Thank you for your generous and faithful response to the invitation to be a vital part of the life and ministry of Arborlawn. We continue to receive commitment cards weekly. To date we’ve received 439 cards which represent an increase in the number of commitments over this same period last year. Our goal is for 500 (61 more) families and individuals at Arborlawn to stand up and step out in making a commitment, doing what they can to help us change lives for Jesus Christ. Again, in the midst of an uncertain economy we’re not asking the same people to do more, we’re asking for more people to do the same. Thank you for your generous and faithful commitment.
Finishing Strong: Our needs and the needs of others
In the excitement of opening our new facilities so much of our efforts and resources have been dedicated and focused towards meeting our own congregational needs. As the project was nearing completion, there were inevitable last minute expenses related to the physical needs of the building. We also devoted a number of resources in September toward our opening as we introduced ourselves to the community with a series of concerts, Open House and other special events. It was important and necessary to focus our efforts on those opening events. We took care of our needs. Now it’s time to care for the needs of others. Because so much focus has been on opening the building we’ve fallen behind in our commitment to fund ministries beyond the local church through our UMC connectional system and apportionment giving. To date we’ve paid $80,792.00 of our 2011 apportionments which total $265,274.00. Together we can reach our goal.
The apportionments represent a wide variety of ministries we support in partnership with other UMC congregations both locally and throughout the world. The 2011 apportionments include the World Benevolence Fund, Africa University, Missional support, as well as offering support within our own conference for the ministries of Glen Lake Camp, United Community Centers and the Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso. Through our apportionments, we support 903 missionaries around the world, serving 57 countries. In more than 50 countries around the world, our missionary outreach provides meals for 3 million people every year or over 8,200 people every day. For more information about apportionments and our partnership in the connectional system you may go here.
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ArborlawnUMC.org