Christmas in our outreaches! 2021
Bringing Christmas to our outreaches takes a lot of prayer and planning. Our volunteers and I have begun the process of seeking the Lord and discerning what is most needed right now. Many of you have asked me for specific giving opportunities. Here’s how you can help. But first…
⇒ You can see our 2022 gift options here!
A quick overview of our outreaches
Our outreaches can be confusing for people who are new to our ministry. We serve in India, Mexico, and South Africa. In India, we have three church plants. Two of the churches are located in areas where Christians are persecuted. For their safety, information on these villages is not posted on the website. (You can message me privately for more information.)
The third church is the one you’ll see on our week in review blog posts each Saturday. We have served in India for over 13 years, but it was in the last few years that the Lord called us to plant the churches. He knew they were ready and many have come to faith. The day to day ministry in India is run by our exceptional and dedicated volunteers, and they in turn, have trained others to lead and shepherd. More about our ministry and how it has unfolded over the years can be found in our About page here.
The pandemic has been devastating for those we serve. Without reserves and with little opportunity for work, our first priority has been to make sure no one starves on our watch! Gracethrufaith runs on prayer and the Lord has provided. Now that the Christmas season is approaching, we hope to bless our people with what is most needed in their lives.
To join us this Christmas, choose which outreach you’d like to join, and then come over to our donate page. You can choose the amount there, and write in what you are giving toward in the form on that page. (You can also mail a check to our address on this page as well! Just write on the check, or email me, the outreach you are giving to.)
♥ For our churches in a persecuted area:
(seen above!) The churches in this area experience wet and cold winter months. The two villages together have a total of 200 children. Keeping the kids warm at night is the biggest need this Christmas. A blanket, along with a special fellowship meal would be a great blessing. If you would like to provide for one or more of our kids,
$15 USD will give a blanket and meal to a child.
♥ For our church that we share with you each week:
For generations the families of this village survived by begging. Without a source of clean water, they were unable to keep themselves clean and were not accepted in general society. One of the first things we did was to bring water tanks into the village and keep them filled. Clean water meant they could participate in the market by making items to sell. Since then, we have helped many parents set up their own market stalls. Besides being able to keep clean, having the proper clothes is important. For the first time ever, we were able to enroll many of the children into school. They are the first generation to have this opportunity. The gift that would make the biggest difference this year is new clothes. Being able to dress appropriately goes a long ways to being accepted. If you would like to provide for one or more of our kids,
$15 USD will give clothing and meal to a child.
A few quick posts to share to reminisce together! I just searched for a cute pic of our church to share with you here, and I came across this post from our first week of the church! My heart is so full seeing all these little ones back when we first met them! And then I found two posts, from two of the ladies you’ll see each week in our week in review posts! They wanted to share their stories of tranformation and I shared one here, and the other here. Awwww, I also found this post of their very first Christmas! To remember what church was like before covid, here’s a service from 2019.
♥ To sponsor one of our kids in Mexico
In 2005, the Lord called us to leave our home in the United States to live and serve in Mexico. The teaching ministry of Gracethrufaith continued as our Mexican outreach began. Our desire was to bring the love and care of Jesus to the impoverished areas around us. We do that by providing groceries each week, building and repairing homes, running an after school program for kids at risk, and more recently by providing school classes during the pandemic shut down of the educational system.
To sponsor one of our kids in Mexico
We have 60 kids in our area that would love to be sponsored this Christmas. There are several ways you can do that.
- We will match you up with one of our kids and send you a picture along with some info on what they would love. You can purchase the gift and mail it to our address and we will pick it up. If you would like to purchase your own gift Contact me to be matched with one of our kids here!
2. We will match you up with one of our kids and purchase their gift with the funds you send. For $25 USD, you can sponsor a gift for one of our kids here.
Last year we were blessed by many families sponsoring one of our kids. They have told us that their kids loved participating in the gift buying. One family decided not to exchange gifts and instead, each of them chose a child to sponsor.
You can see our Christmas outreach post from last year here! The Lord moved miraculously here!
♥ A meal and gift for one of our kids in South Africa
We also have a sister church that we partner with in South Africa, and we bring food and necessities to the surrounding impoverished areas. During Covid, it has been very difficult to deliver groceries to these areas. We persevered and the Lord has been faithful. This year, we would love to provide the kids with a fellowship meal and gift.
For $25 USD, you can sponsor a gift and meal for one of our kids in South Africa.
You can see our first Christmas with them in our mega post here!
If you do not reside in the United States, please be mindful that an exchange rate will be applied by your credit card issuer.)
Thank you for joining us for Christmas!
One of my favorite parts of this ministry is seeing how the Lord brings people from around the world together. Giving to those in need does more than just meet a need. It shows the people we serve that the Lord sees them and that the Lord cares for them. He provides for His children through His children, and all are united by His love.
Our ministry is run on prayer. We don’t fundraise and we put our trust in the Lord to prompt His people to give. We give what the Lord gives through His people. Because of this, those we serve know they are not an afterthought to the Lord. They know that the love of their Abba prompted someone far away to help them specifically. It is so incredible!
We all need to know we are loved, and we all need to know we belong. We need it in our relationships with each other but we especially need to know it in our relationship with our Creator. Meeting real needs with the love of Jesus makes His love known. Those we serve are at the bottom of their societies. They are never chosen. They are the ones left behind. When they receive a gift, they hear a different message. They know they are someone that the Lord has chosen.
It’s transformational for both the giver and the receiver, and it’s so much fun! This ministry has seen 22 years of trusting the Lord to provide for each need. It never gets old! Every provision is miraculous. I’m so grateful for all of you who join with us in this special work!
More than anything, we need your prayers. Thank you for keeping us, this ministry, and our outreaches in prayer, and thank you for your support! We couldn’t do any of this without you.
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God bless you!
♥ Samantha