 Greetings!
HopeKids' events focus on the whole family because siblings of children who have a life-threatening medical condition can be unintentionally overlooked due to the attention needed to care for a child with unique needs. In fact, studies show 80% of siblings have elevated levels of post-traumatic stress, which makes including them in events all the more crucial. Take a minute to look at the spring HopeNotes magazine to learn about HopeKids through the perspective of artwork created by siblings, and read about our long-time partnership with the Colten Cowell Foundation. Thank you for providing opportunities for families to spend time together and helping siblings to feel special. Your support of HopeKids continues to further the mission to provide hope--and hope is a powerful medicine! With Hope, Brian Anderson, Executive Director HopeKids Minnesota MEETING THE NEEDS OF OTHERS
This year we celebrate a Golden Anniversary of ministry (1972 - 2022) Following are a few opportunities we have had over the years. The mission helped pay for an emergency cesarean section of a mother and child in need. The father knew he could not repay for the operation instead he built us 2 desks, 2 doors and a wall for the office. The mission helped pay for a little boy's open heart surgery. Even though they could not repay, they made sure little Danny was in VBS as soon as he recovered. The mission helped cover the cost for many campers each summer. Even though their parents could not afford camp we rejoiced with them when their child accepted Christ. We have helped hundreds of children who were abused, abandoned, neglected; and families who were torn apart by drugs, alcohol and even imprisonment. We´ve housed drug addicts, street children living alone and migrants who were headed north only to turn south towards home when they heard the Gospel preached for the first time. One such boy was Rito. A lost soul searching for a better life became a baptized believer while in our care. Most recently Jose has been asked by the Mexican Immigration officials to help with the new influx of Haitian refugees and others to San Luis Potosi. Many have decided to stay and make their home here in the inner city. Jose said what he needs most at this moment are more bibles. The mission has helped build an adobe church, a bamboo church, a mountain church, an urban church, a country church and even an inner city church called the Ontañon Church of Christ who is celebrating 30 years of ministry (1992 - 2022). The mission was found in hospitals, cemeteries, court rooms, jail cells, rehab facilities, school rooms, villages, house churches, rivers, mountains, patios, dirt floored huts, churches without a roof, walls or doors and even fancy tiled sanctuaries. We have driven for miles and miles to remote destinations, walked for hours, slept on beds made out of palm trees, been to places and ate foods that no one ever heard of. All to meet the needs of others. In Ecclesiastes chapter 3, there are stark contrasts of life events that have happened or will happen to us all. The writer sums it up well by saying, "He has made everything beautiful in its time". One such life event happened to Jose recently when he had to make a quick decision all on his own. A family very close to us lost their daughter to leukemia. The mother also is suffering from a brain tumor and parkinson´s disease. They came several months ago to the city for treatment for both daughter and mother. The father was searching for a way to safely return to their remote mountain top village some 24 hours away. Without hesitation Jose offered them what they needed most at that moment. He drove non-stop for 23 hours and got them home safely in time for the funeral. Jose was able to make something beautiful in its time while staying on visiting the family and the Church of Christ of Zaragoza, Oaxaca, where the family are members. Tired and exhausted from driving the day before Jose rose early on Sunday to prepare for his sermon. In the mountains they have church services at 7a.m. every Sunday. Singing and rejoicing in the Word can be heard by every child, youth and adult. Poor mountain people and all they could afford to repay Jose for what he had done for them was a plate full of food to send him on his way. Jose said, "my cup runneth over". Meeting the needs of others is not about what we will receive in return. It is about giving all you have and more at times. It is about a grateful heart. You give because you are blessed. In return we are able to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those in need. Fifty years of meeting the needs of children, youth, adults and families in the inner city and most recently to a small remote mountain top village far from home. With your help we will continue meeting the needs of others. Jose Manuel Gonzalez Field Director of E.M.M. David and Sheri DeBolt Directors of E.M.M. All gifts are tax deductible. Donations can be made out to: Emanuel Mexico Mission Address: 2950 E. 350 N. Bluffton, IN 46714 March 2022 Thank you
