Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:4–5)
For Such a Time as This
The Thanksgiving Offering is our opportunity to give above and beyond our regular giving. We give, first, to express our gratitude to God for His generosity toward us; and second, as a church family to bless others who are doing Gospel work.
This year’s offering is called For Such a Time as This, because we are partnering with several ministry partners who are sharing the Gospel in dangerous places. Just as in the book of Esther, God is still at work today, doing extraordinary things in the very places where His people face the fiercest opposition.
Our Thanksgiving Offering will be given to 12 of our trusted partners who are proclaiming Christ in some of the most challenging places around the world. This year, we’re praying for an additional $250,000 beyond our regular giving.
Would you prayerfully consider how the Lord is leading you to participate this year?
Thanksgiving Offering Recipients:
As Our Own provides a life-long family and best-in-class academics through college to the most vulnerable children in India, those born in the red-light district and high-risk slums. Why? To revolutionize the way the world cares for vulnerable children — caring for them not as orphans but as our own so that they may fulfill the sovereign purpose God has for each child’s life.
Funds raised through this year’s Thanksgiving Offering will help support ongoing work at As Our Own.
In Albania, only 0.4% of the population identifies as Evangelical Christian. A lack of hope for the future is evident in the high number of young people who want to leave the country, as well as in recent protests taking place throughout the nation. In the midst of these challenges, Hands of Providence has a team of nine church planters who are sharing the hope of the Gospel and planting churches in villages. Their ministry focuses on reaching villages that do not yet have an Evangelical church, bringing the Gospel to communities with no access to the Gospel.
This year’s Thanksgiving Offering will help fund this evangelism team’s efforts in the Muslim-majority villages in addition to providing funding for a Christian residential home for orphaned/at-risk boys and a children’s day center.
The Blochs serve in the South of Brazil where voodoo and witchcraft centers outnumber churches, spiritual darkness is heavy, and the Gospel is deeply needed. The Blochs’ ministry includes caring for children through Christ-centered afterschool programs; mentoring and raising up pastors to plant healthy churches; and reaching women with Gospel teaching through the “Women of the Word” ministry.
Funds from this year’s offering will help start another afterschool program for children and begin a church plant in the area.
Call Of Hope works around the world to raise up Muslim-background believers and equip them to reach their communities. We currently partner with Call Of Hope’s work in Nigeria and Lebanon, where Christians are regularly persecuted for their faith and ongoing regional conflicts have created major challenges to the Gospel.
Our prayer is to use funds from this year’s offering to support the ongoing work in Northern Nigeria to reach Muslims with the Gospel!
In the red-light district of San Jose, Costa Rica, the ministry of Casa Esperanza (Hope House) is a blessing in a dark place. Jeff and Michelle McQueary serve women in the hardest part of the city who have been trapped in prostitution and trafficking, often for decades. Casa Esperanza focuses on sharing Christ’s love and providing holistic healing — addressing physical, emotional, spiritual, and relational needs to break the cycle of exploitation and poverty.
Help us support new projects at Casa Esperanza such as adding more vocational classes, counseling opportunities, and resources for women in need through this year’s Thanksgiving Offering!
CPDE’s goal is to reach the Arab World for Jesus by planting healthy, reproducing churches across the Middle East and North Africa region. Through this ministry partner’s efforts, the Spirit is working to raise up locally led, sustainable church bodies in the hardest places in the world.
A portion of the Thanksgiving Offering will go to fund training for church leaders in countries like Iran and develop income opportunities, like a ministry-run dairy farm, for believers who have fled their homelands due to persecution.
God is at work in the hearts of the people of Israel. The Gospel of Jesus is radically changing lives and bringing God’s people together across all boundaries. Middle East Ministries aims to reach the lost, strengthen those who believe, and passionately serve God and His purposes.
Through the Thanksgiving Offering this year, we can help support house church leaders (Arab and Jewish alike!) in Israel who are sharing the Gospel and discipling their unreached neighbors.
Ed and Denise serve in the mountains of Mexico among unreached people groups. Here from Ed below about how the Thanksgiving Offering would bless their ministry:
We are in the middle of raising up walls and a roof for the church of Mixtla. It’s 17 meters X 19 meters and will take all of $10,000 and more. We are grateful for whatever is given. These projects go slowly as the believers pay as they go, no bank loans. In the meantime the families are meeting in homes to worship. It was a real step of faith to tear the old roof off and begin to construct, truly a Nehemiah size project to build the walls of Jerusalem.
Opposition and hostilities have always been very specific because of the Gospel. The first believers are often run out of town losing home, corn fields, and coffee plants. The believers lose jobs, don’t get hired, land rental for planting corn is terminated, and young people are mocked in school and not chosen on the athletic teams. In the last year there has been a drug cartel working in our area threatening businesses and charging a fee for protection. This has lent itself to embolden gangs of thugs to stop traffic and steal money and cell phones.
Missionaries around the world face the challenge of establishing mission fields in unreached places, especially in predominantly Muslim countries where “traditional” missions is no longer an option. Bob coaches and equips missionaries to use small business as a viable avenue for ministry and remaining in difficult areas.
Funds from this year’s offering will help Bob reach more missionaries in need of training, offering classes and specialized content for this endeavor.
Our sister Tilly is serving in Southeast Asia where there is little Gospel presence. In addition to working with unreached peoples who have migrated from neighboring countries, Tilly serves in a variety of outreach and training capacities for her team and local church.
Help us support Tilly’s team in Asia working to bring the Gospel in a place of great spiritual darkness.
Neopolis seeks to grow healthy churches in every city, including the most challenging places around the world. They are committed to training pastors and raising up church plants, and we currently support their ongoing efforts in Africa and Cuba where believers work amid real economic, political, and religious constraints.
Funds from this year’s Thanksgiving Offering will resource growing church plants in Cuba and provide quality pastoral training for the men leading them.
One of our ministry partners is raising funds to begin a project in a dangerous location to equip local pastors and plant churches. Although we can’t mention any additional specifics, we are excited to come on board and contribute!
