A18
One thing I appreciate about National Community Church is how the leadership pushes us as Believers. Pastor Mark and the staff don’t use gimmicks or popular books like “40 Days of Purpose” or whatever trend is current in churches. Rather, they find new and creative ways we can grow in our personal lives and small groups.
Last year, NCC started A18, which is based on Acts 1:8, to put a special focus on missions around the world, in the US and in the District. (DC alone has so much need.)
Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
I was back in Chattanooga serving at Embrace Church when they came out with the first catalogue, but I was at church last week for the new one.
According to Pastor Mark’s blog, Evotional:
We handed out our annual A18 Christmas Catalogue this past weekend. Amazing magazine that is designed to tell mission stories and give people an opportunity to invest in missions as a Christmas gift. We’ll take ten trips to ten countries this next year. And the catalog focuses on four of those countries: Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Bolivia, and Thailand.We handed out our annual A18 Christmas Catalogue this past weekend. Amazing magazine that is designed to tell mission stories and give people an opportunity to invest in missions as a Christmas gift. We’ll take ten trips to ten countries this next year. And the catalog focuses on four of those countries: Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Bolivia, and Thailand.
Having grown up in the church, it’s not unusual to give to missions. We always had mission conferences once a year and frequently heard missionaries speak in chapel at school. However, you wrote a check or put pennies in the offering plate to go to “missions.” Sometimes, you’d get a photo of the missionary family to hang on your refrigerator, but it was difficult to grasp where your money was exactly going.
The A18 Christmas Catalogue gives you options of how you can give your money. You can provide a month-scholarship for a hearing-impaired student in Nicaragua for $34, or a gift of $20 provides one person with clean drinking water for life in Ethiopia.
Two weeks ago, I wrote about faith and Bill Colrus, another Chattanooga blogger, encouraged me to write more frequently on it. I’m writing this A18 post not only to show how cool giving to missions can be but to hold myself accountable. Recently, I’ve felt led to make an extra gift each pay check to help one of the programs in this catalogue.
Now I can give more some pay checks, and others hit when every single bill is due and my car needs repairs. (We all have those months!) However, I can always spare $10. I’m hoping that by leaving the catalogue in a prominent location (my coffee table) and writing this post, I’ll be accountable to this.
Of course, you can always buy coffee at Ebenezer’s on the Hill. Since all the profits go directly to missions, I have difficulty turning down that $5 cup of coffee. Unlike Starbucks, it’s hard to be frugal and save money when Ebz delicious coffee helps people.
