COLLEGE HEIGHTS CHRISTIAN CHURCH
CHRISTMAS 2013
“There are many good things about how Christians celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, wonderful traditions we want to keep and preserve. But for many of us, when the holidays are over, there is also an unsettling pull, a tug from deep within our consciences that tells us something important got lost in all of the holiday frenzy. The Spirit of God and our hearts tell us that we can do better.�
ONE LESS GIFT Last year, the holiday season was changed for many of us. Many College Heights families committed to give to the “One Less Gift” campaign. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas $100,000 that we could have spent on ourselves and our families was given to people who have greater needs. $50,000 was used locally for those locked into poverty and $50,000 was used internationally for those struggling with hard issues that confront the poor. Some of the money was used for surgery to return the eyesight of a godly Jamaican lady who had gone blind, utilities for a family that had lost their jobs, food and groceries for those struggling to make ends meet, a water well among a poor community in Asia, and motorbikes for local evangelists in India. This year we joyfully invite you and your family to partner again…or for the first time in this effort. We want to grow both our worship and our impact as we assist the poor. Our Plan: Each of us must continue to give generously to the vital “on-going” ministries of the church. Without faithful giving to the general offering, every ministry suffers. But beyond this, please plan to give a special “One Less Gift” offering for those with the greatest need. We will collect the money between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This gift will be used to meet the needs of our neighbors… some locally and some internationally as we work through our global partners.
The holiday season should be celebrated! It should be joyful, but excessive consumerism and excessive “selfism” cannot be the center of our worship. There are far better things to do with our lives! Doing better means giving gifts to one another, it means food and family. But it also means that I would like to give more to those most in need.
Randy
Preaching Minister
HOW ONE LESS GIFT WORKS In this catalog you will find a wide variety of wish list items from our community and global partners. Through One Less Gift our goal is to fully fund each request. As a sponsor, your contribution will go toward the One Less Gift fund. We will then distribute these financial gifts proportionately to each of our community and global partners. Our
A LOOK BACK AT THE IMPACT O Watch our 2012 One Less Gift video online at vimeo.com/55639485 or scan the QR code.
desire is to fund all of the requests 100% and have money left over to bless other outreach opportunities. Come be a part of this amazing opportunity to make a difference this holiday season! So gather your family, sit down with a cup of your favorite hot drink, and prayerfully consider how you will give to those who most in need. You can give at church on any Sunday between November 10 and December 31, pay online (just mention “One Less Gift” in the memo or description), or bring a check into the church office.
OF ONE LESS GIFT IN INDIA 2012 Top Left: Surgeons perform a life-changing cleft palate operation on a child. Bottom Left: Cows which will provide milk for children are presented to two children’s homes. Bottom Center: The dedication plaque for the newly drilled well is ready to set in place. Bottom Right: Local evangelists getting ready to try out their new bikes and motorcycles. Top Right: Children who will get to enjoy the milk from the new cows.
A WATER WELL IN UGANDA We would love to help Livingstone International University in Uganda provide a well to give the local area access to quality, clean drinking water and show their commitment to the community. The next nearest water source is too far to walk on a daily basis.
$15,000
for clean drinking water
A SAFE PLACE FOR RESCUED GIRLS Rapha House Cambodia runs safe houses for girls who have been rescued from trafficking in Southeast Asia. They are the only providers of a specific place for girls who have been victims who also have special needs. We would like to help provide a place where these girls can be outside in the fresh air and engage in their daily therapy. Their special needs girls love to swing and we would love to be able to bless them in this way.
$2,500
to improve a special needs facility for rescued girls
SMILES THROUGH SURGERY A team of doctors will be visiting the area of Central India Christian Mission to operate on children born with cleft lips and cleft palates. While these surgeons do not charge for the procedure, CICM will be providing medicine, hospital care, post-operative care, and food for the families at the cost of $300 per family. In the month of February, they plan to provide surgeries for 70 to 100 children. We would like to help cover some of these costs for a procedure that will make a major difference in the lives of these children and their families.
$10,000
for 30 cleft palate surgeries for children
BASIC NEEDS FOR KIDS Near our Global Partners in Southeast Asia, a local lady provides housing for children who come to the area for schooling. We would like to enable her to help more kids by providing housing, shoes, clothes, and medical supplies.
