When Church of the Nativity in Lewiston hosted our Diocesan Social Justice and Outreach Ministries Commission in June of 2007, Nativity’s Outreach Committee used the occasion to raise funds for KIVA (www.kiva.org), doing microfinance in developing countries. A wonderful Mexican lunch was prepared for the visitors who donated what they would have spent in a restaurant, bringing in $137. Nativity matched this to provide a generous start-up loan for entrepreneurs seeking to help themselves out of poverty.  

In September this Nativity team continued by hosting a community spaghetti supper; guests brought a “dinner-sized” donation (see Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation: www.e4gr.org) to raise money for the education of Eric, a Lewis-Clark State College student athlete from Kenya, and young triplets in Uganda. The education expenses ($1200 per year) of Denis, Isaac and Jacob have been funded by Nativity for several years  Raising the boys alone, their mother, Cecilia, is working to complete her own teacher training.

Nativity’s Jenny Ruppel, who has served on SJOM and Nativity’s MDG Committee, stated: “We are so wealthy, and so much of the world is poor. It’s time to get our community more involved in the reality of the global community. One way to understand the condition of our world brothers and sisters is to look in their eyes and provide what we can.” A helpful resource for their parish has been “What Can One Person Do? Faith to Heal a Broken World” (Alkire and Newell, Church Publishing, 2005). Internet resources have also provided something for every interest, passion and level of commitment. The Outreach Committee is committed to raising the equivalent of .7% of Nativity’s budget for MDG-related projects.