MURRIETA, CALIFORNIA (ANS) – For Jeff Thompson, founder of Eastern European Outreach in Murrieta, California, the past year of 2009 represented both contraction due to the recession and expansion as God opened new doors.

Jeff Thompson with Suren, director of Full Life in Stepanavan, Armenia

Eastern European Outreach ministers to thousands of at-risk children and families throughout Ukraine, Armenia and Kosovo. But the recession Jeff says, caused them to have to cut back.

“During the year of 2009 the recession posed some very challenging decisions for us.” Jeff Thompson said. “We always pray and ask the Lord to guide and direct us, but those prayers are usually regarding effectiveness and expansion, not ministry and personnel cutbacks.

“Our finances have been down as supporters were forced to cut back in their giving. The first few months made it clear that some programs must be cut. That was particularly challenging because we didn’t want children to suffer as a result of the reduction in finances, but sometimes you have to make hard choices.

“Historically we (EEO) have always had the extra finances to support children while they were waiting for a sponsor. This year that was curtailed.”

Despite the financial challenge Jeff says they stepped out in faith to start a new ministry in the UK:

“It was interesting; simultaneously to this recession we had the opportunity to expand things by starting a new ministry in England called Mercy Project International,” Jeff said.

“Mercy Project did not require a large investment to get started and God has provided both people and funding. So we are excited to see what He is going to do with it.” Jeff explained.

“We see it as an expansion of what God would like to do through us, bringing God’s justice to the downtrodden, the poor and the needy. I’ve been encouraged to see the response of British churches and the interest of people.”

Another highlight in starting the work in the UK was a partnership with a U.K. Christian media organization United Christian Broadcasters, who’ll be broadcasting the charity’s first radio series Mercy Project Minute on digital radio across the country in 2010.

“UCB has welcomed us and embraced our shared vision for helping the poor. So yes it’s been challenging but we’ve seen God’s blessing as well,” he said.

Jeff went on to share how Northgate Church in Chester has become a “significant supporter” of Mercy Project.

“After speaking at their morning services, people lined up at our table to sponsor children,” he said. “The response was spectacular. I understand they are sending Christmas cards and one day hope to actually visit their children.

“With Mercy Project U.K., and EEO in the U.S., sponsors can literally stay with their children through college helping them to get an education and really change the world they live in.”

Highlights Included College Students Living In An Orphanage

Jeff shared that in 2009 a group of students from Vanguard University in Southern California lived in a Ukrainian orphanage as part of their mission experience.

“Learning God’s heart for orphans and widows means understanding them, spending time with them,” Jeff said. “How can we understand in a two hour visit? I call that ‘drive-by’ missions and I don’t agree with it

“The students from Vanguard actually lived in the orphanage, ate their food, observed their life, and spent a week with them getting to know them. It was very emotional for them all when they had to say good-bye. Yet, these students are now interested in giving their lives to serve at-risk children. God desires to break our hearts so He can use us to touch those who live around us. Indeed, serving Jesus can get messy. It is supposed to.”

Jeff Thompson went on to say, “In Armenia this year many young people came to know the Lord.” Jeff shared. “They have a Christian heritage in Armenia, but many people do not know what it means to be ‘born again’ or experience a personal relationship with Christ. So you must clearly explain what it means to give your life to Christ. The young people simply embraced that message. It was really fun.”

Jeff shared that he is grateful for the trust and support of donors in the U.S. and the U.K.

“Our ministry is like a tool,” he said. “We wouldn’t exist without concerned

A family in Armenia where the grandmother, mother, and daughters taught Jeff to make cheese

Christians who desire to make a difference in this world. You can sponsor a child almost anywhere in the world, but with EEO and Mercy Project, you don’t just send your money in, you can be as personally involved as you want to be. We encourage sponsors to write and go visit their children. This is unique in child sponsorship.

