month of generosity

Loving our city in Jesus name

Month of Generosity
November 2022

We believe God is so generous that He gave us Himself in the person of Jesus.

We believe a heart transformed by the gift of Jesus will seek for ways to love people.

We believe seeing our city renewed requires collaboration with different organizations.

During the month of November we want to highlight four organizations doing great work in our city. Each has a different mandate and unique groups they seek to serve, but each one is important in expressing the heart of Jesus.
Through these four organizations the poor and marginalized are provided shelter and mental health support; refugees coming to our city are given material, spiritual, and social support; and churches are equipped to cultivate cultures of prayer, mission and justice in our city. 

 

Lookout Society

Lookout provides non-judgmental, non-sectarian services to individuals coping with a wide variety of challenges including poverty, mental illness, substance use, trauma, mental and/or physical disabilities, chronic health illnesses, financial and legal issues – or those simply unable to cope. Cascades has partnered with Lookout to run an Emergency Weather Shelter (EWS) for the last three seasons.

Backpacks of Hope
This year they are running the “Backpacks of Hope,” campaign which is designed to provide their most vulnerable population some sort of comfort over the holidays. The goal is to provide a backpack filled with essentials for the winter such as:

  • ponchos
  • socks
  • sweaters
  • personal grooming supplies
  •  toques, gloves, and 
  • a small gift card or any item that would fit in a backpack

These can be dropped at Cascades and we’ll deliver them to Lookout.

Learn more.

Journey Home Community

This organization is motivated by God’s love and compassion for refugees coming to our city. They want to make sure none are left homeless or in vulnerable situations. The primary ways Journey Home Community does this by providing refugees with ‘Welcome Houses’ (safe and fully furnished homes) for 3-4 months to get settled. They also provide refugees with ‘Communities of Welcome’ which commit to one family for a year and provide funds to support the initial needs of the families and more. In the last months we’ve increased our involvement with them befriending and supporting newly arrived families.

Gift Cards for Christmas
To allow families to shop for food and clothing as they need and respect their dignity, Journey Home encourages people to donate gift cards, along with a friendly and welcoming message in a Christmas Cards. Gift cards to Walmart and Superstore are most helpful during this season.
Prepaid Visa and Mastercard gift cards are another option because they allow families to pay for things in areas of their greatest need including living expenses like utilities. 

If you choose to do this, Journey Home asks that you leave the gift cards separate from the card as they will distribute them in an equitable fashion to families in need.
Learn more

24/7 Prayer Canada

Cascades Church has used this ministries resources since the beginning of the pandemic to grow our culture of prayer including the Lectio 365 app.
Prayer 24/7 is part of a twenty year global movement of non-stop prayer. They long to see the Church renewed and our culture rewired. They do this by helping churches and organizations cultivate a deep and comprehensive culture of prayer, mission and justice that impacts their cities for the Gospel.
Learn more

More Than a Roof

This organizations exists to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness in the lives of our tenants through transformative affordable housing. More than a Roof focuses on reducing poverty, improving health, building networks of support, rekindling hope, and resolving conflict.
To date they provide housing to over 1700 tenants across 12 housing communities throughout Metro Vancouver, Victoria, and Prince George, including approximately 130 Supported Independent and Apartment Living units on the North Shore in a scattered site model for folks struggling with mental health challenges.
Learn more

What you can do

+ 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 to use 24/7 Prayer Canada to fan a flame of prayer leading to justice and mission throughout our nation.
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.

Backpacks of Hope & 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.