$1,000
to help kids in Southeast Asia
BUILDING A WELL We would like to help fund the building of a drinking water well in a town in Central Asia that will help a small medical clinic better meet the needs of its community by providing a much needed resource.
$3,000
towards a well for drinking water near a medical clinic
MICROLOANS FOR THE POOR We would like to partner with Lifted Up International to provide grants to microfinance programs that benefit children in both Kenya and India. Microloans are making a major impact in the lives of the poorest of the poor; more importantly, they open the door to the sharing of the Gospel.
$5,000
to provide loans to impoverished families
ASSISTING A BIBLE COLLEGE We would like to bless a small Bible college in Central Asia that is training local believers and translating the Bible into the local language. We would like to sponsor one month of their operating costs for 2014 so they can continue their work.
$2,500
towards funding a small Bible college in Western Asia
WINTER SUPPLIES FOR LOCALS As winter approaches, we would like to bless the office workers and house workers of our Global Partners in Central Asia with extra blankets, wood, and winter supplies.
$2,000
for wood and winter supplies to help local workers
HELPING AN ORPHANAGE Near our Global Partners in Central Asia, there is an orphanage that needs extra help purchasing supplies so that they may better care for the orphans that they serve. We would like to bless them with a gift that will help them minister more effectively.
$1,000
to help an orphanage
“MAAMA” KITS Our Global Partners in Africa live in a country with one of the highest maternal mortality rates. Many women are too poor to afford the basics (soap, gloves, clean razor) that could make a difference in preventing infections. Each Maama kit costs only $12 but can make the difference between life and death for these women and their babies.
$360
for “Maama Kits” for 300 women
BIBLES IN A LOCAL LANGUAGE A tribe that lives near our Global Partners in Africa have an extreme lack of Bibles in their local language. They basically have one Bible per church. We would like to be able to provide at least a hundred Bibles so that more believers can have the Word of God in their heart language in their hands.
$1,500
for a hundred Bibles
THERAPY EQUIPMENT FOR KIDS In North Africa our Global Partners run a physical therapy center that ministers to many families. We would like to be able to buy them a special bike that they can use with the children that visit them in the center.
$100
to provide equipment for a therapy center
WOOD FOR WIDOWS We would like to provide enough firewood to heat the homes of at least five widows in the community of our Global Partners in Eastern Europe. Some of these widows are believers but live with family who have not yet professed faith. Firewood for a winter would cost $500 per home.
$2,500
to help 5 widows
THERAPY FOR TRAFFICKED KIDS Blackbox International recently opened their first safe house in the Dominican Republic for boys who are rescued out of sex trafficking. We would like to provide art equipment and fund an art therapist to visit the home to train the counseling staff to use art as therapy for these boys recovering from their trauma. Baseball is a big deal in the Dominican Republic and baseball equipment would be also helpful to use in their sports therapy.
$1,800
for art supplies and art therapy training
$500
for sports therapy equipment
EDUCATION Timea, who is 30, is a client of the Choose Life Center (crisis pregnancy center) in Serbia. She has made poor choices in the past and would like to make a fresh start by finishing her high school education. She is studying hard, but does not have the funds to complete her final year. We want to help her reach her goal.
$550
to help Timea finish high school
PROVIDING HEAT The Nexus church in Novi Sad, Serbia is working with seven of the poorest families in the city who are struggling with basic needs. We would like to help minister to these families during the cold winter months by providing heat to their homes.
$1,400
to help seven of the poorest families stay warm
MEDICAL HELP FOR MOM AND TODDLER Jovana was poverty stricken when she choose to keep her baby boy, and now he is dealing with pneumonia which requires medication and inhaler treatments. We would like to help buy these medical supplies for this family who is cared for by the Choose Life Center in Serbia.
$250
to provide medical supplies
You can give at church on any Sunday between November 10 and December 31, pay online (just mention “One Less Gift� in the memo or description), or bring a check into the church office.
APPLIANCES FOR CHOOSE LIFE CENTER The Choose Life Center in Serbia provides accomodation to clients in crisis situations. We want to help them equip this space with needed appliances so that their clients can feel cared for in their time of crisis in a comfortable environment.
$700
to help women in crisis
LOVE GIFTS FOR FAMILIES The Choose Life Center would love to be able to show love in a practical way as they minister to women who have chosen to keep their babies in spite of their poverty. We would like to help them provide diapers, shoes, winter coats, and food to 10 families.