Each month we are grateful and humbled by your monthly gift that allows the ministry to continue. You are a vital link in our outreach to the inner city needs of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. This past month Jose said everyday people from the neighborhood and other local churches came to the mission seeking advice, prayers, bible studies, food and to hear the Good News. As I write this note, one of the boys (Joni) who we raised (2008 - 2019) just informed me that his older sister passed away this morning. She had been struggling with cancer for some time. The entire family has been living in San Luis Potosi to be with his older sister so she could receive the medical attention she needed. Joni, as some of you know, comes from a tiny village in the remote hills of Oaxaca, Mexico as Joni´s father is a coffee and banana farmer. Jose is with Joni´s family at the hospital to help comfort and to share that our facility is available for them. We are to be witnesses to those who hurt. Joni asked for prayer and said he feels so alone. I just reminded Joni that he is not alone, God is with him now more than ever, his family needs his witness as a believer along with his father´s faith. Because of Joni´s faith he witnessed to his father who was baptized April 2014, and together they can share the peace and hope that only God gives in times like this. Small moments such as these are how your support can comfort and bring understanding to those that grieve and celebrate with those who know who holds the future. This year, 2022, the Ontañon Church of Christ will celebrate 30 years of faithfully preaching and teaching the Gospel to the inner city of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Has it been easy? No, but we continue because we answered the call to, “go and make disciples”. Thirty years of struggles, thirty years of challenges and thirty years of victories. There have been many baptisms and many times to share in the celebration of life. In the coming months we will share more how your support continues to change lives. Thank you. Jose, David and Sheri Greetings from The Open Door!
We appreciate your recent gift to help feed the hungry! "Normal life" has mostly resumed for many of us, but COVID-19 has dealt longer-term setbacks to single-parent families, mothers of young children, and low-income workers paying higher prices for essentials like rent, groceries and gas. With your help, The Open Door has scaled up our services dramatically since the spring of 2020, doubling the number of people served monthly across Dakota County since 2019. We provide a variety of nutritious food items through programs like our fixed-site Eagan Pantry and Garden to Table, which recently added its 12th location and helps food-shelf clients grow their own fruits and vegetables, Our food shelf does its work with 400 active volunteers each month, but we still need and welcome new ones, especially at the Eagan Pantry and to stock vehicles at our mobile distribution site in Apple Valley. To schedule a first-time volunteer shift at one of our pantries, go to https://theopendoorpantry.org/get-involved/volunteer/. Thanks again for bringing healthy food and peace of mind to those in need.  Hello !
It's been awhile but I hope you are all doing well! There has been a lot going on with GoCorps so I thought it was time for an update! The GoCorps staff was able to gather in person for our annual Staff Retreat in January! It was a great time to focus on what God has in store for GoCorps for 2022 and beyond. On February 22, we announced that GoCorps is partnering with the Urbana Missions Conference. If you haven't already seen our announcement video you can see it here. But Mike...what have YOU been doing? Good Question! I have been able to do a little bit of everything since my last newsletter! While my main role with GoCorps is in Operations, I get to put on my mobilization shoes and visit college campuses and talk with students and faculty. Here are some highlights:
Starting April 24th, GoCorps is having its 3rd annual Walk Week.This year we'll be sharing 7 stories of Goers who are serving overseas and sharing 7 ways you can pray for your neighborhood and the world. I'd love to have you participate with me! Please let me know if you have any questions or would like more information. Some things you can definitely be praying about are:
Thank you for your continued prayers and support! Please know that I try to keep all fo you in my prayers as well. Let me know of any specific ways that I can be lifting you up in prayer. Mike & Jackie Olivia, Eden, & Brielle  Grocery and gas prices are soaring. You see it in the checkout line and in your monthly budget. For many families fighting to stay afloat inflation and supply chain issues mean empty cupboards and empty bellies.
