Harvest Offering 2023
Each Autumn St Ebbe's usually partners with two projects, one overseas and another in the UK, particularly seeking to support Christians giving practical help to those in need.
"All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along."
Galatians 2:10
Dnipro Independent Baptist Church REVIVAL in Eastern Ukraine
Vlad Vyshnevski’s father (Vlad is a member of St Ebbe’s) is the pastor and is about 80 miles from the Ukrainian frontline.
Fleeing the fighting, numerous people have sought refuge in Dnipro. Many have lost their relatives; have no regular income or means of livelihood, and some have had their homes destroyed. The church has set up a shelter where people can sleep for a few nights and get the help the need.
Realizing their responsibility before God to preach the Gospel alongside practical help, the church hosts
regular meetings for refugees (adults and children) where people can find out about Christ. The church is currently caring for over 300 people.
Since the church has no regular sponsors, they need financial support to buy clothes, food, medicines, baby food and other necessities. They also wish to purchase fuel for generators, wood-burning stoves and firewood since they are expecting missile attacks on critical infrastructure over the winter. Temperatures will fall well below zero.
Alongside financial assistance, they ask us to pray – for peace in Ukraine, for the church in Dnipro, and for their ministry to refugees.
Hope Trust Oxford - Christians Against Poverty Debt Centre
Earlier this month the Poverty Strategy Commission released an interim report on the state of poverty in the UK. It claims that now 31% of those officially in poverty have now descended into “deep poverty”, meaning their income after housing costs is below 50% of the median. Put simply, poverty in the UK is accelerating at an alarming rate – including in Oxford. At St Ebbe’s, one of the ways we seek to respond to poverty in our city is through our partnership with the Hope Trust Oxford, which sponsors our St Ebbe’s Christians Against Poverty Debt Centre and Life Skills services.
Last year, in part through the generosity of the Harvest Offering, the Hope Trust was able to add Kirsten Bevan and Anne Njeri to the CAP team, which expanded our Debt client capacity and established a Life Skills course. This year, as Kathy Havell moves into the Roots ministry, Kirsten will become our Debt Centre manager. Wonderfully, after a Spring lull in new debt clients, we are now again at capacity. Through your generosity, this year’s Harvest Offering will enable us to grow our debt client capacity and, as the Lord provides, position the Hope Trust to expand its work beyond CAP into similar gospel initiatives among the poor of our city.
More info: thehopetrustoxford.org
How to respond
If you wish to contribute towards the Harvest Offering 2022, there are a number of ways in which you can send a gift, but in all cases, it is a great help if you would inform the St Ebbe’s Finance Administrator of your decision. Details of how to give can be found below. Please complete form below and press the submit button.
If you are a UK taxpayer, Gift Aid is a means by which the value of your gift can increase by 25% without any additional cost to you. If you are eligible, please tick the appropriate box in the form.
Your response will be confidential and known only to the Finance Administrator.
Please make cheques/charity vouchers payable to “PCC of St Ebbe’s Church” and send to:
Financial Administrator (Private & Confidential),
St Ebbe’s Church
2 Roger Bacon Lane
Oxford
OX1 1QE
Please use the form below to tell the finance team about your gift so it can be appropriately directed.
