$20 Challenge 2009

We will continue what we started last year!  Terra Nova Community Church is taking the Twenty Dollar Challenge once again this year.  Everyone is invited to join us.  Here’s the basic idea:

Most everyone can scrounge up $20.  The question is – “Can you do anything with it?”  We are going to get creative and crazy and find ways to change the world with $20.

On December 20th we will take a Christmas offering, but no one is allowed to give money.  You have to give a story.  Tell us (in written form or pictures or whatever else you can think of) how you took $20 and tried to change the world.

The rules are simple – change the world with $20.  You can work with your Life Group or family.  You can combine resources or work alone.  You can do something big or something small.  There are no rules except that world should be a better place because you invested this $20 in something meaningful.

Keep checking back to this website for updates and instructions on how you can post your story!

Under the Mercy,

Pastor Jason

 

$20 Challenge Concept In “Secular” Settings

Seth Godin (author and blogger that I follow) posted a blog about a national day of service.  I am a little embarrassed that the Church hasn’t done something like this on a national scale before a non-churched person came up with it.  It’s a great idea…who’s going to make something happen?

Vision Trust International – Maddie Woda

I sent my $20 to Vision Trust International.  It is dedicated to the care and development of abused, orphaned and extremely poor children living in third world countries.  They are facing daily food and critical health problems as well educational needs.

Grace Clinic in Delaware

THE ALLISON FAMILY

Each Wednesday night the Grace Clinic offers a free medical clinic at Andrew’s House in Delaware.  Christan has volunteered at the clinic on occasion and we wanted to do something to help that ministry.  It is reaching lots of people every week who could not afford medical care elsewhere.

 

Since there are often children there as well as a growing population of Spanish-speaking clients, we wanted to do something that would help them.  So as a family we pooled our $20-Challenge money and bought Bibles for the kids (some Spanish as well as English) and a few more for the adults (large print and Spanish).  We then purchased a small CD player for the prayer room.

 

It was great to bring our children in to pray with the doctors and nurses and volunteers.  The Grace Clinic was really appreciative and have already started using the items.

People In Need and the Dodge Family

THE DODGE FAMILY

Every Christmas season we’ve lived in Ohio, has been marked with the Christmas Clearinghouse. This event is a community wide effort by the organization, People In Need, to gather non-perishable goods for needy folks in Delaware County. The coliseum at the fairgrounds is set up like grocery store isles and a card is made up for each family receiving help. The only info on the card is number of family members and their age and how many bags of groceries this family will receive. Then volunteers from all over the county come and “shop” for the families. 

 

We took this opportunity to use our resources for the $20 Challenge to purchase goods for the Christmas Clearinghouse, knowing the huge increase in families needing help this season.

 

Last years Clearinghouse served nearly 350 families and over 950 bags of groceries were packed in just about 4 hours. Due to the slumping economy, there were a total of 435 families receiving a helping hand this season on packing day at the Clearinghouse this year.  The groceries that we provided were a small part of the 1,155 bags of groceries that were packed this past Saturday morning. With the help of many volunteers, we were able to get those bags packed and ready for delivery or pick-up on Dec. 14th.

 

We are truly fortunate to be able to help with such an important venture in our community. The morning moves by so quickly, that the idea of how many families are being blessed by this event sometimes goes unnoticed. We are very thankful to be a small part of the Christmas Clearinghouse Project.

 

 THE  END …..sort of… Unfortunately, the need does not go away from year to year for many families. Next year there will be another Christmas Clearinghouse. If you are able to participate by making donations or showing up on packing day to “shop” with your family, you will also be blessed by your efforts while serving others.

Angel Food Ministries – Terra Nova Staff Project

We are committing to a program the Andrew’s House is starting that will provide very affordable groceries for families in Delaware called Angel Food Ministry.  The staff is going to buy the first box of groceries and then commit to helping distribute the groceries the 3^rd Saturday of each month starting in January. 

 

Our hope is to help people afford food for their family through this program.  It is new to Delaware so we want to help make it a reality.

A Few Dollars Short…

SHARON HARBOLT

My Christmas gift of $20 is not given out in one sum.  As people that are in need, come through my line at work and are short a few dollars that would make them put back an item of food or a necessity, like bathroom tissue, I will go ahead and give them the money for it.  It never amounts to any large sum, but it does help those in need year round.

Common Ground Free Store – Traci Cromwell

I went to the Dollar General Store and purchased underwear for men, women, boys, and girls to fill the need for these items at the Common Ground Free Store.  They needed them for Christmas stocking gifts.

 

St. Jude’s Hospital and The Marine Corp Family Support Community

ANONYMOUS

Our family decided to let our kids chose where they wanted to give their $20.  It was easier for them than we thought it would be.

 

Shortly after Thanksgiving, a story aired on the Today Show about St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.  One of our kids actually attended school with someone who benefited from this hospital.  After watching this story, the kids decided indisputably that St. Jude’s was where they wanted their donation to go.

 

My husband and I decided to give our donation to the Marine Corp Family Support Community of Delaware County.  This organization is made up of spouses, parents, friends, who support our US Marines.  Donations go toward care packages, and other needs for their families here at home.

Heartbeat International and the Westers

THE WESTER FAMILY
The Wester family has chosen to combine efforts donating a total of $60 to Heartbeat International, the organization that heads over 900 pregnancy crisis centers around the world. Specifically we purchased training materials necessary to license our home as a maternity home, a safe haven for women facing unplanned pregnancies.