Because of everyone’s extraordinary generosity in last Sunday’s offering, we were able to donate $3,412 to Haitian relief efforts!

Specifically, $1,250 was sent to a sister congregation, Chapel Hill United Methodist Church (Indianapolis), to purchase medical supplies for their medical missions trip to Haiti. They left Friday, February 5 and expect to treat 5,000 patients at a clinic near Port-au-Prince this week. Another $2,162 was sent to Partners In Health to be used exclusively to provide medical and health services for the poor in Haiti. Thank you so much for your overflowing generosity!

If you’d like to make additional, individual contributions to help in Haiti, you can find more information here:

• Partners in Health
• Doctors Without Borders
• American Red Cross or text “Haiti” to 90999

Next Sunday, January 31, 20% of everything you put in the offering plate will automatically go to relief efforts in Haiti. Our Missions Board has conducted extensive research and has identified two organizations who are doing exceptional work in Haiti.

Chapel Hill Medical Missions Trip
The first $1,250 of our relief funds will go to support a medical missions trip being coordinated by a sister congregation here in Indianapolis, Chapel Hill United Methodist Church. They will be sending 17 medical missionaries to Haiti from February 5-13. They have made similar trips to Haiti for years. These medical missionaries will be stationed at a clinic about an hour north of Port-au-Prince, where refuges from Port-au-Prince are fleeing to seek medical assistance.

The Chapel Hill team expects to treat about 5,000 Haitians during their two week stay! Our funds will be used exclusively to purchase medical supplies for this trip, including antibiotics, bandages, suture kits, braces, splints, and medications. If you would like to help prepare handwritten notes of encouragement for these medical missionaries, join us at the church this Tuesday, January 26 at 7:00 pm in Room 6.

Partners In Health
Amounts collected in excess of $1,250 will go to Partners In Health. Our Missions Board is very impressed with the work PIH is doing. For the past 20 years, PIH has employed a number of native Haitians to provide medical and health services for the poor in their local communities — as well as water, food, and shelter. All of the funds we donate to PIH will go directly to their relief work in Haiti.

When you give next Sunday, there is no need to designate your giving for Haiti. We will automatically set aside 20% of every dollar donated next Sunday. This approach has worked well for us in the past when we responded to the tsunami in Asia and starvation in Africa. Our 80/20 formula allows us to make a very sizeable donation to relief efforts without falling too far short in funding the ongoing ministries of our Church.

So, we encourage all who can to plan to give a little extra next Sunday, as an expression of God’s love for Haiti. Thanks!

The AIDS Walk supports services and programs that help more than 10,000 Hoosiers with HIV/AIDS. Funds raised will provide assistance with shelter, utilities, food, medicine, and other daily living needs. The funds are managed by the Greg Powers/Direct Emergency Financial Assistance Fund (DEFA).

Won’t you sign up today to be part of Team JMCC? Your participation can make a huge difference to people right here in Indiana. The walk is Saturday October 10, 1:00 pm at University Park. You can join the team or make a donation online, or sign up and get details at church on Sunday.

If you can’t walk (or don’t want to) you can participate by gathering pledges or sponsoring someone else. You’re even welcome to join the team on Saturday for the team picture, turn in your pledges, and not walk, if that’s what you’d prefer. Our goal is to raise funds to help those in need!

The 2009 Navajo Nation Mission Service Team will depart this week for Gallup, New Mexico to lend a hand to the Navajo people. We’ll be working with the Southwest Indian Foundation to help with new home construction for those in need.

• Please pray for the Team: for our health and safety, and that we demonstrate the love of Christ in all our actions.
• Please pray for the Navajo People: that God will prepare their hearts, and that they will be abundantly blessed!

Jesus MCC is partnering with New Community Project in two practical areas: promoting agriculture sustainability and women’s development in the southernmost portion of The Republic of Sudan.

There are several local projects which have been created to bring about greater peace, prosperity, and equality for the people of Sudan. We hope to support these wonderful projects.

To provide funding for the New Community Reforestation Project and the Girl Child Education Fund, Jesus MCC will be offering delicious pizzas for sale. Every cent of profit will be directed toward the planting of trees in southern Sudan, or toward the tuition costs for a young girl’s education. The people of Sudan have told us that these two areas of concern are the most critical to their future.

Together we can make a difference on the other side of the globe and make earth a little more like heaven.

Orders will be taken at the church July 19, 26, and August 2. All pizzas will be picked up or delivered on August 15 and 16. Please visit the table in the social hall to place your order or to get more information. You’re also welcome to email Melody Merida with questions.

Trip to Sudan, January 2009 from Jesus MCC on Vimeo.

Six people from Jesus MCC went to Sudan with New Community Project to meet the people there, learn about the country and their needs, and to see if there is something we can do to make a difference.

See also:

• From the Be Still and Know devotional: Lessons from Sudan
• Pictures from the trip: Back from Sudan
• A Visit to the Sudan: Great Need, and Glimmers of Hope

2008 Missions Service Trip to the Navajo Nation from Jesus MCC on Vimeo.

An overview of Jesus MCC’s Missions Service Trip to Gallup, New Mexico, to work with the Southwest Indian Foundation and the Navajo Nation. The trip was in October, 2008.

Our missions team returned from Sudan this week. Here are a few pictures from the trip, and the group will share much more information in the weeks ahead. Click the picture to enlarge.

