A Thanksgiving Boost – Newsletter
SEE & PRINT a PDF version of this Newsletter
Dear Friends,
It s been a while since our last formal newsletter. 5 countries in Africa, 5 trips to Haiti, 4 hurricanes, and around 1,000 more children later, here we are. Thankful.
Today we (that s all of us C3ers and our in-country partners) stand at 54 homes bustling with 2,200 children; 52 homes in the finish stage for another 1,062 little ones; and another 110 homes on deck.
Here s why this is happening: more and more of you have made a change in your lives to make these children part of your hearts and budgets. After you finish this read, enjoy this video. Share it with others this Christmas season. We could plug so many of your faces and stories into this video. This story of simple but extraordinary connection and change is your story.
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Click Here to see on Google Video & FULL Screen
Thanks for making a change. Enjoy Thanksgiving 08 with a little extra boost of joy (and a little extra gravy what the heck!).
End of Year s Coming, and So Is a C3 Christmas Catalog!
End of year time, C3ers. As you sort through end of year giving, help us care for more of the little ones we serve. We will honor your gift, and put your hard-earned dollars to work in a powerful way. We won t scrape a penny of your gift for C3 s overhead. We want as many orphaned and abandoned children loved and cared for as possible; that s it.
This year, we ll also offer a new giving option: a Christmas Catalogue. Give others a special gift help care for C3 children. You ll be able to buy everything from a goat to an entire children s home, and pass along this joy as a gift to a loved one. Look for the C3 Christmas Catalogue on December 3rd.
When s the last time you gave a goat for Christmas? You won t see that option on the Home Shopping Network.
Haiti: Evidence That Demands a Verdict This Model Works!
We ve relayed stories about how we ve seen the local church / orphan care model transform some of the poorest communities on the planet. Many of you have seen this with your own eyes. Stories are terrific. But, we ve been at this now long enough to look at what God s doing beyond anecdotes. Consider the objective numbers:
One of our key local church partners in Haiti is El Shaddai (led by the St. Germain brothers).
Learn More About Haiti Relief Fund
In early 07, El Shaddai had a handful of church plants and schools, and around 100 orphans in care.
Today, through the local church / orphan care model, El Shaddai has 38 churches with over 13,000 worshipping each Sunday; 19 schools with 4,500 children; and 1,500 orphaned and abandoned children in care. This is transforming the target communities educationally, economically, and spiritually.
Here s the point: when we help the local church care for orphans, good things happen. Good things happen there. Good things happen here.
Haiti Relief: Here s What We Did Together – Delivered 68,000 lbs of Food; Provided Water Purifier for 2 Million Liters of Water; Funded Homes for 500 More Children; and Much More.
A lot of you followed our time in Haiti during the hurricanes. If you didn t, you can read the real-time updates here.
You all responded, big time. You put food into thousands of hungry bellies. The storms exposed so many orphaned and abandoned children who had their hiding places washed away. We had throngs of these children showing-up at our existing homes. We couldn t turn them away. Instead, we turned to you. What did you do? You all combined to fund homes for 500 of these children! And counting! You funded some of this through Haiti Relief; some through other means. It matters not. Every cent from your hearts hits the need.
Your collective efforts yield incredible results through C3.
NOTE: So many of you have given clothing and other items for us to send to Haiti. We have two 40 foot containers full of these wonderful gifts. Thank you! We are now halting our collection of such things. We will let you know if the need to gather and ship clothing and other items surfaces.
C3 Malawi: The C3 Orphan Care Movement In Action.
Let s shift continents. Want to see the C3 viral model in action? Check out C3 Malawi.
[you can see detailed PDF Site Map here]
This is our site plan for Pathawira Village (Pathawira means safe haven in Salima, Malawi. the native language of central Malawi). 60 homes for 600 children. $5k per home for 10 children and a momma. Medical clinic. Birthing center. School.
Integral Life Foundation is funding the medical clinic. ILF is working with a group from St. Luke s to fund the birthing center. Amazing.
Now we get to the homes. 60 homes. Enter one small group of 10 couples.
These friends decided to take C3 s make this your mission invitation to a new level. They re taking the lead to fund the homes and child care for 600 orphans. This group isn t overly affluent by American standards. They can t foot this bill themselves. They re committing in faith. They re just doing what we do at C3 taking this opportunity into their circles. To their families. Their friends. Their neighbors. Their acquaintances. Their kids schools. Their businesses. Their churches. They re ignited and walking through every open door; representing the children waiting for their homes. Watch what happens: every one of the 600 Malawi orphans we ve yet to meet will soon lie down to sleep in soft beds in homes they never dreamed they d have.
It gets better.
There s still the school. Enter Libby Wolfe, Junior in MU s Journalism School. Libby engaged her sorority, Pi Beta Phi, and another sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, to raise $25,000 to build the school. A lot of passion and energy later, this has steamrolled into a campus-wide crusade Mizzou 4 Malawi.
