Dayton, Ohio Church Gives More Than $500,000 Toward Sudan Project

Ginghamsburg Church is a 4000+ United Methodist congregation in Tipp City, Ohio. In December 2005, Senior Pastor Mike Slaughter challenged Ginghamsburg’s attendees for the second year to spend only one-half on Christmas gifts of what they would normally spend and to bring the rest in for the Sudan Project “Miracle Offering.” This year’s result? $507,000, or over one-half million dollars, to expand Ginghamsburg’s sustainable agricultural program in Darfur, Sudan, as well as to create a child development and protection program for the children of Darfur.

The 2004 Christmas “Miracle Offering” for the Sudan resulted in $317,000, which Ginghamsburg Church immediately used in partnership with the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to establish the self-sustaining agricultural project. This project put 5208 Sudanese families back into the farming business in 2005 and resulted in a successful harvest that is feeding 26,000 people in five internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Darfur until the next harvest season. The program also strengthened the region’s economy as local blacksmiths created the tools, area threshers assisted with the harvest, and resultant seed was packaged for selling at local markets.

Pastor Mike Slaughter through his 2005 speaking engagements in locations as diverse as San Jose, California; Princeton University in New Jersey; and even Belfast, Ireland; also challenged other churches to take compassionate action toward Darfur, which the United Nations has named as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today. Those challenges to other churches resulted in additional contributions of more than $300,000 given to UMCOR for use in the Sudan Project, bringing total 2005 results to over $800,000.

The congregation’s efforts on behalf of Sudan are not finished, as Ginghamsburg has made a five-year commitment toward a multimillion dollar project that will provide education, skills training, protection from slavery and prostitution, and basic healthcare for the same children in Darfur who are being fed by the agricultural project.

Ginghamsburg Church serves over 4000 people each week on two campuses. Seven worship celebrations are held each weekend at 4:30, 5:45, and 7:15 p.m. on Saturday evenings, and at 9, 10:15, 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sundays. The Saturday 7:15 p.m. celebration, called The Next Step, is specifically targeted to meet the needs of those in the recovery or 12-step community. Located at 6759 S. County Rd. 25-A in Tipp City, Ginghamsburg houses a Christian pre-school and daycare center, a food pantry and family assistance program (New Path), as well as New Creation Counseling Center.

The church offers family-friendly activities and growth opportunities virtually every day of the week. Ginghamsburg’s student center, The Avenue, welcomes hundreds of teens every weekend where music, skateboarding, basketball, pool and a coffee shop connect area-wide teens together in a safe, Christian atmosphere.

For more information, please contact Karen Smith at 937.667.1069 or ksmith@ginghamsburg.org

www.ginghamsburg.org/sudan