Photo via assistnews.net

Mercy Project International challenge UK Christians

The Founder of Mercy Project International Jeff Thompson will be challenging UK Christians this coming orphan Sunday November 8th to respond to the orphan crisis in Ukraine and beyond, reports Peter Wooding, special to ASSIST News Service.

As special Orphan Sunday services take place across America and around the world November 8th, Jeff will address a number of churches in Chester, North West England, encouraging them to partner with Mercy Project International in caring for the fatherless.

He believes one of the most effective responses to the orphan crisis is through foster care: “We believe the solution to the orphan crisis is the development of Christian foster families. That means Christian families in local Ukrainian churches who step up and say, ‘Yes – use our family to be part of the solution.’

“It takes faith for any family to take in a needy child. Most often, we don’t want to disrupt our family life by the uncertainties of taking in a lost child. Yet we too were lost until Christ found us. Our goal is to raise awareness of this issue, and find sponsors in the UK and USA who will financially assist Ukrainian families to take in orphans.”

Mercy Project International is also looking to recruit many UK Christians to become part of their child sponsorship programme. Jeff says personally sponsoring children himself has been an extremely fulfilling experience: “One side of sponsorship is the knowledge in your own life, as a sponsor, that you are doing something to help a child in a poor country.

“My wife and I sponsor three children with Eastern European Outreach and one student in college. EEO has a program where they offer scholarships to committed Christian students who desire to obtain higher education. We have been so blessed to be able to visit these kids, and student, see their progress, and see the hope they have for the future.

Photo via assistnews.net

“It encourages our hearts to see their hope and expectation of what God is going to do for them in the future. For needy children and their families to experience God’s hope and presence in the midst of their dreary lives, that to me is a huge success story. We thank God for our staff in Ukraine like Irina and Yuri Skrypnyk who are committed to seeing God’s purposes fulfilled in the lives of so many needy families.”

Jeff Thompson along with his colleagues from Ukraine Irina and Yuri will be speaking at a number of meetings in the UK as well as doing media interviews throughout next week. Jeff’s hope is that many will be envisioned to serve the poor and needy: “I hope that many UK Christians will catch a vision that they too can be used by God in a foreign country. That they can truly make a difference by choosing to “get out” of the church pew and “get in” to this world and serve Christ!

“It is time for all of us to take what we have learned in church, and go out and serve others with the great knowledge we have gained. Faith without works is dead. I don’t want a dead faith. The Kingdom of God is real, alive, and we serve Him by helping others receive justice, receive mercy, and experience an answer to their prayer. I believe God wants us to be His answer to the prayer of the poor.”

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TAGS: United Kingdom Mercy Project International UK Christians Orphan Sunday Eastern European Outreach

[11/06/2009]

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