UMC#Giving Tuesday

Donations double Dec. 3 through UMC#Giving Tuesday!

Make an online donation Dec. 3 to UMC#Giving Tuesday; watch your gift multiply!

For one day only, on Dec. 3, 2013 as part of UMC #GivingTuesday, gifts made to support any project or ministry through The Advance will be matched.

Global Ministries will allocate the “matching funds” dollar for dollar up to the first $500,000 in gifts to Advance projects received online on Dec. 3, 2013, between 12:00 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. A maximum of $10,000 per individual gift to a project will be dispersed as matching funds. A project may receive a maximum of $50,000 in matching funds.

As always, when you give through The Advance, 100 percent of your gift directly supports the designated ministry; overhead costs are covered through other channels.

Your gift can bring healing and hope to survivors of natural or civil disasters; help communities build churches, dig wells, feed and educate children, and equip hospitals and clinics; or support a missionary who is sharing the light of Christ…and on Dec. 3, every online donation will be matched.

Thank you “in advance” for your faithful support and for doubling your impact by making a generous gift on Dec. 3. For more information, please visit www.umcmission.org. Thank you for connecting our church in mission. To give, visit http://www.umcmission.org/Give-to-Mission/Search-for-Projects/Advance-Project-Search You will also see an “easy to find” link on the home page of the Conference website at www.la-umc.org.

Read the following testimony by Rev. Ann Sutton (pastor of Northwood UMC, Lafayette) about the amazing works done by United Methodist missionaries through The Advance:

I have had the privilege of nearly 20 years of international mission experience. I am never sure of how much good I have done in the lives of those I have gone to serve in Mexico, the Bahamas, Cambodia or Alabama, but I know that I have been changed. Along the way, I began to realize that the reason I go is to hang out with the Global Ministries missionaries who make a way for us to come and share in their work. It is quickly apparent that the work they do is significant, and the sacrifice they make to do this work is inspirational.

It is because of these personal relationships that I invite you to make an online gift to a missionary on December 3, UMC#Giving Tuesday. Your gift will go directly to your designated missionary or project and will be doubled! There are more than 850 United Methodist-related Advance projects and 300 missionaries from which to choose.

There are many missionaries and ministries already supported by Louisiana congregations. Choose one of these missionionaries to make a difference:

• Willie Berman, a long-time friend who has guided hundreds of first time missioners into their first hands-on international mission just across the border in Mexico. Willie has grown from being a part-time host to a full-time missionary.
• Joseph and Marilyn Chan visited churches across the conference this summer, telling their story of escape from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. During their exile to the United States, they came to know the love of Christ, and now they have returned to as primary leaders in the rapid growth of the Methodist Church in Cambodia.
• Marsha Alexander, president of Asbury School on the island of Anda in the Philippines. We've not heard from Marsha since the typhoon, but pray for her safety and know that every resource we can direct toward ministry in the Philippines will be needed.
• Dr. Pierre Manya and Dr. Simeon Kashala from the Congo are new friends to our conference. They visited Louisiana for the first time this summer, sharing the story of their medical work with malaria and AIDS patients.

In this season of gift giving, this is a unique opportunity to bless those who are sent to the ends of the earth. Mark your calendar for the day, and make a list of missionaries and projects to bless.

Alternative Giving Ideas for Christmas

Church members and pastors: Request that friends and family give you Christmas gifts through a donation in your name to your favorite Advance project or missionary, and encourage them to make the gift on Dec. 3 to double the impact. Also, church members and clergy can make Christmas gifts in the form of a donation in honor of their friends and family on Dec. 3. Do you still want to present a wrapped gift? It might be fun to accompany the notification with a token representation of the designated ministry (a framed map of the region, a water bottle for a water project, a hammer for a construction project, etc.) Or, design or purchase a card that reflects the theme of the ministry or a photo of the missionary.