, and therapy for kids in North Africa, among other projects.
Last year we were able to help earthquake relief in Haiti, buy motorcycles for evangelists, help refugees overseas and in Missouri, purchase clothes for poor children in India, and sponsor kids with disabilities to go to camp, among many other gifts.
This year, we hope to be able to help a new church in Harlem, bring relief to hurricane victims in Puerto Rico, provide medical training to doctors in Central Asia, purchase blankets for refugees, along with the rest of the gifts in this catalog.
ONE LESS GIFT AROUND THE WORLD Various Projects Eastern Europe Computers for Kids Oklahoma
Church Plant New York
Blankets South Sudan
Various Projects Missouri
Hurricane Relief Puerto Rico
Boys Rescued from Trafficking Dominican Republic
Training Center Southeast Asia
Compassion Projects Eastern Europe
Various Projects Central Asia
Various Projects India
Girls Rescued from Trafficking Cambodia
Microfinance Malawi
Kenny and Shanika Hart and their children
HARLEM
HELPING A NEW CHURCH HELP OTHERS $10,000
Orchard Group has been planting churches in the New York City metropolitan area for over 60 years. Kenny Hart and his wife Shanika (a Brooklyn native) love the people and understand the culture of Harlem. They feel the call to give the rest of their lives to living out the Gospel in this community. With the rapid changes taking place in Harlem, a seismic shift has happened in its demographics and wealth. This often divides the long term residents and newcomers. Kenny sees a need for the ethnic reconciliation that can happen with the spread of the Gospel. This past autumn, they started a multi-ethnic, multi-generational, and socio-economically diverse church unified around the reality that Jesus is Lord. The One Less Gift goal for this project is $10,000. It will create a benevolence fund to help this church show the compassion and mercy of Jesus to the community of Harlem.
PUERTO RICO
HURRICANE RELIEF $7,500
Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on September 20, destroying homes and power lines and leaving thousands of people without homes or work. Nearly 40 of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities are still without power and nearly 20 percent of the island remains without water. Doctors and nurses report seeing patients for health problems related to a lack of clean water. While many donations and volunteers have helped the people in Puerto Rico, there is much work left to do. Joplin knows first-hand the effects a natural disaster has not just on the structures and landscape, but also on the psychological, emotional, relational, and spiritual health of the residents. We are grateful for the countless volunteers and donations that helped us rebuild. In like manner, we want to help the people of Puerto Rico receive the care they need to recover, restore, and rebuild.
CAMBODIA CARING FOR GIRLS RESCUED FROM TRAFFICKING $3,900
A grant for $2,400 will provide shoes, clothing, underwear, and towels for 100 girls of Rapha House in Cambodia. Meeting the basic needs of the children rescued from trafficking allows them to see and feel that they are being cared for and protected. These are the first steps in the healing process. Another $1,500 grant will provide a Pure Water Filter System which will allow the girls and staff to drink water from the tap, at which point they will be able to stop using bottled water that is a health concern due to high heat in storage.
MALAWI
MICROFINANCE $5,000
Lifted Up International provides grants for microfinance projects in the most impoverished areas of the world. One group they work with is the Namikango Village Savings and Loan. Members of the group put their savings together and then use that money for a loan that rotates through the group. These types of programs have been successful in the most impoverished areas. This grant will fund the overhead of the program to support and train loan officers and participants.
EASTERN EUROPE WOOD FOR WIDOWS $3,500
This grant will buy firewood for seven widows and their families in Eastern Europe. This year we will partner with a local pastor who was sent out to a remote part to help with this outreach.
EASTERN EUROPE HELP FOR THOSE STRUGGLING WITH ABORTION $760
Our Global Partners in Eastern Europe see a need to reach out to women who are debating about keeping their unborn baby and those who are struggling to heal from the guilt from aborting one or more babies in their lifetime. This grant will allow them to produce educational literature as well as Bible studies that will open doors to minister to these women and their families.
INDIA BLANKETS FOR WIDOWS
TRAINING FOR VILLAGERS
We value taking care of the poor and widows. This grant for $4,800 to Central India Christian Mission, one of our Global Partner Organizations, will supply blankets and saris for 600 poor widows in villages in India.
Through this grant of $500, CICM will be able to facilitate a training project for the villagers to make soap and candles. Those who have completed the training will become self-supporting and will be able to give training to others.
$4,800
$500
MILK FOR CHILDREN
SEWING MACHINES
This grant of $5,000 will allow CICM to purchase five cows for the children’s home. The cows’ milk will provide much-needed nutrition for the kids. This will be a great blessing to the children’s home.