This February our Executive Director, Jason Viana, caught up with Karishma Vanjani from Barron’s Online – Powered by Dow Jones to chat about the harsh reality of rising food costs in America. At The Open Door the impact of rising prices has materialized in food expenditures more than doubling from a year ago and the amount of purchasing power declining by around half. On average, families took home a few pounds less food on each visit this January than they did last year due to the challenges in the global supply chain. Check out the full story below. US | February 12, 2022 · 02:36 pmOn a recent February morning, Joe Slater watched a line of people wrap around the large parking lot of Gleaners Food Bank in Indianapolis, in below-freezing temperatures. Slater, chief financial officer of Indiana’s largest food bank, said up to 25% more people wait for food there than before the pandemic, and for roughly twice as long—anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours. The longer lines have come hand-in-hand with rising consumer prices: Inflation surged at a 7.5% annual pace in January, according to data released Thursday. The price of chicken, for instance, has jumped about 10% from just a year ago. “We are still trying to buy as much quantity [but] it’s forcing us to limit what we buy,” Slater said. “Everyone wants chicken breasts, but they are so expensive now, so we buy drumsticks and chicken legs.” Soaring prices have increased demand at many food banks that supply staples to low-income families. To keep up with the growing need, Feeding America’s nationwide network of food banks purchased 58% more food in its 2021 fiscal year compared with the previous year. Some organizations say they are struggling to afford certain items, especially meat, and can’t supply as much food to families as they did before the pandemic. That means many of those consumers must reach into their wallets to buy the items they used to find at local community pantries—leaving them with less money to pay for other basic needs. “With budgets already strained, [people] have told us clearly that less food during their visit has a real impact on their ability to make ends meet,” said Jason Viana, executive director at The Open Door Pantry in Eagan, Minn. “Less food from us equals less likelihood they can both pay their rent and feed their family.” The Open Door now serves about 14,000 people each month, double the number it served pre-pandemic. At the same time, it has had to reduce the number of meat and dairy items it can provide to families because of elevated costs.The rapid rise in food prices, in particular, has outpaced a number of other sectors. In January, grocery prices, which include cereals, milk, and bread, jumped 7.4% year over year. Minnesota’s Second Harvest Heartland food bank is seeing the impact of inflation firsthand: It can no longer distribute free meat to its partner food pantries. Julie Vanhove, director of supply and demand planning, said the food bank had 40% less meat available in the last six months versus the same period a year ago. Overall, Second Harvest’s food purchase prices were 9% higher in the last six months of 2021 from the year-ago period, but its supply to pantries was down 15%. Case in point: It has been paying $9,500 to bring in free apples and pears from the state of Washington. Last spring, “our average freight cost was $3,000 per truckload,” Vanhove said. Similarly, the Food Bank for New York City now pays $51,000 for a truckload of peanut butter, roughly 80% more than it did in June 2019, according to the bank’s chief procurement officer, Bob Silvia. Rising transportation and packaging expenses play a big part in such increases: Feeding America says that freight costs to move donated food climbed more than 20% last month from a year ago for its food bank network. The rise in food prices is disproportionately affecting low-income households because they spend a larger share of income on food, said Maurice Obstfeld, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. The lowest 20% of earners spend 27% of their income on food, whereas the highest income quintile spends only 7% of income on food, Obstfeld said, citing 2020 data from the Agriculture Department.Nathan Sheets, Citi’s global chief economist, agrees. Lower-income consumers’ higher spending on food “is an iron law of economics,” he said. “It leaves them with fewer other financial reserves to absorb the rising costs.” Food-insecure families and the pantries that help them might not get a reprieve from inflation any time soon, amid continued supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and robust demand. Sheets doesn’t see a significant improvement in the next six months. “It may not be getting worse,” he says, “but it’ll also be far from normal food prices.” For more information on how you can support The Open Door’s hunger relief efforts visit our “How to Give” page at https://theopendoorpantry.org/how-to-give/. Thanks for reading!The Open Door Team |
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