Announcing the Joseph Fund for Disaster Relief
“We live in a time and in a place and in a culture where we need to look at our self-centeredness and how much of our life revolves around us. The giving of alms helps us in this. It helps us to get our eyes off of ourselves and onto the Lord’s mission in the world.”
- Archbishop Foley Beach, Anglican Church of North America
Today we are excited to announce a new initiative: The Joseph Fund for Disaster Relief.
It used to be that the relief efforts ARDF funds would predictably happen in the fall, coinciding with the North American hurricane season. However, in recent years, we find natural disasters occurring throughout the year.
This has complicated our ability to raise funds for disaster relief. We have learned that our success in fundraising is directly proportionate to the amount of coverage a disaster gets in our national media. In the past, we have had to wait until a disaster was imminent and in our news cycle before we could successfully raise funds for a particular event. But many of the most devastating disasters happen in parts of the world that never make our news at all!
ARDF has been overwhelmed by the consistent requests for disaster relief funding. Even though we do not see it on our news, there is almost always a disaster - from flooding to famine to COVID relief.
ARDF wants to end this dependency on our media’s coverage. This delays our response and is a lost opportunity for the Church. We believe the best time to be the hands and feet of Christ for someone is in the midst of their crisis. This is when the church needs to show up and be present in a powerful way.
With this in mind, ARDF is excited to launch The Joseph Fund for Disaster Relief, based upon the story of Joseph and his management of resources in Egypt. Genesis 41 tells the story of Joseph spending seven years saving resources to be ready for a seven-year famine. His foresight and planning enabled the nation to be ready to respond to an otherwise devastating situation.
Like Joseph, ARDF needs to be wise and proactive, rather than reactive. Beginning now, we are launching an effort to raise money for our Joseph Fund. This fund will allow us to be more excellent, efficient, and effective when disaster season arrives. When a disaster occurs, we will be able to respond immediately.
Due to the generosity of a donor, we have already secured $70,000 in funding toward this new initiative. We are praying to match that amount by June 2021. Will you join us by giving to the Joseph Fund? It is our prayer that the Joseph Fund will allow us to alleviate suffering, represent Christ with excellence, and meet people at the time of their greatest need.
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