|
OUR PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
I pray
God's blessings on each of you in this new year. I'm delighted to report
that the Provincial Mission Lovefeast offering this past November rounds
off to $19,500 - a record high in my recollection. This will be sent to
seven of the missionaries we support and the Tanzanian AIDS Orphans
Program, as was indicated in the Lovefeast Ode. Br. Sam Gray's message was
truly inspirational and may have contributed to this outpouring of love.
Stewardship is a subject that many prefer to address obliquely, but I
would rather tackle it head on. Br. Chris Weber suggested that I inform
our members where we stand financially, and here it is in a nutshell. The
Mission Society's budget for the past three years has gone from $335,000
in 2000 to $247,000 this past year. Our income is essentially derived from
the earnings on investments that have been made with the gifts from
individuals over the past years, some designated for particular use and
others unrestricted. Because of the stock market performance for two
years, we have operated in the red. We have had to sell securities at
unfavorable prices to continue operations.
Our resources are used to support; 1. a number of missionaries in the
field, 2. the ongoing work of the Board of World Mission, 3. our Young
Partners in Missions Program - and more recently our program for 4. Adult
Short Term Missions, 5. the operation and upkeep of the Mission Residence
in Winston Salem, and 6. a host of other activities - all focused on
spreading the Gospel. I invite you to pray about making a gift to the
Mission Society for the continuation of this work for the Lord. An agency
for making such a gift beneficially is the Moravian Ministries Foundation
of America. Contact information for them is found on page 58 in the back
of the Moravian Daily Text.
Keep in mind the upcoming Mission Awareness Dinner and program. It is
scheduled for February 23rd and details about time, location and
reservations may be obtained from Sheila Beaman. I can assure you of good
food, fellowship, and exciting testimonies from those who went out last
year.
Join me in praying for the Peace, which passes all understanding, to
envelope our world in 2003.
Jack Geis |
NEWS OFF THE INTERNET
One of our friends
of Moravian missions is Sr. Dawn Eden, a Moravian from Alberta, Canada.
She is a talented musician and has sung in many of our churches in the
USA. She writes: To update you on my new project for 2003, A SONG FOR
LABRADOR, I have sent the details to about 150 Canadian musicians and
music/arts organizations to drum up support. I have already over two dozen
CDs collected just from talking to local artists, as well as from the
Calgary Folk Festival and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. I hope to
ship all the CDs, plus a snowmobile suit that someone donated (In the
words of Forrest Gump – Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know
what you’re going to get.) at the end of January, all being well.
Sr. Dawn has a description of the project for which she has purchased
three CD players, one for each of the isolated congregations, and will be
sending selected CDs to help bring friendship and good cheer to these good
folks. If you would like to help send her an e-mail –
edensongmusic@yahoo.com
- or write her at – EdenSong Music #357, 7620 Elbow DR SW,
Calgary, AB T2V 1K2
Canada – She will send you the details.
From the Colegio
Moravo, Bluefields, Nicaragua
We have a new
director of the High School, the school where Sr. Elizabeth Marx worked
for some thirty years. Br. Allan Budier was officially installed recently
as the new director of the secondary division of the Colegio Moravo. We
wish God’s blessings on him.
The Outstanding
Alumnus Award was given to Prof. Gustavo Wilson, brother of the late
Bishop Hedley Wilson and uncle of present Bishop John Wilson of Miami. He
brought his 1932 diploma that was signed by the late Br. Conrad Shimer. He
was one of the most distinguished educators of Nicaragua and a great
leader in the Boy Scout movement.
The Boys Basketball
team won the Nicaragua National Championship and competed in the Central
American competition in Guatemala.
Dr. Leonardo Green,
a lawyer in Miami, and an active member of the New Hope Moravian Church,
has donated 10 new computers to the Colegio that will enhance education at
the School.
$150 in the
Elizabeth Marx Scholarship Fund will pay for one student for one year in
the High School.
|