Change for the Hospital

Thanks to all those who participated in the ‘Change for the Hospital’ campaign. Now’s the time to take all that spare change to the bank to see how much you’ve saved. Even for those who haven’t been collecting their change through the month of September, you can still give. Click on the banner in the right column for more info on the project. Then send your donation to Christ’s Church of Amherst, 58 Merrimack Rd, Amherst, NH 03031 or you can donate online here. When it’s all tallied up I’ll let you know how we did. Thanks again for all your help!

Change for the Hospital

Our ‘Change for the Hospital’ campaign started this week. In case you missed the earlier post, I challenged you to collect all your change this month and donate it to our ministry at the Swakopmund hospital. At the end of each day, empty your pockets, wallets, purses, and couches of all the spare change you can find, fill up a jar and at the end of the month send that money via Christ’s Church to help us continue serving at the hospital.

For the past month or so, Fabiola has mobilized the youth of Arandis Christian Center to help clean and restore old sections of the hospital. Saturday mornings we wash and paint walls, clean windows, and scrub grime to share God’s love in a practical way. The change you donate will go towards fuel for traveling to and from Swakop, equipment and supplies, and lunch for the workers. If there’s enough we also want to ‘adopt’ a children’s ward and buy story books and toys for the children. Thanks in advance and I’m excited to see how God’s going to use this ministry to change lives as well.

Change for the Hospital

Last night at prayer meeting we weren’t sure if we would have transport to get out to the hospital this morning. We prayed and went home waiting expectantly on God. When Fabiola was visiting with the neighbors later that night they asked her, “So where shall we take you tomorrow?” Not only that, but they lent us their car for the day so we were able to enjoy a nice lunch on the beach after our morning of hard work.

In the hospital we continued to wash and paint the walls in the hallway. Now I know you can’t come paint but I want to challenge you to be a part of this project too! There are costs involved like fuel for transport, cleaning supplies, etc, so Fabiola encouraged me to challenge all of you to donate your change. My proposal is this: at the end of every day through the month of September empty your pockets of change into a jar. When the jar is full take it to the bank to count it and send a tax-deductible donation for that amount to Christ’s Church designated for the Swakop Hospital Project. You can donate online here, send a check to 58 Merrimack Rd, Amherst, NH 03031, or just drop it off at the church. In that small way, your change can help change the hospital!

Or if you prefer, we’re also looking for toys for the children’s ward and books to read to the children. If you have anything appropriate (please nothing worn out or half destroyed) you can try (no promises!) to ship it to Fabiola Banda, Box 475, Arandis, NAMIBIA, or just drop it by Christ’s Church for the next team to bring over. Thanks for your participation, and as always, continue in prayer that as we share God’s love in a practical way, He would open in-roads to share the gospel.

Dollars and Sense

Many people have been asking about how I'll be supported while working in Namibia for a whole year. I will not be traveling around to raise support like many missionaries do. Instead I will be supported by the church community I've been serving with and participating in for the last 22 years. As I mentioned, I will still be on staff at my church as a salaried pastor, I will simply be located in Namibia, hence the term "distributed pastor". However, living expenses in Namibia are far less than they are in the States, so basically to show their appreciation for 5 years of pastoral service Christ's Church is giving me a pay cut and shipping me off to Africa. :)

That being said, the money still has to come from somewhere, and I do understand the joy of giving and making an investment in people's lives and ministries around the world. (If that sounds like a clever ploy to make you want to send me money then I'd be more than happy to chat about a biblical theology of giving.) So if you are interested in financially sharing in this ministry with me, you can make a tax-deductible donation through Christ's Church of Amherst. You can do that in two ways. Our online E-source program allows you to make a one-time or monthly gift through electronic transfer directly from your credit card, checking, or savings account. Simply input your information and put my name under "Purpose of gift." Or you can send a check with my name in the memo to:

Christ's Church of Amherst
58 Merrimack Road
Amherst, NH 03031

Thank you so much for all your prayers and for those who've expressed interest in supporting me financially. It is indeed a blessing to have such a strong support group back here in the States.