Congregations urged to collect Nov. 4 special offering

By Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
“Oh, God, to those who have hunger, give bread. And to those who have bread, give hunger for justice.”
The words of that Latin American prayer opened a letter sent to all Southwest Texas Conference congregations last month from Howard Hartman. The hunger coordinator for the Board of Global Ministries sent the message to encourage churches to participate in the special Harvest Sunday offering Nov. 4.
For more than 12 years, the Harvest Sunday offering has provided extra funds for hunger organizations throughout the conference and overseas, Hartman said. It is the only initiative that is conferencewide rather than national.
Funds collected for the offering are equally divided among four organizations approved by the June 6-9 annual conference session in Corpus Christi, Hartman said. Two organizations are within the Southwest Texas Conference. Two are overseas.
Offering envelopes were sent automatically in early October to each congregation. The number was based on reported average worship attendance, Hartman said.
Offering envelopes are used, Hartman said, because studies have show that they “will increase the amount given per congregant.”
Hartman urged leaders to mention the Harvest Sunday offering in newsletters and bulletins or during worship announcements in the weeks before Nov. 4.
This year’s offering is to be divided equally between:
> McAllen District food pantries.
> Corazon Ministries at Travis Park UMC, San Antonio.
> Christian refugee services for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza (a project studied by United Methodist Women).
> A United Methodist nutrition project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire).
Counties in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Hartman said, are not only among the poorest in Texas but also have the highest “food insecurity” rate in the United States. Fifty-four percent of those who are served by McAllen District pantries must decide between food and paying their rent, paying a utility bill or buying medication.
Just $15 given to a McAllen food pantry can feed a family of five for a week and a half.
Corazon Ministries reaches out to the urban poor and homeless through Café Corazon, which serves more than 10,000 meals a year; a clothes closet, which provided 2,000 people with clothing last year; a medical clinic, which treated more than 1,000 patients last year; and a vision clinic, which serves at least 480 people.
Other facets of Corazon Ministries include a dental hygiene clinic, recovery groups, a day center and a prayer picnic. More than 120 volunteers help feed the poor every Sunday morning.
The Middle East Council of Churches’ Department for Service to Palestinian Refugees, an indigenous Christian organization that includes Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches across the Middle East, provides health, education, employment, rehabilitation and community development assistance to Palestinian refugees.
For the Palestinian people, water is a critical concern. The Middle East Council of Churches’ Water Cistern Program provided 44 families with access to water by constructing in-ground water cisterns. Each cistern costs about $2,000 to build.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo the North Katanga Conference is reaching more than 700 malnourished and homeless children. Local churches operate an orphanage and nutrition center.
Only $115 will provide a child three nourishing meals per week, along with room, medicine and care.
The 2006 Harvest Sunday offering collected $31,964, up from 2005’s $27,829. In 2004, the total was $26,116, up from $25,160 in 2003 but down from $27,789 in 2002, $28,462 in 2001 and $28,643 in 2000.