$ How to make your dollar work harder $$$

First of all we want to say THANK YOU for all you have done to help hurting children this past year through The Christian Relief Fund . Your marvelous generosity has brought hope and joy to the hearts of children and families around the world. Your contributions make possible a work larger than any single individual could maintain. As the year draws to a close, many begin to think of finances and how to make the most of giving for tax benefits later. Year end charitable giving is a time-honored tradition that impacts your future, your loved ones and the recipients of your genorosity for generations to come. Recognizing the tremendous value of charitable giving, our federal government provides significant tax benefits for gifts to a qualified charity. The best way to make a gift will vary with individual circumstances but the following are some suggestions:

1. Check or cash: Your check to a qualified charity prior to December 31, could save you quite a bit at tax-filing time.

2. Securities or real estate. If you have owned stock or real estate for more than a year, you may deduct the full fair market value and save capital gains taxes on appreciated stock or real estate donated to charity.

3. Life insurance. If the charity becomes both owner and beneficiary, replacement value, cost basis or premiums of the policy, may qualify for chari-table deduction depending on status of the policy.

4. Gifts of tangible personal property may be fully tax-deductible at fair market value or on a cost basis depending on whether or not they are related to the charity's exempt purposes.

5. A unitrust allows assets to be sold within the unitrust and proceeds reinvested to produce a greater yield for the donor(s) or beneficiary(s) providing substantial tax savings, an annual income to you or your family and a hedge against inflation as income increases with the value of the trust.

6. Gift Annuity. Many people are discovering that with a Christian Relief Fund gift annuity one can make a significant gift that impacts lives around the world both now and for eternity and at the same time receive a guaranteed income for life. Complete information on how this program can work for you, including a personalized proposal, is available to you without cost or obligation.

By taking advantage of the current tax laws which encourage and support gifts to qualified charities, each of us is able to make every dollar work a little harder. CRF will be pleased to provide information and assist in any way possible at no cost or obligation and with complete confidentiality. To find out more call or email CRF. Thank you for your friendship and all you do to support CRF. Your gifts are changing lives today and for generations to come.

October 2008 - Helping the Blind to See

Uganda:
When we arrived, she was already there - she wanted to be first in line. She was seated on a blanket of leaves, her face expressionless. She lived somewhere nearby in a small mud brick hut with no electricity or running water. Looking into her eyes, I could see that she could not see me Life in Uganda is hard. The very basics of life are labor-intensive and for most, there is barely food enough to live. But for the seeing impaired, life is even harder. Financially, glasses are out of the question. Movement is limited. It is not safe to walk about for the danger of stumbling in a hole or tripping on a rock or stick. Most likely, her grandchildren were her eyes for getting around the compound where she lived. She really wanted to contribute to her family, to help prepare meals, wash clothes, pick rocks out of the rice, thread a needle to mend the clothes of her grandchildren.
She reminded me of the blind beggar Bartimaeus. Neither could provide for themselves or see anything useful. Their lives were lived in scary, dark, blurry places. Life was a pretty miserable struggle for both. I reached for our newest glasses, made especially for us by a company in Mumbai, India. They are easy to adjust and have glass lenses so they will resist scratching in the dusty African environment. Putting on a pair of high powered glasses, she could suddenly see everything again, and we both praised the Lord for answered prayers. Just like Bartimaeus, our patient went away seeing everything with a big smile on her face. $25 will buy TEN pairs of these special glasses. The goal: to provide 10,000 glasses for the poor, as funds permit.
Click here to help.

Sept. 2008 - MEDICAL CLINIC IN BELIZE

"I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratefulness to the Christian Relief Fund for their assistance over the past several years with the Medical Mission to Northern Belize under the supervision of the elders at Central Church of Christ in Bryan, Texas. Our director is Bob Wolfert. Thanks to CRF we purchased $2,029.80 of medicine specifically for the children of Belize. I have been involved with this mission for the 14 years that we have been going to Belize. We have just returned from this year's trip to the Corozal region of Belize July 5 through July 13. We were very blessed this year. In 4½ days we saw 1,452 patients and dispensed nearly 5,000 medications to the people of northern Belize. Your support is greatly appreciated !! Thank you very much for your past support and we look forward to serving the people of Belize again next year."In His Service, Janet Lenz
Click here to help.