With this grant of $1,200, CICM will be able to provide sewing machines to ten women in the Lucknow area among the Shepherd people. These women will then be able to also train others how to sew.
$5,000
$1,200
SOUTHEAST ASIA
REHABILITATION
TRAINING CENTER
This special project will provide rehabilitation for a Tai Dam young man at a center that focuses on for counseling, discipleship, and rehab. This grant will pay for the cost of six months at the center.
This grant will help equip a new Tai Dam discipleship training center. Money will go toward tables, chairs, fans, and air conditioning units for the main meeting hall and the dormitory rooms.
$1,500
$2,800
SOUTHEAST ASIA MEDICAL CARE
$2,000
Many Tai Dam people in rural areas of Southeast Asia are unable to receive adequate medical care. Through previous One Less Gift grants, our Global Partners have been able to help people get to the hospital for blood transfusions and other procedures. Our partners have shared with them that there are Christians in other countries who pray for them and want God to bless them and give their money to help the Tai Dam people. This grant of $2,000 helps them show compassion to communicate God's love to people who do not yet know Him, and to display the unity of the Body of Christ for those who do know Him.
SERBIA
HELP FOR SPECIAL NEEDS KIDS
GIFTS FOR WOMEN IN CRISIS
Choose Life Center in Serbia desires to reinforce human dignity through the affirmation of those who are dependent and weak. This grant will help four families with special needs kids.
Choose Life Center in Serbia works with women who are choosing life for their babies in crises situation. Often they are without support of their partner or family, or they are victims of generational poverty.
$1,600
$1,000
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HELPING BOYS RESCUED FROM TRAFFICKING
$4,500
Blackbox International is one of our partners who provides holistic aftercare to boys rescued from sex trafficking. Counseling and therapy are key parts of their ministry to bring about change in the boys rescued from sex-trafficking who are receiving care at the Blackbox home. It is critical in the healing process. A $3,000 grant covers the counseling fees for half a year. A $1,000 grant provides board games, puzzles, cards, notebooks. A $500 grant funds trips to learn woodworking or other skills.
SERBIA SHOES FOR KIDS
HEAT FOR WINTER
This grant will buy winter shoes for ten families in Serbia that our Global Partners serve.
This grant will either provide wood or electricity for heat for 10 families to survive the cold, Serbian winter.
MEDICAL NEEDS FOR A SINGLE MOM
A SEWING MACHINE TO HELP A SINGLE MOM
Jovanka is a single mom with two children who lives in terrible conditions. She needs dental work and her children need medication and inhalers. This grant will provide help.
Rosalie cannot work outside the home and has four small children. With this grant she will be able to buy a computerized sewing machine to use to provide for her family.
$700
$380
$2,000
$900
South Sudanese refugees have run from violence in their country to the surrounding countries. College Heights is working to walk alongside these refugees in the largest refugee settlement in the area. As the rainy season approaches, blankets will help keep people from disease and sickness. This gift of $4,700 will provide 1,300 blankets to refugees in the Maaji Refugee Settlement.
SUDAN
BLANKETS FOR REFUGEES $4,700
CENTRAL ASIA OPPORTUNITY TO GO TO SCHOOL $1,500
NECESSITIES FOR WINTER $1,500
Some of our Global Partners in Central Asia know families who cannot afford to send their children to even the cheapest school in town. They desire to help sponsor a child from one of the families they know personally. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to visit the family to check up on the child and build a relationship with the family. This grant for $1,500 will cover school fees for one child.
On an average day, over 1000 people move into the capital city of a certain Central Asian country. Some are escaping poverty and violence, others have been deported from neighboring countries. All of them need shelter, food, and jobs. For people unused to the cold weather of the capital, winter hits hard. This $1,500 grant will allow a team to distribute blankets and a basic food package to 30 needy families.
EYE CARE & PROTECTION $3,000
MEDICAL TRAINING $1,500
One of the eye doctors in Central Asia shared with our Global Partners that they get three or four day-laborers a week that come in with a foreign body in their eye. They said it would be a blessing to have “protective eye glasses kits” to give to the day-laborers that come in. This grant for $3,000 will allow our Global Partners to put together 200 kits for the doctors and nurses to hand out.
One of our Global Partners collaborates with physicians in the States to deliver training through Skype to physicians in the Public Health Hospital in Central Asia. The training on current trends within the medical world adds value to the hospital and its physicians as they lack resources and knowledge of best practices. This grant of $1,500 will impact thousands of lives that enter the Public Health Hospital.