$1000
to provide practical help to moms in poverty
COMMUNITY CARE BENEVOLENCE
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.’ “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:34-40
In 2012 through the money given to One Less Gift, we were able to help hundreds of families with practical needs including rent, mortgage payments, electricity bills, financial counseling, marriage counseling, car repairs, gas, and food. We also assisted many single moms, elderly people, and those who are financially challenged through our Car Care ministry which is happens the third Saturday of every other month. We also indirectly helped numerous others in our community through the financial support of We Care Food Pantry, Guiding Light Ministries, Carthage
WHAT WE’VE BEEN HEARING (and want you to hear it, too, since your contributions made it possible)
“My desire and intention with the Lord’s help is to get back on my feet and stay there. Thanks for your generosity with the gift card.” “The propane was a great need since we had run completely out.” “Your check helped us have the funds for part of the adoption process.” “Thank you for the food vouchers. I was totally out of groceries and with no check in the near future.” “Thank you for helping us get back into our home.” “Your prayers and kindness encourage us to keep going and trusting that God will provide. Thank you for your timely and generous gift.” “We have been struggling to keep up with the bills; this gift will help greatly.”
Crisis Center, Lafayette House, as well as other community outreach partners. The Benevolence Team has requested $35,000 in funding to be able to meet the needs of people this coming year. Through your generous giving to the One Less Gift campaign we will be able to better take care of the families in our church and families in our community Some of our church men at a Car who need immediate Care Saturday consult with each practical assistance. other to fix a problem
These are just a few of actual thank you notes we have received this past year.
Neighborhood Life House was created to see communities restored through a relevant church. The heart of a community is its homes and so we set out to be a neighborhood home that brings life and light through love, action and truth. We desire to see our community thrive, developing healthy interpersonal relationships, community partnerships, and systemic change. Neighborhood Life House believes that in caring for those around us we must consider the holistic needs of an individual including not only spiritual, but physical, mental, emotional, and social needs. We desire to see our community rise above the personal and systemic struggles it currently faces through the power of God and what He desires for and creates in His people. In order to serve our community better, Neighborhood Life House needs to fully equip its meeting spaces.
NEIGHBORHOOD LIFE HOUSE
$345
for library furniture
$920
for special projects
$385
for art supplies
$750
for media equipment
$4000
for 10 laptops
$1,000
for skills lab equipment
$255
for game room toys
$935
for computer lab equipment
$415
for learning manipulatives
God’s Resort is a community of people needing the love and support of the body of Christ as they learn about God’s love and influence in their life. God’s Resort is clean, safe and affordable housing in one of Joplin’s highest call-for-service areas, according to the Joplin Police Department. The body of Christ pulls alongside and offers hope and truth to those who are struggling with poverty and/or addictions.
GOD’S RESORT The Community Center is our central location for all activities. It is used on almost a nightly basis to host Bible studies, financial couseling, Sunday Night Fellowship, movie nights, and other activities. The Community Center and the 26 apartments that are a part of the God’s Resort community are in need of items to function efficiently for those they serve.
$4,000
$15,000
for a central heater
$6,500
for new electrical
$800
for 2 new ovens
for new windows
$200
for a new vacuum
COLLEGE HEIGHTS
CHRISTIAN CHURCH 4311 E Newman Road Joplin, MO 64801 417.624.6915 chcchurch.org facebook: chccjoplin twitter: chcchurch Page 5: www.flickr.com/photos/gatesfoundation/6726292423/ www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/6467411983/ Page 7: www.flickr.com/photos/isafmedia/8469998360/ hris1johnson/Flickr Page 8: www.flickr.com/photos/koldo/67559785/ www.flickr.com/photos/isafmedia/8439223195/ DVIDSHUB/Flickr Page 9: www.flickr.com/photos/dfid/6972533402/ www.flickr.com/photos/64749744@N00/5966313848 Therapy chair Page 10: www.flickr.com/photos/ihhinsaniyardimvakfi/6890628207/ www.flickr.com/photos/savethechildrencanada/5534877330/ www.flickr.com/photos/adam_jones/3813797272/ Page12: hwww.flickr.com/photos/oh_darling/4734918454/