Ministry Monday: Malachi Ministries

Malachi Ministries

Website: http://malachi.org/

I heard about this ministry while listening to AFN, the Armed Forces Network, a radio station which caters to those in the miltary around the world and other English speaking listeners. They were interviewing some of the volunteers for Malachi Ministries and I had to find out more abou them.

Malachi Children's Ministry is a joint venture of Cadence International and Child Evangelism Fellowship, Inc. (CEF). With the strength and experience of Cadence International in working within the military culture and with the proven success of CEF in reaching children for Christ, we create a synergy that allows more powerful ministry to these special children.

Around four million people call the U.S. Military "home." This includes almost one million children of military and civilian personnel. Within this American subculture, approximately 25-35% of the people in a given community move every year. Most assignments for people in the U.S. Military last a mere two to three years with the end of the assignment possibly bringing a move across the world. Children in this environment must continually adjust and make new friends. One or both parents may leave on deployment or on an unaccompanied assignment for six months to a year. Military life can be difficult for all involved. These children need people in their lives to anchor them in Jesus, the Rock of Ages.

If you would like to help Malachi Ministries, there are several ways you can do so.

• Pray their leaders and missionaries all around the world as well as for all the students to whom they get to minister. Give them receptive hearts and may the hearts of their families be receptive as well.
• Donate your frequent flyer miles. Learn more here.
• Donate funds

Ministry Monday: Shoes 2 Share

Shoes 2 Share (formerly Soles 2 Share) was formed when one special family starting spending time in Haiti. This family was bringing two Haitian children into their home but they weren't prepared to stop giving to children in need.

Every time they would visit Haiti, they would take along suitcases full of "like new" and "gently used" shoes to distribute to children that they came into contact with in the orphanages and on the streets. But it was very clear to them that their own personal efforts weren't nearly enough to meet the needs of these kids. And so the ministry began. They started approaching businesses, churches and schools for help and things have begun to grow from there. In fact, they currently have so many shoes in their warehouse in Wilmington, Deleware, that they are now asking for help to sort, clean, categorize and repack the shoes.

If you'd like to donate shoes, there are currently drop off sites in Maryland and there is currently a shoe drive going on in Exton, Pennsylvania. Click here to learn more information

You can also contact Rhonda via email info@shoes2share.com with any questions you have, to volunteer your time or to collect their information so that you can send them a donation.

Ministry Monday: Backpacks for Pine Ridge

There are so many ministries out there that need and deserve attention so I thought I would start a new blogging series on this post called Ministry Monday. Every Monday I will feature another ministry which has caught my eye.

This week:

Backpacks for Pine Ridge
MySpace page

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota is one of the most beautiful places in America. It is also one of the poorest. The median income on the reservation is just $2,600 a year. The unemployment rate is a shocking 85%. Sadly, it is the children and teenagers who are the most vulnerable victims of such poverty. Among schools on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the drop-out rate is 70%.

Since 2004, a group from Winton Rd. Church of God in Fairfield, Ohio, has been going to the reservation and giving out backpacks filled with school supplies to the children in the village of Allen. Their goal is to expand this backpack project so that they can provide a backpack filled with school supplies to every child on the reservation. Giving a child a backpack of school supplies does two things: It provides much needed school supplies and it encourages children to stay in school and get an education.

Just $15.00 can provide one child on the reservation with a backpack and school supplies.

If you'd like to help you can do so in the following ways:

• Pray! Pray for the ministry, the leaders of this ministry, those donating their money and time and the children and families receiving these backpacks
• Donate money for backpacks and school supplies.
• Sponsor a team member
• Go on a trip (see the requirements)
  

Learn more about their specific trips on their other blog Pine Ridge Mission Trips.

GodMen - When Faith Gets Dangerous

We've all heard that "Nice guys finish last" - and I guess that is what GodMen and founder Brad Stine are hoping to curb when it comes to Christian men. They want guys to not be "nice" but "good" - the latter being acceptable by society and "nice" carrying a stigmata that generally indicates guys are too mushy, sentimental or just push overs. And women want men that will stand up for their family, their beliefs and themselves, right?

Although GodMen is still in its founding stages, their vision is very real already. Their home page describes the organization as follows:

The truth is that on any given Sunday, 60% of church attendees are women, and something about church today is keeping men away. We are attempting to create a worship place for men that looks nothing like church. It is a place where men of no religion and men who have left the church break bread with followers of Jesus. Where simply being a man, created in Gods image, is celebrated. An environment familiar with and conducive to the way men are made comfortable and the unique way men interact.

We have committed to see what would happen if, for one day, our faith and its struggles would be discussed with absolute honesty, transparency and openness - not sugar coated or framed in church language but instead spoken in frankness and maturity where men can see their innermost fears, shames, and secrets brought to light in a safe environment. Not for judgment but instead to reveal a commonality of unique male struggles shared with their own tribe, a band of brothers who promise to walk this journey with them to the end.

And they've gotten quite a bit of coverage already. ABCNews actually brought my attention to them with their cleverly titled article, "Christian Men...Too Wimpy?"

If you're a man who'd like to grow a backbone, hang out with other guys and play with power tools (or you're a woman who'd like to have a non-wimpy man), here's their upcoming events:
Mobile, Alabama - September 15
Austin, Texas - September 29
Jacksonville, Florida - October 6
Charlotte, North Carolina - October 13
Sacramento, California - October 27
Indianapolis, Indiana - November 3
Nashville, Tennessee - April 5, 2008

They also have a blog with news updates, photos of recent events and more.