Charitable giving

Charity begins at home, it is often said. We agree, that is where charity begins, but it is not where it should stay.

Giving to those less fortunate than ourselves is a measure of a persons humanity. As Christians it is also a biblical theme.

See for example, Matthew 25:31-40:

‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” NRSV

St. Luke's and Charity Support.

St. Luke's teaches the Biblical theme of tithing income - the giving of 10% of income to people in need. For our membership the hope is that people will distribute a tithe so that charities benefit, including the church.

The church practices tithing from its own income. The principle applied is that the beneficiaries should be Christian charities with some in the UK and some overseas. The approximate split is that two thirds of the total amount goes overseas, with the remainder used in the UK.

In this present year UK funding is going to:

Dove Trust

Soup Kitchen - Website under construction. Provides food and other help for people in nearby Southport.

Care for the family

Navigators

And overseas funding is going to:

Tear Fund

CMS

Barnabus

Gospel for Asia

Toy Box

Ministry in Shyira - Shyira Trust sends the gift to Rwanda.

Guarderia Children’s Day Care Centre Peru

Operation Mobilisation

Every Lent we have a fund raising project to support Christians working in the developing world. Traditionally the income from the project is split into two parts with half going to Africa and half to South America. The beneficiaries in 2012 are to be:

South America - The Chaco is a vast undeveloped area in Paraguay. The indigenous population live in shacks in small communities scattered all over the area. The medical problems of the 18,000 people living in the Chaco are not helped by the lack of clean water and a limited diet. Their only access to medical treatment is from the system set up by missionary nurse Beryl Baker. She has trained up local health workers who live in their communities and give basic medical care. Once a month, Beryl drives her old truck into Asuncion to buy medical supplies, and delivers them to each community. However, the costs are going up, and Beryl’s funds are going down. The Lent Project is fund-raising to enable Beryl to buy the medical supplies needed.

Africa - Butaka Parish is in North West Rwanda close to the Congo border. It is high on the slopes of volcano Karisimbi and cold. The people are exceedingly poor. Recently Moses, who previously worked in Shyira, was asked to go and serve in Butaka as a non-stipendiary minister. The role of the minister in poverty stricken rural areas is important, for they must be both a pastor a friend to the people. The pastors income is from parish collections, and when people are poor the money given is small. Moses gets about £6 ($9) a month to keep himself, his wife and their 6 children. In addition he must provide worship and other parish facilities. We aim to help Moses financially and to develop parish facilities. The picture across the top of the page shows people of Butaka near their worship building.