Three years go our conference passed a budget that included $15,000 seed money to support the brand new global mission region the Serve Globally Priority of the Evangelical Covenant was beginning in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA). The ministry focuses on refugees, religious persecution, peace and reconciliation, and Muslim engagement.
Pastor Jim Sequeira (Cascades View Cov, Vancouver, WA), who serves as the chair of our executive board, recently wrote to the MENA staff:
We believe that anytime new global ministry opportunities arise that we as Christ followers have a palpable, reflexive response of excitement and eagerness. For the Pacific Northwest Conference, we recognized that the Covenant’s new global ministry region in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is one that contains our Christian roots, many U.S. tensions, and great challenges/opportunities for the Church. When our superintendent, Greg Yee, shared the new work you would be doing in the region and the fact you did not have a full budget to start with, our Pacific Northwest Conference Executive Board wanted to communicate as a conference our belief and support in this new work. In addition, many of us are familiar with Nancy Jo Hoover and Andy Larsen’s longstanding and faithful ministry abroad and the deep and significant relationship they have nurtured in our conference (I personally consider both good friends) helped in making this an easy decision.
We decided to use our shared conference resources toward this ministry because we believe it directly affects us in the Pacific Northwest. We have significant populations of people from the MENA region that are our neighbors right here. We believe that this work is not just abroad, but right here. We know first hand that God is a God of miracles and that he is actively working in both places. We’re thrilled that we be a part of this good work together.
The MENA staff responded with this report:
Dear PACNWC Executive Board,
As a team, we who make up the Serve Globally MENA region want to thank you for your willingness to invest in the planning of a new global ministry region. This investment has come in the form of PACNWC churches who have welcomed and supported individual members of our team, allowing communication from our team to spread through your network and through the generous three-year annual contribution of $5000. We are writing to report on how we utilized your funds during the last year.
As originally determined in a conversation with Superintendent Yee the funds were put into our “development fund” as opposed to going toward the support of team members. This decision has given our team important flexibility to develop new and deeper partnerships both in the MENA region and also within our ECC family. Here is a list of some of the ways these funds were specifically used:
- Meeting and recruiting volunteers to serve as Guest House Hosts at Bethlehem Bible College
- Supporting the work of a devoted Christian couple in Lebanon who relationally and practically serve Syrian refugee settlements. Through these relationships a couple of the women have asked for more information about Jesus and are open to attending a small Christian gathering.
- Providing a chance for pastors and leaders attending the NPTS Symposium on the Holy Land to meet for lunch with some MENA partners that were involved in the Symposium.
- Covering the 10% administration fee and wire costs charged by the ECC for project donations. For example, we raised around $12,000 to provide high capacity/high quality replacement water filters to 27 communities in Egypt. Because of your donation we were able to distribute the full amount raised which will provide over a years’ worth of filters impacting hundreds of people!
- Funding for four individuals representing three partners from local MENA ministries to attend a 12-week online course on fundraising. This course is put on by an organization with deep ties to the MENA region to provide practical capacity building.
Thank you again for your partnership. We look forward to utilizing the funds you will invest in the final year of your commitment.
As we continue to commit to our shared mission together, we are filled with joy to be able to help MENA get launched. If you or your church would like to support MENA’s ongoing work, find more information including giving link here. Join Serve Globally’s Facebook group here.
[Click Here] to follow MENA through their Facebook Page
[Click Here] to give directly to MENA
[Click Here] to follow Serve Globally through their Facebook Group
