ICCF Recently Partnered with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) to Support Three Projects.
- Unsponsored Children Fund
Through child sponsorship, you can change the world, one child at a time. NCM’s one-on-one child sponsorship program enables local churches to minister to nearly 12,000 children in more than 273 child development centers around the world. NCM’s child sponsorship program focuses on holistic child development, encouraging children to grow in all areas of their lives: physical, intellectual, emotional, relational, and spiritual. Your monthly support provides children with the opportunity to grow up healthy, receive an education, gain confidence and social skills, and develop spiritually. We encourage you to consider sponsoring a child. If you are unable to commit to an ongoing sponsorship, though, consider a one-time gift to support church-led child development ministries. Your gift will support ongoing ministries at child development centers and allow children who are still waiting for sponsors to be a part of a holistic child development program.
- Global Child Development Fund
NCM’s Holistic Child Development programs equip children with skills and opportunities to interrupt the cycle of poverty, dream about their futures, experience God’s love in tangible ways, and grow into the people God created them to be. The Holistic Child Development model seeks to simultaneously address key aspects of a child’s life—spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, and relational. Our Holistic Child Development programs take place in partnership with local churches that seek to help children understand that God loves them, they are created in God’s image, they are valued and have God-given dignity, and they can have a personal relationship with Jesus. NCM’s Holistic Child Development model also recognizes the importance of family and community in a child’s life, knowing that the best child development happens when children grow up in the context of a loving, healthy, empowered family. We are committed to working alongside families and communities to help children develop their God-given potential. By funding the NCM Global Child Development Fund, you are investing in the lives of children in ways that make a real difference, both for today and into eternity.
- Guatemala Volcano Response
After the eruption of Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala on June 3, 2018, local Nazarene churches immediately offered help. Various churches and districts from the Mesoamerica Region sent aid, supported regionally and globally. The local Church of the Nazarene in Escuintla opened its doors to receive, sort, package, and deliver what was received to those most impacted by the disaster. Members of the congregation assembled 300 crisis care kits. The local districts partnered with Guatemalan government emergency agencies to distribute donations and reach out to evacuees. A team of doctors from Mexico organized quickly and spent a week working among evacuees. One local team volunteered to clean and maintain bathrooms in the shelters. This is the church at work in the midst of a crisis!
The Guatemalan government then requested the church minister in shelters among children suffering from the trauma of forced displacement. Volunteer teams participated at different shelters providing emotional and spiritual care to these children through the use of puppets, crafts, songs, and Bible stories. Through these outreaches, many children opened their heart to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Moving forward, the church will continue meeting immediate needs, and plans are underway to strategically design a response that will “come alongside” displaced families, providing long-term care in tandem with governmental response. Connections are being made with several humanitarian aid organizations for additional donations that will aid most in the days to come. Churches are planning to augment the construction of government-issued temporary housing for evacuees with additional rooms for families in need, as well as providing basic furniture and water filters.
The church in Guatemala is thankful to be part of a global church who have prayed and supported their brothers and sisters in need. Continue to pray for the people in Escuintla, Sacatepequez and Alotenango, and church and district leaders as they continue to extend compassion in the days to come.
Compiled from:
Dámaris Kellogg
Coordinadora, Ministerios de Compasión
Area NorCentral, Región Mesoamerica
Photos: Comunicaciones NorCentral
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