Citylight, God is at work! Though this virus has seemed to wreak havoc in our world, God is not surprised or worried or fearful. Instead, He is about His mission drawing people to Himself, mobilizing His Church, and turning our individual and collective focus and dependence back to Him.
Though we are not able to meet on Sundays, God has moved us, as a Citylight Family, to serve the people of our city well through food pantry deliveries and the making of Easter Cards for those living in local care facilities. Our City Groups have continued to care for one another and their neighbors so well. Generosity and love have marked the Citylight response!
One of the effects of this pandemic was the cancellation of our Short-term Mission Trips. We had planned to send teams to Guatemala, Thailand, and Jamaica this summer and because of the generosity of so many, we are still able to bless these ministries financially. We also had planned to send a team to Greece to facilitate a Field Forum (team retreat) for the Green Mountains Team in July. That trip has also been cancelled but we are working on doing a virtual retreat for them. Definitely not ideal but we are thankful for technology and a flexible team to make it happen.
Though we are unable to visit in person, one of the ways that we can still engage in the mission to reach the ends of the earth with the gospel, this year, is to support our International workers through intense prayer and generous finances.
We partner with teams in Cambodia, Thailand, and Green Mountains and they are all also dealing with social and economic hardships in their contexts. For many people in Cambodia and Thailand, the lack of tourism and the closing of markets is financially devastating as they have no way to feed their families. In all of these places, the lack of hope in Jesus leaves people desperate.
Our partners are working on limited funds as the Christian & Missionary Alliance has had to make the tough decision to cut all worker salaries by 10%. As they seek to help those around them with physical needs, their budgets are wearing thin. In Cambodia, for example one of our Alliance couples, Jeff & Heather, have taken several people into their own home and are helping to provide emotional, spiritual, and physical support to them and the people who live in their neighborhood while helping to lead an addiction recovery center and a ministry training center. Life and work go on as the Gospel must go forth to those who have not yet heard.
This month is Great Commission Month and the goal is $1.5 million to sustain current ministries and send future workers to the fields. Because of the generosity of several, we were able to double our giving to the GCF (Great Commission Fund) this month as $10,000 turned into $20,000 with an incredible matching fund at our national office! What a huge blessing!
As of this week, the total given is just over One Million Dollars. Citylight, would you join in giving to the Great Commission Offering? Could we, as the Citylight Family work together to give an offering of $10,000 more? $100,00? That would be insanely awesome! If you would like to partner in the gospel work that is happening among unreached peoples, you can give to Citylight and designate your giving to the GCF.
Ways to give:
- Give online - choose ‘Great Commission’ from the drop-down menu
- Give by check to Citylight Omaha - write "GCF" in the memo line
Mail to 4383 Nicholas St., Ste 120, Omaha, NE 68131 - Text-to-Give to 84321 - message “$Amount - GCF”
To learn more about the GCF, visit the C&MA website at cmalliance.org/gcd.