Dear Brother and Sister in Christ, I trust this letter finds you well. Allow me a moment to introduce myself to you. My name is Don Carson and I serve as the Sr. Pastor of the First Church of God in St. James, Missouri. I have been blessed to serve here in St. James for just over 20 years, over twelve as the Pastor of Student Ministries and over eight as Sr. Pastor. During my time in St. James I have had the great opportunity to travel to different parts of the world and witness the mighty movement of the Lord in third world countries. I have been blessed to travel to India, Uganda and Haiti. My travels to India and Haiti were with a good friend of mine, Richard Fields. Richard serves as the with a missions organization called Helping Hands In Motion, Inc. HHIM works in the 10/40 window areas of India and Sri Lanka as well as the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti. HHIM’s focus is to minister to and empower and equip indigenous national leaders in these areas to minister to their people. For more information about HHIM be sure to check out their website, www.helpinghandsinmotion.org. In efforts to suppress the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ, the newly appointed Indian government aspires to make India an all Hindu nation once again, by enforcing the anti-conversion laws that several states have in place. They are looking for ways to stop Christian organizations from sending funds into India, which are helping many oppressed and hurting people by providing: relief resources, training, education and more while sharing the message of hope and salvation to those they are ministering. One organization India has stopped from sending funds into their country is Compassion International. Compassion has approximately 500 Children programs ministering to approximately 145,000 children and families in some of the poorest areas in the world, where they were releasing children from poverty in Jesus name. Compassion can no longer send funds to these programs to help release children from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty. Persecution, trouble, a loss of hope and joy has permeated through the areas where these programs have been shut down. Leaders have seen the feelings of oppression return. Plus 25% of the children who were in the Compassion programs have now dropped out of school. It is very heartbreaking to see what is happening. We know the church will grow strong as they go through this time, but those being oppressed without the Lord will suffer. We want to help those who are ministering to the suffering and oppressed! Over thirteen years ago, Helping Hands In Motion working though our national leader, Sanjay Murmu, helped start two of these Compassion International programs. Through the efforts of these programs many children and families were helped; giving hope, joy and a future. Many people have heard about Jesus Christ, through various venues and committed their lives to Him. Helping Hands In Motion and our National Leader desire to help these two programs keep running, on a smaller scale. Compassion International sent approximately $8,000 per month to each of these programs to minster to around 300 children in each program. At this time, we cannot afford to do this. Our goal is to send $1,000 per month to each of these two programs to keep them ministering to as many children and families they can handle with the reduced revenue – this is our short-term goal for the next twelve months. This is where you and I come in. As Sr. Pastor of FCOG St. James, I am leading our congregation in campaign to pay for at least two months of support. We will do this through Love Offerings, VBS Offerings, fundraisers, etc. We pray that God will move mightily so that we may pay for even more. I am writing to you to ask you to prayerfully consider leading your congregation in the same campaign. If we could get twelve churches to commit to two months or twenty four churches to one month we could keep these children in school, learning about Jesus and bringing light to darkness. I do want to thank you for reading this letter and at least prayerfully considering this tremendous opportunity to the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at 573-265-3465 or Richard Fields at 863-255-1339. FOR SAFETY REASONS WE DO ASK THAT YOU NOT SHARE THIS ON SOCIAL MEDIA. In His Service, Pastor Donald Carson Jr Rev. Donald Carson Jr Sr. Pastor, FCOG St. James Mo Helping Hands In Motion Board Member]]>