Go now to www.ChangeALife.us Take a look at what these college kids are doing. It s incredible.
In sum, we ve got brilliant health care pros, a small group, sororities, and a tidal wave of college students partnering to care for 600 orphans in Malawi. None have to leave their day jobs. None of this was planned. A few key people took fliers to lead this charge through their personal lives. And bang! That s C3.
If you d like to join this effort, let us know via e-mail to [email protected]
C3 Uganda: Kyotera Project – 10 New Homes Coming.
This is a picture of our latest Uganda project, in process. Kyotera, Uganda. 10 children s homes. 12 children and a momma in each. $6k per home.
We have 3 homes complete and full of little ones; 3 are nearly done; and the final 4 will be completed soon. Stay tuned. More info to come.
If you d like to join our Uganda effort, contact Joe Knittig
C3 Liberia Homes: A New C3 Frontier ~ Coming Soon.
We love these photos! This is a photo of our partners in Liberia building homes for orphans in their community. It’s exciting when these similar images hit our “in” box from all over the world. The tight interconnectedness between you, our partners, and the C3 children amazes us.
We re wading into a new frontier in Liberia. We re placing 4 homes for 50 orphans and mommas there. We expect the children will be in their homes by Christmas. Please pray this will happen. Can you imagine such a Christmas?
Here s the twist on this project. We didn t go seek this partner or project. A passionate C3 family brought it to us. This family and their church have a heart for Liberia and a desire to fund children s homes with one of their ministry partners in Liberia. They just didn t know how to go about it. So, they came to C3. We vetted the partner and project. It was a good fit. We lined-up the project. We re managing the project. C3 simply became the conduit for this family and their church. We can do the same for you.
Please pray for this venture. If it goes well, we have another 40 acres of land waiting for more homes!
Your Home Church & C3: New Mission Model Explodes.
We ve always felt that when our passionate C3ers run the C3 fuse into their churches here in the States, look out. We can offer an explosive mission model directly connecting churches here to our local church partners where we serve, via a 100 cents on the dollar conduit. Well, look out. The explosions have begun.
We have scores of incredible church partners who support C3 in the traditional mission model through monthly support. This is extraordinarily helpful to our work.
Now, churches are taking things a step farther. For example, Liberty Christian Fellowship has fully embraced C3 and its model. LCF started with 1 home for 30 children. Now, LCF is en route to supporting another 60 children, and is, in effect, adopting an orphan village in Haiti.
Restore Church, in the Kansas City Northland, has entered the fray. Restore is adopting an entire village with C3 Cavaillon, Haiti. Restore has a heart for church planting in the same viral way that C3 plants orphan homes. It s a natural fit.
Restore initially planned to fund a small $25,000 church in Cavaillon, to set the table for C3 to plant children s homes there. Pastor Troy McMahon laid out this vision to the church. Guess what happened? In one Sunday, the body at Restore funded a large church for Cavaillon ($50,000), and children s homes for 90 children! The whole enchilada. The funding will hit Haiti this week or next. The church will be built and children in homes by the end of February, Lord willing.
Here s the kicker Restore (not even 6 months old) just funded the church in Cavaillon and 2 children s homes, but doesn t even have a church building of its own. The church members are having a blast. Membership has sharply risen. No building. Go figure.
More and more churches are opening-up to a new way of missions with C3. Churches taking on children. Churches taking on homes. Churches taking on entire villages.
Run this fuse into your home church. See what happens.
C3 aLive Event: 1 Night; Over $1 Million Raised. You Did It!!!
On Friday, September 26, more than 500 of you reveled in our annual C3 aLive celebration. Some of you prepared for an audacious night of generosity by funding homes to be built. Many others of you made commitments to fund the cost of child care for 3 years. We all combined our efforts in 30 minutes of euphoric giving, and together committed well over $1 million to care for orphaned and abandoned children.
The entire event was produced, set-up, and executed by an army of C3 volunteers. All volunteers. 1 night. More than $1 million dollars. How about that?
To those who gave their time to help, their resources, their hearts THANK YOU!
Details, Details, Details
Web Overhaul. Heads-up. We re targeting a massive web overhaul in January. Our website will better connect you, the C3 family, to the children, and will keep you constantly apprised of projects and opportunities at C3. Be on the lookout.
Volunteers. So many of you have asked how you can give your time to help at C3. We need to do a better job aligning your passions and availability with C3 needs. As part of the web overhaul, look for an on-line tool to help with that.
Year End Giving. Please spread the word about C3 to your circles. Grow the C3 family at this important time of year. And look for the C3 on-line Christmas Catalog coming soon.
Concluding Thoughts
We remain so thankful for you. And we look forward to bigger and better things together in 2009, and for many years to come. Happy Thanksgiving.
Faithfully yours,
Mike & Beth Fox
Your C3 Partners
