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Signs of Hope, Practices of Love Practice Generosity and Commit to Give (Note: This page will be more fully developed once this initiative is fully launched. ) As a Sign of Hope and a Practice of Love, commit to give at least 0.7% of your income, both as churches and as individuals to address poverty in the world. Why 0.7%? As Christian we are encouraged to try to give at least 10% (tithe) of our income so that it can be used for the sharing of the gospel and the care of the world. Of that 10% (or in addition to that 10%), we are now also encouraging people of faith to join in the worldwide movement to also give 0.7% of their income to addressing issues of poverty around the world. If everyone in the “developed” world were to do this we could eliminate extreme poverty* in the world. This presents us with a moral challenge to give. Internationally, this effort to address extreme poverty is occurring through the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). As a part of this, it is also important that we also ask our government to Commit to Give 0.7% as well. By making a commitment to give 0.7% of our own income to address issues of poverty, we can be a Sign of Hope which calls the rest of the world to make a commitment to ending extreme poverty. Giving at least 0.7% will also make a real difference in the lives of people who live in poverty today. Get involved and Commit to Give 0.7% as a:
We invite members and congregations of the ELCIC to give their 0.7% to the Global Hunger and Development Appeal (GHDA). *Extreme poverty is defined as households that cannot meet basic needs for survival. They are chronically hungry, unable to access health care, lack the amenities of safe drinking water and sanitation, cannot afford education for some or all of their children and perhaps lack rudimentary shelter. This is the equivalent of living on $1 per day or less. 1.1 billion people in the world live in extreme poverty. Extreme poverty is in contrast to moderate poverty in which basic needs are met, but just barely($1 -$2 per day), and relative poverty where household income is below a given proportion of average national income. (From Jeffery Sachs’s The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities For Our Time. This book also lays out, in economic terms, the possibilities for ending extreme poverty in the world)
We are inviting congregation to make it apart of their budget, that either as a part of the %10 (or more) that they give to ministry beyond themselves, that they also include giving at least %1 of their budget to meet the needs of the poor and marginalized of the world through Global Hunger and Development Appeal (GHDA). Alternatively congregations could also chose to pick one Sunday a year in which they designate all of the offering collected for GHDA. A good Sunday for this would be GHDA Sunday, which is the first Sunday in May. Individuals can contribute to GHDA in several different ways. Click on the 'Donate Now' button below to donate online through the secure web site at Canada Helps.org and designate your gift to the ELCIC's Global Hunger and Development Appeal (GHDA). We are encouraging people to consider setting up a monthly donation to GHDA. If you want you can also make a one time donation as well.
Add your gift to your regular congregational giving and designate it to GHDA Make a checque payable to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, write GHDA in the memo portion and mail to: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada att GHDA 302-393 Portage Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 3H6 Also consider including GHDA in your wills. For more information about this contact Jeff Pym or Ryan Andersen. |
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