Month of Generosity
November 2024
Open hearts, open hands
God is generous. He loves to give. It is the delight of His children to share His traits, and to show what He is like to all the world. Therefore, we aim to live with a posture of openness –ready to receive from God all that He has and ready to give to our world all that He would have us give. The month of generosity helps us put that into practice.
This year we are highlighting four ministries that are especially meaningful to us because of impact they have in our city and country.
Through these four ministries :
– the poor and marginalized are provided shelter and addiction recovery;
– refugees coming to our city are given material, spiritual, and social support;
– Canadian pastors are strengthened to lead resilient churches shape the future of our nation; and
– Indigenous women in Canada are equipped to see a new story written in their lives.
New Story Community
Helping Indigenous women write a new story
Many Indigenous women face a variety of barriers to the dreams they have for themselves. New Story Community is about removing some of those barriers. New Story provides a safe and nurturing space for a small community of Indigenous women to begin or to continue their healing journey. Each woman is given the opportunity to:
– explore the truth of her identity both as an Indigenous woman and as a follower of Jesus.
– to learn and to grow spiritually, educationally, socially, and vocationally.
– to learn many life & employment skills
Strengthening Pastors for the Renewal of the Church in Canada.
We believe that healthy pastors lead to healthy churches, which bring transformation to towns, cities, provinces, and territories. The Pastorate exists to see pastors filled with hope, connected in friendship, and equipped to lead resilient churches that shape the future of Canada. They serve pastors by curating accessible content, hosting inspiring gatherings across the country, and facilitating pastoral learning cohorts that are focused on personal formation and leadership development.
Journey Home Community (JHC) offers transitional housing, settlement assistance and relational support to refugee claimant families. They envision welcoming refugees into a community where they experience hope and belonging, meaningful relationships, a place to give and receive, a safe place to call home, and access to available systems and resources. Why? Because this type of welcome will promote flourishing in their new country. Two ways you can support JHC are listed below.
Gift Cards for Christmas
Support their work by donating gift cards from Walmart along with a friendly and welcoming message in a Christmas Card. This enables parents to find and choose the most appropriate gifts for their family.
If you choose to do this please that you leave the gift cards separate from the card so JHC can distribute them in an equitable fashion to families in need.
Christmas Hampers
You (or your Community Group) may want to put together a Christmas basket. Each item in the list below has been carefully curated to reflect the interests and needs of international newcomer families. only assembled baskets at this time, not just individual items.
Items for each Christmas Basket:
4x pairs of Mittens
4x Warm Hat
4x Scarves
2x Umbrella
4x Slippers (various sizes)
1x Box of Fancy Tea
1x Bag of Fancy Coffee
1x Box of Chocolate
1x Bag of Candied Fruits
1x Box of nuts
1x Personalized Christmas Card
If you have any specific questions about the baskets please email Olivia at olivia@journeyhomecommunity.ca for more details!
If you choose to do this please that you leave the gift cards separate from the card so JHC can distribute them in an equitable fashion to families in need.
Hope for Freedom
Hope for Freedom empowers men and women with the resources, education and compassionate support they need to break free from addiction and establish a new life. Their work focuses on two areas (1) providing services for addiction recovery and (2) outreach and advocacy services to people struggling with, or on the verge of, homelessness in the Tri-Cities area of Metro Vancouver, BC.
Their recovery homes offer a comprehensive and effective approach to healing from addiction. They incorporate the 12-step program for addiction recovery (AA) with life-skills development, relapse prevention, anger management and a community of faith.
Working with municipal and provincial governments Hope for Freedom meet people’s basic needs with supplies like clothing, shoes, food and water. They walk with people on longer journeys towards life-changing goals like housing, sobriety and family reunification.
Our Invitation
+ Consider & Discuss
Consider how you and your family, friends or community group could participate in this initiative. It might be helpful to discuss the following questions, which organization’s mission most resonates with your passion? Who does Jesus call His followers to be? How does generosity relate to following Jesus? Where do we want to see people helped most?
+ Pray
We invite you to spend time this month praying for those who are homeless, those struggling with mental health issues, refugees in our city.
Ask for God to bless the organizations in their efforts to serve the marginalized.
Ask God move in His Church in Vancouver to serve, care, and meet the needs of others in our city.
+ Give
Over the next month we encourage you to practice generosity by supporting these four organizations by giving to their work and praying for their work. You can give with an offering envelope in person or online via tithe.ly
Online
On tithe.ly sure to select the organization you want to give to on the tab. There will be the four to choose from.
Offering Envelope
Be sure to write a note indicating which organization you would like to give to.
E-transfer
You can send your gift to giving@cascadeschurch.ca She sure to include a note indicating which organization you’d like to give to.
Christmas Hampers & Christmas Gift Cards
If you would like to participate in either initiative use the list of items included above to guide you as you buy the backpack and fill it with the relevant materials and then bring it Cascades we will arrange the drop of the donations.