August 2008 - Ghana - Helping the Poorest of the Poor

A Poverty Comparison: Gross National Income (per person)
*United States - $2,800 per month
*Dominican Republic - $277/month
*Belize - $215 per month
*Ukraine - $70 per month
*Kenya - $25 per month
*Uganda - $18 per month
*Malawi - $12 per month
*Ethiopia - $7 per month
*CRF has projects in these countries

Willie Gley was one of the ministers in a congregation of 1500 in the city of Accra, the capital of Ghana, Africa. But he was not content with this success. He had a burning desire to help deprived children living in the poorest parts of his home town of Ho, two hours away. His team went door-to-door in the poorest neighborhoods to find the most needy. The Mars Hill Christian Academy started there with 30 children. $30 per month will provide transportation, breakfast, lunch, and education for one of these children. "The food we give them is what some of them depend on for the entire day." says Willie. "We only give the workers an allowance until we can pay them something better. They have been very understanding." Would you give hope for a better life to these children? Click here to help.

July 2008 -What Happens When Orphans Grow Up?

The Children’s Home in Kitale, Kenya. was officially started in 1992, so the first kids who came in are now in their early 20’s. Of the first 40 kids who came into the home, 22 of them have now moved on and begun lives outside the children’s home compound.
For the first time since the first wave of kids left the home (2003/2004), we invited all the kids back to the home for a special reunion. My first impression watching them come in was how mature they all seemed to be. The second thing I noticed was how much joy they had greeting each other. The home was filled with lots of laughter, hugging and joking. They all seemed to talk at the same time – trying to catch up on each other’s lives.

I began with a reunion speech that outlined my hopes and dreams for the day’s meeting. I gave each one a Bible, took their picture, and prayed for them. I was overwhelmed with love for them. I was moved to pray more often for them and to think of ways to increase my influence in their lives. Here are a few of their stories:

Stephen Muturi is 22 years old and might be the brightest academically of the group. He consistently scored highest among the kids in primary and secondary school. When it was time for him to move from the home he stayed around Kitale for a while until we were able to find him some scholarship money. He then moved to Nairobi and is now in his third year in university studies. He dreams of completing a master’s degree and becoming a university professor. CRF helps over 60 university students like Stephen with tuition and fees (a cost of $500 to $1300/semester). Click here to help..

Esther Muthoni is 24 years old. She married Absolom Irungu a small business owner who lives about 2 miles from the children’s home. Esther now attends church at the children’s home each Sunday with her two children Nancy Njeri (2 years old) and Pauline Wangoi (6 months). She is active in the choir.

Martin Wanyama is 23 years old. He moved from the home to Mbale, Uganda where he currently works as a security guard. He wants to take Bible courses at Messiah Theological Institute and become a preacher. In his first course he scored 100 on the final test. He became a member of the Mbale Church of Christ, sings in the choir, is captain of one of our youth teams, travels with me to discipleship meetings in the villages, and has learned how to fit glasses on people during our SEE Ministries eye clinics. He hopes to move to Nimule, Sudan and coordinate eyeglasses clinics throughout southern Sudan. If all goes well, SEE Ministries will begin training him to cut and edge glasses in 2009 – a rare skill in East Africa.

Whatever their situation, I have discovered that just because they have left the home does not mean we will no longer care about them or have a part to play in their lives. What we have learned from this first wave of kids coming in and out is that we need to do a lot more planning and preparation for kids becoming young adults. -Shawn Tyler, Mbale, Uganda

Thank you for giving these children a future and a hope . . .As Shawn stated above, preparation for adulthood is an important part of helping children. Cost of tuition and fees for university students is comparatively low in some countries, ranging from $500 to $1300/semester. As little as $50/mo could help a student obtain a college degree. Perhaps you'd like to help on a one-time or a monthly basis. All funds received for CRF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS will be used to help CRF children prepare for the future. Click here to help.

