On the first Sunday of each month we take an offering to give away to those in need.  This Sunday we will be taking a special offering to give to the newfrontiers churches in Kenya who are in the middle of a severe famine.  Several church members have died as a result of the famine and hundreds and thousands more are in danger and difficulty.  This is an opportunity to show compassion to those in need and demonstrate the reality of our faith.

For more information on the famine you can watch a short video from the New York Times website.

For more information on the newfrontiers churches in Kenya take a look at their website.

Over the last couple of months we have been taking offerings for various ministries including the Street Pastors project in Greenwich and COAT (Chinese Orphans Assistance Team).  The result of those offerings is that we can give £251 to Street Pastors and £1850 to COAT.  These are 2 great causes to invest our money in and I know that those involved would want to thank everyone who gave.

Over the last few months we have taken several offerings for churches in Zimbabwe that are working in the middle of real challenge to bring mercy and justice to their communities.  We raised £1585 to send off to them.  Some of that money was used to help advertise a national campaign about farming God’s way, the rest went into a general fund to support the work they are doing.  Many other newfrontiers churches also took offerings and in total well over £300,000 was given.  More information on the newfrontiers website.  The leaders of the work in Zimbabwe would want you to know how grateful they are for everything that has been given.

From now until Easter, our Sunday offerings will be going towards helping to fund the Street Pastors initiative in Greenwich.  Street Pastors is an interdenominational response to street crime, it’s a great way for us to serve the community by being generous with the resources God has given us.

Here is the blurb from the Greenwich Street Pastors team…

 ”Following the death of a teenager in Woolwich in February 2008, local churches gathered to pray for young people and against violence, in particular gun and knife crime. Hence, Streetpastors in Greenwich is a practical response born out of real need in the community. In June, all local churches were invited to consider starting at Streetpastors programme. In July, the first Streetpastors Management Committee met. The local churches involved in this programme desire to see our community become a safe place for all.

The police have provided statistics which show a 30% reduction of criminal activities in Lewisham, a 90% reduction in criminal activities in Camberwell and a 74% reduction reduction in criminal activities in Peckham on nights with visible, uniformed Streetpastor presence. Regular feedback from the police and many in the wider community suggests that the mere presence of Streetpastors on the streets makes people feel safe, promotes social cohesion among the people on the streets, among churches and across different faith groups.”

During November and December our weekly offering is going towards the Jericho Road project run by Kings Church Catford. The project aims to serve people by offering supported housing and keyworkers to men and women.  The last chance to give towards this will be on December 14th.

Every Sunday in October our Sunday offering is going towards a group of churches in Zimbabwe that are advancing the kingdom of God by preaching the gospel and serving the poor around them with great love and faithfulness.  In the midst of political chaos and personal hardship they are a wonderful provocation and an example to us of biblical Christianity.  In particular they are having a massive influence through the ‘Farming God’s Way‘ programme that helps local farmers improve their crop yield by adhering to biblical principles.

Part of God’s call on us is to ‘excel in the grace of giving.’  We want to raise thousands of pounds to give away to those in need all over the world – and down the street.  Bring some money or a chequebook on Sunday to give towards a worthy cause.

Our first offering we took as a church was to go to a group of churches in Kenya who were responding to the massive need of displaced people on the back of the political violence that took place earlier this year. We sent several thousand pounds to help them house the homeless, feed the hungry and care for the bereaved. For more information on the churches and their work visit www.edfri.org