Greetings from sunny, cool — and very dry — Gallup, New Mexico. It’s hard to believe that a year has flown by since our mission service team has been here, but amazingly enough, we’ve picked up where we left off.

While we’ve only been here a few days, so many wonderful things have happened –- so here’s the latest from the southwest.

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Have you ever noticed, that when Jesus was physically present on the earth, he often used ordinary things to achieve incredible results? He used mud to heal a blind man, and a little boy’s lunch to feed a crowd. As we seek to follow Jesus, God is allowing our simple, ordinary offerings to be used to save hundreds of lives and reduce the impact of the plague of mosquito-borne malaria.

Malaria kills 3,000 people every day in Africa (that’s about one every 30 seconds), and it infects and weakens many, many more. Jesus MCC, through our Missions Board and the Sudan Ministry Team, are helping to change that by providing mosquito nets — a simple, ordinary thing — to save hundreds of lives.

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Two exciting missions projects are now taking shape:

• We’re making plans for another Navajo Nation Missions Service Trip in October, and
• We’ll be parking cars at the Brickyard 400 to offset some of the costs of this trip and other missions endeavors.

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Did you know that one person dies from malaria every thirty seconds?

We have the opportunity to help change those alarming numbers for the better. In May, we’re going to donate our time to help direct cars to parking at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. By doing that, we can raise funds to provide mosquito nets, which help prevent the spread of mosquito-borne malaria.

The money will go to support mosquito net manufacturing and distribution by the New Community Project, a nonprofit Christian organization that provides assistance to people and communities in need around the world. Representatives from NCP visited Jesus MCC in September 2007, as we began to explore ways Jesus MCC can make a positive difference for some of the neediest people around the world.

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In January, Becca Huttsell, a member of Jesus MCC’s Missions Board, took a two-week trek to the country of Sudan, Africa. She went at the invitation of New Community Project (NCP), a nonprofit Christian organization that provides assistance to people and communities in need around the world.

David Radcliff is the Founder and Director of NCP. He visited Jesus MCC in September 2007, as we began to explore ways Jesus MCC can make a positive difference for some of the neediest people around the world.

Becca says about her trip, “What I learned is that the people in southern Sudan require continued aid, protection and humanitarian assistance due to injustice and atrocities. They have suffered in silence and invisibility for too long. I pray that we, the congregation of Jesus MCC, will find a way to help bring hope to the people in this troubled land.”

New Community Project has found a way to be the hands and feet of God in action. Heads are now raised that once bowed low.

After we have gathered enough information, the Missions Board will prepare a proposal for how we can help. Continue reading for Becca’s complete report.

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Do you like working with people from different cultures? Are you fulfilled when you can help others to help themselves? Do you realize how blessed we are, and would you like to share those blessings with others? If so, you may be interested in a new Ministry Team that is being formed — The Navajo Nation Ministry Team.

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Thank you for your incredible generosity! Because of you, many people have had a brighter Christmas.

Through our Giving Tree tradition, 175 gifts were given to Indiana Youth Group and clients of the Damien Center.

And on December 15, our Homeless Ministry served breakfast and gave gifts and treats to our homeless neighbors at Horizon House. The Team served 150 hearty breakfast casseroles, which were purchased at cost from a caterer, using funds from the Homeless Ministry budget and some special donations. They also distributed 200 vouchers for free meals that were donated by McDonald’s, and 160 goodie bags filled with candy and cookies.

A week of hard work — housing repairs and working with adults and children with developmental disabilities — and building friendships and sharing the love of Christ. Jesus MCC’s first-ever missions trip is summarized in the photos below.

Click a thumbnail for larger images and more information.

October 23, 2007
Day Four
Our team has limited internet access, but they are trying to see what they can do to send updates.

One of the team members, in a brief phone call, indicated that today went very well at the two homes where they are working, and three people will start helping with the disabled tomorrow.

The Missions Team on location — day one.

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World Missions Day 2007!

September 23 is Jesus MCC’s first-ever World Missions Day! Our morning services will feature Pastor Nan Erbaugh from Lower Miami Church of the Brethren, Dayton, Ohio. Nan will give us an overview of the critical situation in Sudan, based on her travels with the New Community Project. The evening service will feature the Director of the New Community Project, David Radcliff, who will talk about how we can connect with a community in Sudan and show the love of Christ by meeting practical needs. After the evening service, David will share dinner in the Social Hall and answer questions.

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Jesus MCC’s first-ever World Missions Day is coming September 23! We will hear from two special guest speakers about the needs of communities in Sudan and about the New Community Project, an exciting global outreach organization that helps churches partner with communities in need, to offer the love of Christ by meeting practical needs. Our church is considering working with the New Community Project, so you won’t want to miss this special service!

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On Sunday evening, August 26, members of Jesus MCC’s Homeless Ministry and their guests attended Horizon House’s annual fundraiser, “Tackling Homelessness,” sponsored in part by Colts player Hunter Smith. The event was held at the Colt’s training facility, and featured a performance by the Christian rock group, Connersvine, Hunter Smith’s band. Several other Colts players, including Jeff Saturday and Dallas Clark were on hand to take pictures with people and to sign autographs.

But one of the highlights of the evening came when Joe Slaughter of Herff Jones got up to speak and present the Community Partner Award, which was given to Jesus MCC’s Homeless Ministry. (Herff Jones received the award in 2006.)

Homeless Ministry leader Charlotte Egler receives the Community Partner Award from Joe Slaughter of Herff Jones.

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