The Pinch of Poverty Pains CRWRC
CRWRC Newsroom | November 20, 2009
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Unless CRWRC's funding increases, important programs will be cut. |
It is time to let you know that we need your help.
Unless CRWRC’s income improves, we will end our current fiscal year $2.2 million behind in our core funding from where we were in 2006-2007. This means less money available for ministry, and fewer people that we can help.
While everyone is feeling the pinch of tough economic times, we know that the communities we serve feel it even more. Sky-rocketing food prices, chronic disasters, and AIDS are leaving poor families even more desperate— unsure how they will feed their families each day, forced to choose between eating today or saving seed for the next harvest, and wondering what the future will hold for their children if they can’t afford to send them to school.
We do not want to cut life-saving programs to these, God’s most vulnerable children.
Like many of you, CRWRC has worked hard to offset this financial challenge. We’ve delayed new programs, cut all new expenses since 2007, trimmed $600,000 from this year’s budget, used reserved funds, reduced medical benefits, cut pensions, and frozen staffing and administration. Through these measures, we’ve managed to avoid cutting programs that help people in need. But donations are still coming up short. So we are bringing a request and a challenge to you.
First, will you pray for CRWRC and the poor we serve today? As believers, we know that prayer is a special gift God has given His children. We ask you to plead with God, our Father, to sustain those who are poor, hungry, and living in uncertainty. When CRWRC programs are cut, millions of lives hang in the balance. Ask that God will provide for those in need through CRWRC and other charitable organizations.
Second, will you tell others? One of CRWRC’s strengths is the ability to leverage our networks. Today, we are asking you, our faithful supporters, to make spreading the word a priority in your living room, school parking lot, and church lobby. Let others know about the real needs that people are facing around the world, and the role that CRWRC can play in bringing Christ’s love in word and deed in these situations. We, at CRWRC, claim God’s promise to “supply all our needs according to His riches in glory” realizing that it is through your involvement with us that God’s kingdom is visible in the darkest corners of the world.
We ask these things, realizing that your generosity is remarkable. CRWRC is grateful that despite tough economic times so many people have faithfully remembered those more in need. Many of you have dug deep to give to CRWRC despite your own difficult financial situations. Thank you! We are also grateful that through leveraged partnerships with other agencies and organizations, we are often able to turn every dollar you give into two, three or four dollars of life-saving interventions with people in desperate need. Praise God!
We believe that those who are poor in this life are close to God’s heart. In Malachi 3:9b-10 says, “’Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.’” We are asking you to be that blessing. Please consider giving sacrificially to CRWRC by the end of 2009 and as we begin 2010.
Your partners in ministry:
Andrew Ryskamp (CRWRC-US Director) & Ida Kaastra-Mutoigo (CRWRC-Canada Director)
To Donate:
You can also call 1-800-55-CRWRC in the U.S. or 1-800-730-3490 in Canada.
Donations can be mailed to:
| CRWRC-US 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue SE Grand Rapids, MI 49560 |
CRWRC-Canada 3475 Mainway PO Box 5070 STN LCD 1 Burlington, ON L7R 3Y8 |