BENEVOLENCE COMMUNITY CARE $35,500
We work hard to follow scriptural guidelines for being good stewards of the money entrusted to us. The Benevolence Ministry is based upon Scripture: “Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the Law of Christ.”(Galatians 6:2) “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you love one another.” (John 13:3-4) We want to draw people closer to Christ by helping meet their basic financial needs in times of crisis. These disbursements are to be accompanied by, and made in tandem with: evangelism (when applicable), discipleship, and counsel on biblical financial stewardship. Our $35,500 grant toward the Benevolence Fund will provide: •
$15,000 for Counseling
We work with several wonderful counselors in the area. Many from our church and community have received guidance toward healthier relationships and have been given the resources to improve their emotional and spiritual well-being. We also offer financial budget counselors. Creating a personal budget can be a difficult habit to develop. For most people it is reassuring to have someone walk with them through this process. We offer basic budget tools, encouragement, and hope to show people that they are not defined by their financial situation. •
$4,500 for our Car Care Outreach
Four times a year, College Heights offers oil changes and minor car repairs to single parents, the elderly, and those struggling financially. • • •
$10,000 toward housing and utilities $4,000 for food and gas for people in need $1,500 miscellaneous gifts
We also send out teams in the community that adopt the widowed, single parents, and others with long-term needs. Teams of four meet on the third Saturday, for two hours, once a month. They preform basic handyman chores around the house such as yard work, fix a leaky faucet, clean windows, etc. This is a relational ministry making long-term changes in the lives of people.
missouri
WHEELCHAIRS FOR RETIREES
HELPING BLANKETS VICTIMS FOR THE START OVER COLD $2,000
$2,000
Spring River Christian Village provides a range of independent living options for senior adults. They are in great need for wheel chair replacements for their residents. This grant will provide 12 new wheelchairs.
This grant will allow Life Choices to provide GO bags for 20 sexually exploited victims. Each bag contains clothing, toiletries, and other essential items for those who have to walk away from everything in order to be safe.
In preparation for the coming cold weather, Crosslines, one of our Community Partners, wants to provide their clients with sufficient blankets and share the love of God with them in a tangible way. This grant will buy 225 blankets.
$1,455
SAFE PLACE TO PLAY FOR KIDS
A PLACE THAT FEELS LIKE HOME
TRAINING FOR DADS IN JAIL
Neighborhood Life House would like to have a basketball court constructed on their property to provide a safe, fun place for kids to play. This grant will cover more than half the cost of the demolition of the house where the basketball court will go.
God’s Resort is currently building two apartment buildings. Each building will have four one-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom apartment. This grant will provide beds and bedding for five of their apartments.
The Christian Prison Ministries of Missouri offers classes to inmates to help them learn how to be good dads while they are in prison. This grant will sponsor two classes with an average of 20 inmates each.
$1,000
$1,500
$1,600
MISSOURI & OKLAHOMA
BEDS FOR THE HOMELESS
COMPUTERS FOR KIDS
This grant sponsors Bed 17 for an entire year at Watered Gardens Gospel Mission. The sponsorship also includes not only a bed, but also access to laundry and shower facilities, meals, hygiene items, a set of clothing and shoes, an opportunity to hear the Gospel, and an opportunity to enter into a mentoring relationship for goalsetting, life skills and accountability.
A valuable and costly element of a child’s education is technology. Cookson Hills is in dire need to provide new computers for their students as most of their equipment is over ten years old. This grant for $2,200 will enable Cookson Hills to continue providing students with a quality education that will prepare them for success and a hopeful future.
$5,745
$2,200
MISSOURI
GOD’S WORD IN THEIR HEART LANGUAGE $2,000
Enabling the local church to reach people in their heart language is valuable. This grant will help provide the resources to translate the worship service at a church in Noel, MO for 25 Burmese. This will initially affect the Burmese community but hopefully affect new refugee and immigrant people groups attending church in Noel. As God’s message goes out in their mother tongue, we pray that other groups will see and take advantage of this tool in order to reach their own people.
4311 E Newman Road Joplin, MO 64801 417.624.6915 chjoplin.org
ONE LESS
GIF T
You can give during the offering collection or in the Atrium on Sunday mornings, at the receptionist’s office during the week, or online at chjoplin.org/give anytime. For attribution for photos, visit chjoplin.org/onelessgift