“We are thankful for every single person that decides to sponsor a child or go on a trip. We are building up treasures in heaven and seeing needy children’s lives changed by the love of Christ.

“Despite a nagging recession and cutbacks, our Lord promises a bright future. Our Scripture verse for 2010 is Jeremiah 29:13 which says:

I know the plans I have for you says the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope.

“May the widows and orphans experience His kindness and love through our ministry in 2010,” he concluded.

For more information please visit: www.eeo.org 

Peter Wooding is a TV, radio and print journalist and media consultant having spent 10 years as news editor with UCB Radio in the UK. He has traveled extensively reporting from countries including Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Dubai, South Korea, Zambia, Gambia, Mozambique, Croatia, Israel and India. He reports regularly for CBN News, KCBI radio, ASSIST News and Sorted Magazine. Peter and wife Sharon live in North Wales, UK with their three children. Passionate to see God’s Justice and Mercy impact lives, Peter is director of a new UK ministry Mercy Project International (www.mercyproject.org.uk) to help at-risk young people in Ukraine, Russia, Armenia, Kosovo, the Middle East and beyond. Contact Peter for consultation at woodingpeter@hotmail.com or tel. +44 1244 549167/+44 7500 903067.

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Assist News

Pastor Chuck Smith, 82, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, California, and the father of the “Jesus People” phenomenon in Southern California, is continuing to recover in a local hospital after suffering two “mini-strokes” at his home in the early hours of Sunday morning (December 27, 2009).

A message posted on the church’s website) says, “Dear praying friends, Pastor Chuck has now moved into the rehabilitation stage of his recovery. He is doing very well and appreciates your prayers. Doctors are still advocating lots of rest as he moves into this stage. The family thanks you for the outpouring of love, concern, and respect for their privacy during this time.

“The best way for anyone to communicate with Pastor Chuck during this time of recovery is to send an email to pastorchuck@calvarychapel.com.”

Brian Brodersen, who serves as associate pastor to Chuck Smith at the church, told the Sunday morning congregation that “Pastor Chuck is doing very well” and added that he is “hoping to return home sometime later this week.”

About Chuck Smith

It was back in 1965 when Pastor Chuck Smith began his ministry at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. Only twenty-five people attended at the time. What began as a small chapel has now grown into a church that seats over 2,000 and is filled almost nightly.

From the beginning, Pastor Chuck welcomed all, young and old, without judgment, placing his emphasis on the teaching of the Word of God. His simple, yet sound, biblical approach draws 25,000 people weekly to the church and also millions of radio listeners who hear his sermons.

With a sincere concern for the lost, Pastor Chuck made room in his heart and his home for a generation of hippies and surfers; generating a movement of the Holy Spirit that spread from the West Coast to the East Coast, bringing thousands of young people to Jesus Christ.

Included among this generation of new believers were Greg Laurie, Mike MacIntosh, Raul Ries, and Skip Heitzig, as well an estimated 1,500 leaders who have gone on to establish their ministries around the world. This also has included the myriad of other members of the church body who call Pastor Chuck their “Pastor.”

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California Capitol Update
by Karen England

The National Education Association, a labor union with 3.2 million members, voted to endorse homosexual marriage, adoption, and more at its national meeting this month.

“They will help to overturn legislation that is discriminatory against same-sex couples,” Jeralee Smith, cofounder of the Conservative Educators Caucus within NEA, told OneNewsNow.

A five point action plan on homosexual issues was adopted by NEA’s Representative Assembly, where thousands of delegates passed it by voice vote. This means NEA will lobby for policy changes on homosexual marriage, legal and healthcare benefits for same-sex couples, and more.

Observers believe that NEA wants to overturn the federal Defense of Marriage Act, though they call it an implied intention, rather than a stated goal.

A commenter on the Queers United blog wrote, “There were many of us who wanted stronger language, but were happy to have something that would pass in more conservative areas.”

An effort to remove religious protections was soundly rejected by delegates.

