Charities to Donate To

We’ll be doing a series of articles on charitable giving.

For starters, in my community a local church needs our help.

St. John Church of God in Christ recently moved into a new facility on May 2011. It’s in a small, rural community in Quincy, Florida near Tallahassee. Their vision is to be a community/village center for the community, which is very underserved.

They were able to build the church mostly debt free through fundraisers and people donating their time and skills.

Now the church has another major hurdle coming up in a couple of months.

The city zoning people say the church has to pave their parking lot or face consequences. The cost is around $15,000.

Can you donate to their cause?

Send gifts to P.O. Box 568, Quincy, FL 32352.

To donate online, here’s the link:

https://www.justgive.org/nonprofits/donate.jsp?ein=59-3453342

To see a pic of the new church and a schematic of the church vision, click here:

http://www.stjohncogicquincy.org/donate.html

The goal is to use the church as a multi-use building designed as a community center with many functions dedicated to the community of St John and the wider regional community. 

 

The mission is to serve as a worship and outreach center to service the community needs of the neighborhood, provide a gateway to self-improvement, teach life-skills, and to provide spiritual guidance and worship.

 

CONCEPTUAL SKETCH OF FUTURE BUILDING PHASES. The building is designed to provide overlapping functions as a seven day operational campus with the following proposed uses.

Immediate Goals:  Parking lot, holding pond, and to meet community needs by implementing service programs

 

Phase One – Assembly Building: Assembly area designed as a Performing Arts Center and Worship Center; classrooms for education and training; fellowship hall; and storm center and FEMA Recovery Response Program.

 

Phase Two &Three – Site / Courtyard Expansion: administration center, community outreach offices, coffee shop and deli with Internet Café for members, start-up business suites for rent, small retail outlets, food bank, and sports center. The courtyard (or village square) would become a popular meeting place for the immediate community of St John, which lacks a neighborhood center.

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God’s Wrath vs. God’s Favor

The recent, catastrophic earthquake in the small, island-nation of Haiti has reignited the debate between believers and non-believers of the Christian faith on the reasons why bad things happen to certain people or groups of people.  Just like with the past events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and the category 5 Hurricane Katrina devastation in New Orleans,  Christian leaders such as  700 Club’s Pat Robertson have been mocked by the media for sharing their belief system on the root of Haiti’s destruction.

Resources:

• Pat Robertson says Haiti paying for ‘pact to the devil’

• OPINION: What Pat Robertson Was Really Saying About Black People

• On A Qualified Defense Of Pat Robertson

• Haiti legend cited by Pat Robertson a ‘fabrication,’ scholar says

• Is God Mad at Haiti?

Bible Study Discussion / Research Questions:

Please provide scholarly, religious, and historical sources (not just opinion) to support your answers.

1. Throughout scripture God makes it clear that idolatry and lascivious behavior are unacceptable, and that when we turn from Him there are consequences. When things get so bad, He allows destruction for rebirth (i.e., Noah and the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah,  Babylon invasion, and Armageddon. In fact, Jesus died (destruction) for our sins, so that we could be born again (rebirth). Haiti and Louisiana were both colonized by the French and have similar cultural and spiritual rituals, such as Voodoo and the celebration of Carnival / Mardi Gras. New Orleans, Louisiana experienced a significant, catastrophic event by Hurricane Katrina, as well as Haiti with the recent 7.0 earthquake. Is there a spiritual connection or significance? If so, what is God’s message, good or bad?
2. Digging deeper, African Americans and Haitians have a common ancestry through slaves brought from Africa. Haiti is an impoverished country that never seems to catch a break, subject to one catastrophe after the next whether political strife or multiple hurricanes in one season. African American communities are the most impoverished in the United States, experiencing many of the same travails as the people of Haiti: high rates of HIV/AIDS, high infant mortality and disease, lack of education, poverty, etc. African American cultural practices also may include Voodoo, which makes sense because both African Americans and Haitians are descendents of Africa, where Voodoo originates. Despite the fact that Africa is the origin of civilization, Africans are one of the poorest people in the world, too. How can that be when Africans are descendents of Kings and Queens? What happened historically to lead to the present day situation? Is there a spiritual connection or significance? If so, what is God’s message, good or bad?
3. Even further, some would say the African American, Haitian, and African connection is a generational curse. If so, what did Africans do to set this in motion? How can the curse be broken? But can we really say it’s a generational curse, when other races experience catastrophic events as well?  The Native American Indians had their land stolen from them and they were never able to recover; however, they also incorporate Voodoo like rituals, spirits, and pagan gods in their culture.  Asians experience tragic earthquakes and typhoons; many of them serve Buddah, not God. Is the curse related to all people of color? How can that be when most of the world’s population is people of color? Is everyone doomed to destruction to pay for sin that re-occurred after God gave us a fresh start by destroying the Earth with water?

About Trumpet Magazine

Healing Grace Ministries’ Trumpet Magazine is a scholarly, spiritual discussion of Christianity, world religions, world history, and cultural customs.