In the last 6 months, the 2023 Christmas Eve Offering investments have changed countless lives in Kansas City and around the world! Resurrection deploys 100% of your Christmas Eve offering gifts to projects that support children and their families in need both locally and abroad. We do this through partnerships and grants. In 2023, we raised over $2 million to support low-income children and families. Thank you for being a part of this incredible impact. What follows are some highlights of the life change made possible by your generosity.
Note: This blog post does not cover all the mission work made possible through the Christmas Eve Offering.
Swope Health Mobile Dental Clinic
The Mobile Dental Unit that we are purchasing for Swope Health has been ordered and is on track for an early 2025 completion date. Selection meetings have taken place for interior finishes such as flooring, upholstery, countertops, and cabinets. We’re looking forward to celebrating when it’s delivered! Through it, you will provide 2,700 children each year with the chance to access quality dental care.
Local Missions
Support for the Christmas Eve Offering provides critical and immediate need support right within our community in Kansas City! In the first 6 months of this year we have:
- Added 2 additional Food Mobile sites with Care Beyond the Boulevard and KCK ECC which also was funded through those initiatives.
- With the funds for additional pantry partner support, we have partnered with Operation Breakthrough as our newest pantry partner.
- Provided 7,500 sack lunches in the last 6 months through the sack lunch ministry
Global Missions
A portion of our Candlelight Christmas Eve Offering is sent abroad to support global missions. The impact is both far and wide! Here are just some of the ways you’ve invested in communities around the world through your generosity:
In many low-income communities, the cost to run a classroom is more than families can afford. Our annual sponsorship weekend recruits support to help with this funding gap by partially sponsoring a classroom. Classroom sponsors have an opportunity to write notes of encouragement to their class as well as receive regular updates and pictures. The Candlelight Christmas Eve offering helps fund the remaining costs not covered by sponsors to provide:
- 435 K-12 students at Juan Wesley School in Honduras
- Approximately 900 children in 15 different UMC preschools in Malawi
- 100 preschool students and 30 open-school students in South Africa
- 450 K-12 students at the Nakalama School in Uganda
- 60 at-risk youth in vocational training across Malawi
Two new indigenous non-profits; Grassroot Community Voices in Haiti and Opulence in Malawi, are receiving Resurrection support as they equip rural communities to become self-sufficient and resilient. These organizations build into community leaders in asset-based holistic development. From leadership skills to project management, these two organizations are creating opportunities for generational impact.
In Malawi, several projects are being supported – from relief efforts in the overcrowded Dzaleka refugee camp where they are handing out emergency food to permaculture training and starter kits for long-lasting food security. We’ve received dozens of success stories where permaculture farmers are not only able to provide 24/7 food for their families, but they are growing their animal kingdom and using some of the income to start more small businesses.
Before the permaculture project, it was very difficult for my family and myself to eat nutritious food. My children often fell sick, and I worried about their health constantly. But since we received the animals, everything has changed. From just two ducks, we now have 27. From two chickens, we have 14. And from two rabbits, we have 8. These animals have provided us with a steady source of protein, which is essential for our health.
Clean water is the foundation of good health in every society. Resurrection continues to commit to clean water in Malawi & Haiti. 13 boreholes will be dug in 2024 in Malawi – 10 from the Christmas Eve Offering and 3 from individual donors. Every community that receives a borehole has been assessed for need and ability for the community to care for the borehole. They form a borehole committee where committee members are trained on regular maintenance, hygiene, sanitation, and collect small fees for replacement parts.
2023 Missions Annual Report
To view the many ways Resurrection has made an impact missionally in 2023, you can view the Missions 2023 Annual Report.