Yet NEA’s action plan only affirms that religious institutions have the right “to refuse to perform or recognize same-sex marriages.” This raises questions about church freedom on homosexuality, apart from marriage, such as in a church’s hiring decisions.

The plan also fails to address freedoms for individuals and privately owned businesses. Companies that do not offer same-sex partner health benefits — or adoption agencies that decline to place children with same-sex couples — could find NEA lobbyists working against them.

At least one delegate tried to speak against the action plan.

“As soon as she mentioned the words ‘marriage should be between a man and a woman,’ she got booed,” Smith said, according to Baptist Press.

“The chair stopped the booing and reminded everybody that in a democracy everyone gets to have their say,” she said.

Smith also said that the Conservative Teachers Caucus hoped to speak against the action plan, but did not have an opportunity.

Certainly, not all teachers share the official NEA position on issues like homosexual adoption.

Yet schools have been sufficiently effective, in teaching students to support homosexuality, that many activists say future generations’ textbooks will tell how backward Americans once were.

This makes it vitally important for families to teach the rationale and historical backing for traditional values like man-woman marriage.

The Representative Assembly vote, which opens the way for NEA to spend large sums of money on pro- homosexuality advocacy, underscores NEA willingness to promote an activist social agenda.

“Money that NEA teachers make by teaching our kids is being spent to combat our longstanding American values,” said Karen England, Executive Director of Capitol Resource Institute.

“NEA delegates may have passed the action plan by a clear majority, but every time this issue has gone to state voters, the result showed a very different set of priorities,” she said.

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Proudly, I am Jewish.  By, birth, heritage, by practice.  That does not mean that I oppose others right to pray as they wish.  That is what created America, the right to pray and believe as we wish.

In Lodi, I guess, those folks have not heard of the First Amendment.  I enjoy hearing a Rabbi pray before a public forum such as a city council or school board meeting.  I am not offended by a Pastor ending a prayer, “In Jesus Names”.  In fact I am offended when a Minister does NOT say that at the end of a prayer–as if he or she is not proud of their religious beliefs or embarrassed by them.  Or maybe they come from the Jeremiah Wright school of religion.

I urge everyone, Jew and Christian, to attend this rally for religious freedom.  First it will be the ending that is banned, next it will be the beginning–no prayer at all.

We are a nation founded on religious faith, we can not allow the ACLU or their followers to negate the First Amendment.

August 5 at 6:00pm there will be a “Prayer Rally for Jesus” in Lodi at the city hall steps

Stand Up, Speak Up, Show Up.

Read More…

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Amid the budget crisis, California legislators found time to undercut Proposition 8 with SB 54, a bill whose language was completely rewritten on June 30.
  
 The new version of SB 54 says that an out-of-state homosexual marriage — performed before November 5, 2008 — is fully recognized as a marriage in California. November 5, 2008 is the day that voters passed Proposition 8.
  
 SB 54 also says that if an out-of-state homosexual marriage was performed on or after Election Day 2008, then in California, it has every legal responsibility and duty of man-woman marriage. The sole difference is that the homosexual couple cannot use the name “marriage.”
  
 When it was introduced in the Senate on January 15, SB 54 dealt with health care coverage. After passing the Senate, however, it was gutted and rewritten in the Assembly Judiciary Committee. It would need to pass the Assembly, and pass the Senate again, to become a law.
  
 ”This bill is a direct effort to undercut what the voters did on November 5, 2008,” said Karen England, Executive Director of Capitol Resource Institute.
  
 ”The November 2008 election wasn’t simply about a name, though the ‘marriage’ designation is important. Voters chose to confer the legal responsibilities and duties of marriage on man-woman unions only. By granting the full legal description of marriage to same-sex unions, even without the name, the legislature would flout the meaning of Prop 8,” she said.
  
