Global
Mission
Our church is in its
seventeenth year of existence. After a thirteen month period of gestation New
Hope was born on October 16, 1994. The early years were at first years of
survival, then growth. We have gone through stages of adding staff and building
a place of permanence in our community. These years for us have seen many
changes. Now one of the changes is the move to launch out into global mission.
We have cheered some of our own on in global mission and now we are preparing
to establish a New Hope Church mission in a global context.
In October, Pastor Bosserman and a
team from New Hope plan, Lord willing, to travel to Swaziland, South Africa to
serve the church there. The heart of the need is the devastation of AIDS and
the orphans left in its wake. Our trip will be a vision seeking time. We will
be seeking to discover answers to “if”, “how”, and “when” kinds of questions.
Please pray, and participate, and
give. We are even now planning to place a large shipping container on the
grounds at New Hope to be packed with appropriate supplies for Swaziland. There
is, then, something for all of us in which we can participate.
Scholarships
for Ministry Students and Short Term Missions
A verse that the elementary
kids have been learning in recent history is from Jesus. He says to his first
disciples, "Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." When
we talk about students (young and old) who feel led to ministry or those who
feel led to a short term mission experience we are talking about the response
to what they feel God is calling them to do.
As a church we want to be
encouraging of those individuals who feel a life-long call into ministry. We
want to support those who feel led to serve in short term missions. We want to
be a church that is sending people who are responding to a call they feel Jesus
has given them.
Part of this support is
financial, therefore we are hoping to form scholarships both for those who feel
called into vocational ministry and those who feel called to short term
missions. For those in ministry our hope is to raise enough to be able to give
up to two ministry students $500/semester each year. For those called to short
term missions our hope is to provide at least 10% of the total amount needed to
fund the trip. In doing this we are investing beyond ourselves in those our
people go to serve. We are also investing in those we send as they gain a
broader view of the Kingdom of God as they experience the gospel outside of our
local context.
Community
Ministry and The Partnership for Hope
As we look to have a
meaningful impact in our community, we look to Jesus example of leadership. In
Luke Chapter 10, He sends dozens of people into ministry, first calling them to
a specific opportunity, equipping them with what they need, and then sending
them out with specific instruction on what they are to do and who will help
them along the way. This is the foundation of The Partnership for Hope, New
Hope’s community outreach ministries.
Whether it was through a FOCUS
group service project, over $12,000 worth of donations of money, food,
clothing, and personal items to thousands of people in need through projects
like The Gift of Giving, care packages, clothing drives, and fundraisers for
organizations like Caitlyn’s Smiles, or volunteering for after school and
summer mentoring programs and partner organizations, our New Hope family has
shown an overwhelming commitment to God’s calling and model of leadership.
As we continue into 2010, New
Hope’s leadership is hard at work to provide opportunities that will allow us
to continue to have a significant impact for Christ in our community. We’re
hoping for your help to build a Community Garden that’ll allow us to provide
produce to local food pantries. And we very much need your prayers and
financial support to provide critical leadership for after school fitness and
summer mentoring programs, our existing outreach efforts, and some amazing new
opportunities for prison ministry, a medical clinic, and a cutting edge
technology project that will allow government social workers to work together
with churches and ministries to help people in need. God continues to put New
Hope Church in a place to make a huge difference in our community...and we hope
you’ll continue to support that ministry!
