A WEARY wORLD
rEJOICES
Advent Offering
ADVENT OFFERING & ALTERNATIVE GIFT OPTIONS
We ask you to prayerfully consider financially supporting the organizations chosen by your Local & Global Outreach Committees. The worthy causes this year include the following. 100% of your gift is given to the charitable organizations listed below. Click the name of the organization to learn more about each ministry:
- Agape Christian Children's Center
For 26 years, this non-profit has been supporting kids in northern Accomack County providing beginning education. It is a United Methodist affiliated outreach ministry to children at high risk for abuse, neglect and school dropout on the Eastern Shore. They share Christ through programs like preschool, Vacation Bible School and computer training. It's open to everyone, but especially at risk children. They give kids the skills to succeed and unconditional love. - The Arc of Greater Williamsburg
The Arc serves adults with developmental disabilities in greater Williamsburg. Their programs provide educational, health and wellness, life skills, cultural, social, and recreational enrichment. In addition, they provide much-needed respite time for families and caregivers. Four days per week they offer a day program that provides continuing education, life skills, and vocational training. Finally, they connect clients with employment opportunities through Wheels4Work. - Literacy for Life
Literacy for Life empowers adults by building foundational skills for success in life and work. This is the only organization in Williamsburg that provides individualized, one-to-one and small group tutoring for adults in reading, writing and math skills as well as instruction in English for speakers of other languages. They also support learners seeking a GED as well as helping people with numerous individual goals, including studying for and passing the U.S. citizenship exam, obtaining a better job, learning to manage family finances, passing a driver’s license test, effectively communicating with medical professionals, and helping a child with homework. - Williamsburg Area Meals on Wheels
Every weekday, volunteers deliver freshly prepared, nutritious meals right to the doorsteps of those who need them most. But they deliver more than food — they provide a moment of connection, a check-in, a sign that someone cares. For many recipients, these may be the only faces they see all day. Those served may be homebound, recovering from surgery, living with a disability, or simply unable to prepare meals on their own. - My Refuge House
My Refuge House provides therapeutic care to girls in the Philippines who are survivors of online and commercial sexual exploitation and abuse. As this organization believes in a loving and caring atmosphere as the foundation for any healing environment, they create a family-like environment between staff and girls that draws upon Filipino culture through family meetings, outings, and activities. Since 2008, they have provided long-term aftercare for over 50 survivors as they reclaim their lives. In 2015, they created a transition program for older girls and began a community outreach program focused on prevention and advocacy. - UM Global Health for Ebola Relief
Through United Methodist conferences and health boards, Global Ministries works to strengthen whole networks of health responses, from revitalization of facilities and staff training to building better water sources, developing sanitation facilities, and promoting nutrition. Global Health concentrates on preventing, testing, and treating those affected by preventable diseases. Your gift will especially help this work related to Ebola relief. For instance, the East Congo UMC Health team is building an Ebola treatment center at the Bambu Referral Hospital outside of Bunia. In addition, the UMCOR East Congo Disaster Management Office is providing food and nutritional relief for patients and health workers in the same area.
Your gift to the Advent Offering can be equally divided among these projects or you can choose from six causes, listed above, that we are supporting with the Advent Offering.
Consider Alternative Gift Option. If you make a gift of at least $25 to any of the organizations above, we'll provide a card that you can then gift to a loved one, noting that you gave a gift in their honor to support that mission (i.e. if you give $75, we'll give you 3 cards).