 Whether a same-sex marriage is performed in California or elsewhere, legislators have a duty to uphold the intent and the letter of the California Constitution. The Constitution states that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”
  
 Same-sex marriage proponents are free to access the initiative process, where they can attempt an overturn of Proposition 8. Undercutting the Constitution with SB 54, however, communicates disregard for this document and for the citizens of this state.
  
 Phone calls and faxed letters are needed BEFORE the bill’s hearing on Thursday, July 9.
  
 Capitol Resource Institute urges Californians to contact the Assembly Judiciary Committee members. Encourage them to respect the people’s vote — and the Constitution they uphold.
 
 Read SB 54
 
 CONTACT INFORMATION
 Committee fax: (916) 319-2188
  
 Mike Feuer, Chairman
 Phone: (916) 319-2042
 Fax: (916) 319-2142
  
 Van Tran, Vice-Chairman
 Phone: (916) 319-2068
 Fax: (916) 319-2168
  
 Julia Brownley
 Phone: (916) 319-2041
 Fax: (916) 319-2141
 
 Noreen Evans
 Phone: (916) 319-2007
 Fax: (916) 319-2107
  
 Dave Jones
 Phone: (916) 319-2009
 Fax: 916 319 2109
  
 Steve Knight
 Phone: (916) 319-2036
 Fax: (916) 319-2136
  
 Paul Krekorian
 Phone: (916) 319-2043
 Fax: (916) 319-2143
  
 Ted Lieu
 Phone: (916) 319-2053
 Fax: (916) 319-2153
 
 Bill Monning
 Phone: (916) 319-2027
 Fax: (916) 319-2127
 
 Jim Nielsen
 Phone: (916) 319-2002
 Fax: (916) 319-2102

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Senate Votes for SB 572
 
Watch CRI’s Louder than Silence

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The only speakers allowed during the carryover meeting were citizens who had attended last week’s meeting but were turned away by the fire marshal due to the enormous crowd. The meeting lasted five hours, during which citizens addressed the school board about their concerns over teaching the homosexuality-promoting school course. Over 90% of the speakers were in opposition to the curriculum.

Every one of the speakers was courteous and presented well-reasoned, articulate opposition. However, proponents of the curriculum didn’t practice what they preach.

Hecklers repeatedly booed and hissed when parents and students rose to express their opposition. During her presentation, one young lady was charged by a man angry that he was not permitted to address the audience about his support for the gay schoolwork. Other men in the audience had to defend her from the attacker and forcibly remove him.

Later on, one parent noted he found the bullying from pro-homosexual curriculum audience members hypocritical: “This bullying is taking place by the people you’re asking me to entrust my children to!” The gentleman also commented that in the last week he has been labeled a bigot and white supremacist for expressing his opposition to social indoctrination.

Several parents expressed their disappointment at not being consulted in developing the controversial curriculum. The general sentiment amongst speakers was that the curriculum should be rejected or completely revised, with parental input.

The few speakers in favor of the curriculum repeatedly stated that the proposed course is “just a start” and “the first step” in teaching equality in classrooms. Only a handful of these supporters addressed bullying; instead they plead with the board to implement the curriculum to teach other children about their homosexual families. Some even told the board that no parental opt-out should be allowed because the children of the curriculum opponents needed the instruction even more.

On speaker who was an Alameda principal and teacher for 45 years explained that teachers would be placed in a very difficult position should the curriculum be taught. She expressed concern over the myriad questions sexual teaching would evoke in young children. She was booed and hissed at by the curriculum-supporters.

CRI’s Karen England was also jeered at as she rose to address the school board. During her presentation England explained that the law does not require the school district to implement the curriculum and that it not the most effective means to end bullying either.

At the end of the meeting, the school board members were able to ask questions of the school superintendent who initially introduced the curriculum. The final vote on the curriculum will take place next Tuesday evening.

Please forward this email to your friends in Alameda and encourage them to call their school board members.

School board members must be told to vote NO on the curriculum.
Capitol Resource Institute

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