35th Anniversary Commemorative Brick Fund RaiserSince 1979, SIFAT has shared God’s love in practical ways with the poor in our world. Without our donors and supporters, this could not have been possible! To celebrate these 35 years, we are building a commemorative patio and fire pit alongside the beautiful Mad Indian Creek on our international campus in Lineville, Ala.  Purchase a commemorative brick as part of SIFAT’s 35th Anniversary. Celebrate a special event in someone’s life, honor a friend or family member or memorialize someone special! Get Involved: UMC #GivingTuesday Dec. 3 – Matching Funds Double Your Donation!Have you often wanted to stretch your giving to include one more orphan, one more hungry family, one more youth longing to study? When you make an online donation on December 3, your gift will double! FOR ONE DAY ONLY, on December 3, 2013, as part of UMC #GivingTuesday, gifts made to the SIFAT general fund through Advance #982812 will be matched*. On this day, 200 percent of your gift directly supports our SIFAT ministry. On December 3 beginning at 12 a.m. EST (remember that’s 11 p.m. Dec. 2 CST), you can donate to the SIFAT General Fund on our Advance #982812 page (see link below). We encourage you to donate early because of the limited availability of matching funds (only $500,000 total for all organizations combined)! Our staff will gladly send you an early reminder or help you in any way we can in making your donation. Email Marie (lanierm@sifat.org) with any questions or with information on how you would like to be contacted for your reminder – phone, e-mail or text! Here is the website to use to donate. Simply click the large, red GIVE NOW button on the right side of the page. http://www.umcmission.org/Give-to-Mission/Search-for-Projects/Projects/982812 Thank you so much for your faithful support to SIFAT and for doubling your impact by making a generous gift on December 3. Grace and peace, Tom Corson *Global Ministries will allocate the “matching funds” dollar for dollar up to the first $500,000 in gifts to all Advance projects combined received online on December 3, 2013, between 12:00 a.m. EST 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. Learn & Serve: Birmingham Youth Support SIFAT Training Graduate in Nigeria!Pastor Ogbatabo is a pseudonym for one of our SIFAT graduates and trainers in Nigeria. Because of his work in a violent area, we want to protect his identity for his safety. Pastor Ogbatabo submitted a proposal to SIFAT, which was approved as a SIFAT international project. SIFAT’s Learn & Serve department pledged to help Pastor Ogbatabo fund his project through educating North American youth on the issue of smoke inhalation around the world and allowing them the chance to partner with SIFAT through financial contributions. Several L&S staff members and leaders from various participating groups have contributed. One inspiring story of a group committing to fund Pastor Ogbatabo’s project comes from Canterbury United Methodist Church of Birmingham, Alabama. When students from Canterbury UMC met Pastor Ogbatabo while at SIFAT during Summer 2013, they decided they wanted to sponsor his project in Nigeria. After telling their friends and parents about Pastor Ogbatabo and his work, they decided to take up an offering once a month at their Sunday night youth program.  Canterbury UMC students keep a tally of the amount raised each month on their prayer (chalkboard) wall in a drawing of the rocket stove. Reminder for End-of-year GivingWe know many of our supporters want to get one last donation to us for credit for the 2012 tax year. Remember, your online donation must be made before midnight on Dec. 31, and any checks mailed to SIFAT must be postmarked by Dec. 31. If you want to designate your gift in honor/memory of someone, please include a name and address to whom we can send an acknowledgment card. If you would like your donation applied to a specific project, please put the project name on the memo line of your check or in the special instructions section online. Thank you for your continued support! Without your financial gifts, SIFAT could not exist.
On Friday afternoon, our executive director Tom Corson and 2009 graduate Trey Reed were given an opportunity they couldn’t turn down – a chance to leave Thursday, Jan. 21 to travel to Haiti with a group of medical personnel and relief workers from HERO, Haiti Emergency Relief Organization, a nonprofit based in Huntsville. Air travel will not be a problem, because Remote Area Mission – RAM – will be providing a plane and pilot to take the volunteers and their supplies to the Dominican Republic. From there, they will travel across the border and into Haiti. HERO partners with the Jimani Project and Hunstville Haiti Congress, so they have a base camp from which to work. Tom and Trey will be taking water purifiers from New Life International. These purifiers run from car batteries, which can be recharged using solar panels. The purification system uses electricity and table salt to chlorinate the water, making it safe to drink for up to 10,000 people each day. The systems last for several years, and Tom and Trey will train local people to maintain them. ** As with any disaster relief effort, sometimes plans unexpectedly change. Tom and Trey’s travel is dependent on RAM and HERO at this time. We will keep you updated if the airports close. As of now, they will fly out on Thursday, Jan. 21 . |
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