June 2008 - Churches Helping with CHINA EARTHQUAKE RELIEF

Gary Jackson described May 19 as “one of the harder days, emotionally, in my entire life.” Jackson, a church member living in Beijing, visited earthquake survivors in a hospital in Chengdu, China. The May 12 quake, the deadliest in decades, claimed at least 34,000 lives in central China, according to China news agency. The survivors, many of them children, were trapped beneath rubble for days, Jackson said. “All of the families have lost their houses and everything in them.” Jackson and other church members in Beijing plan to take supplies to Dujiangyan, a city near the earthquake’s epicenter and to provide any further aid they can to victims. China Mission, sponsored by the Peachtree City, Ga., church, currently cares for about 670 orphans in Christian care centers registered with the Chinese government and plans to assist about 2,000 children orphaned by the earthquake.

May 2008 - The "Silent Tsunami"

Spiralling food costs -- called a "silent tsunami" by the World Food Programme -- have sparked protests and food riots in 34 countries. The head of the UN World Food Program, Josette Sheeran, described the current food price crisis as a "global hunger emergency." The increase in food prices is costing the lives of 250,000 people every 10 days. Up to 100 million people are being pushed back into poverty. Rice prices have gone up as much as 250 percent in the past year. The world's poorest are the most vulnerable.
Violence, burning tires and looting in Haiti. . .
The poorest country in the Americas, Haiti has seen some of the worst food-related riots in recent months. From Roberta Audate, CRF worker in Haiti: "Because Haiti imports most of its food, it is at the mercy of the world market. Prices have gone crazy in the last 5 months . . . .50 lbs of Corn Meal was $12.60 in Nov and is now $24.65100 lbs of rice was $38 - now $66. 100 lbs of beans was $57 - now $96.1 gal of cooking oil was $5.20 - now $8.90.Propane for cooking @ 100 lbs was $38.00 and is now $63.70Gasoline was $3.90 a gallon and is now $6.80 a gallon The vast majority of Haiti struggles to get by on less than $2 a day! The rising prices of staple food items like rice and beans have left many Haitians desperate and angry. Rising fuel costs have made transportation of foodstuffs increasingly expensive, making the current global crisis especially painful for Haiti.

Shawn Tyler reports on how this "silent tsunami" has affected CRF projects in Kenya: "The children's home we run in Kitale, Kenya, is more than $1000 a month short on its budget. Right now, because of rising costs of food, CRF sponsorship does not even cover the cost of food for the children. Rice has doubled in the last year. Sugar has gone up 70%. Wheat flour is more than 60% up. Cooking oil is up more than 45%. Charcoal and firewood have doubled in the last year as well. We need to do something quickly to alleviate this shortfall."

Another factor creating the food crisis is that several African nations who used to produce enough food to feed their own populations are no longer able to do so. Zimbabwe used to export food to other southern African nations. Now because of civil unrest and internal wars, Zimbabwe's people are starving. They no longer produce enough food. Other African nations suffering food shortages are: South Africa, Malawi (annual, chronic shortages), Kenya (recent political instability saw food stores of certain tribes burned while others missed the planting season), and southern Sudan. The most vulnerable in this spiraling cost of basic foods are: refugees, internally displaced people groups, urban poor not living on farms, and orphans. Shawn Tyler reports, "Every employee we have is crying out for help to stem the losses they are taking as their wage remains the same and food prices go up out of sight. In fact, Kenyan news has recently reported that some people have moved into refugee camps in order to get food."

Because of skyrocketing food costs, CRF is asking donors to increase monthly giving by $5 to $15. NEW CRF Child Sponsorships will be $30/month. Sponsorship of AIDS Affected Children will be $35/ month. Click HERE to help with rising food costs.
Thank you for helping CRF save lives!