The Christ the King Foundation, formed in March 1989, has been making grants for these past 30 years with a mission to support requests for educational, charitable, and missionary projects. Funding for grants is determined by allocating a fixed percentage (currently 5% annually) of the invested asset base. Grants are solicited twice a year, April 1 and October 1, and reviewed for approval by the Board’s nine members within three targeted categories of:

• Christ the King congregational needs
• Community needs
• Global mission

In its most recent December 3 meeting, the Board approved six grants submitted for the 2nd half 2019 cycle. Grants made and their designated category include:

1. Completion of Pastor’s House in Kising’a, Nduili Parish, Tanzania: Construction support for a new pastor’s house for an Associate Pastor in our companion Nduli parish preaching point village of Kising’a in Tanzania where the worshiping population continues to grow. (Global Missions)
2. Mutual Language Learning: Support for an experienced Spanish language trainer to increase mutual learning and understanding among members of Cristo Rey and CTK. (split between Congregational needs and Community needs)
3. Financial System Migration and Software: One-time support to transition the CtK accounting system from a server-based system to a cloud-based system to provide current generational support to church accounting capabilities. (Congregational needs)
4. Daily Work Program – one-time consultant support to provide the Daily Work program (community job placement) with improved effectiveness of their case management software system, Apricot. (Community) 
5. CtK Youth Room Renovation to improve the utility and appeal to the important ministry of CtK youth. This grant is viewed by the Board as a support of “relaunching” the CtK Youth Program with Amity Lantz now onboard as our new Director of Youth and Family Faith Formation.  (Congregational needs)
6. Ralph Reeder Food Shelf Support Fundraiser: This grant serves as a matching grant for other donors and resulted in a very successful project raising in the range of $10,000 for the Food Shelf. (Community)

The Foundation Board wishes to express appreciation for the generosity of donors who make these grants possible.  And we also encourage the submission of grant requests that align with the mission of the CtK Foundation.

Alternative Christmas Gifts at Christ the King have become a giving tradition. The Global Mission Team receives your monetary gifts to purchase items for our Tanzanian partners in faith. In return you receive a simple Christmas ornament and card to give to someone important in your life.
 
When God is with us, our hearts overflow with joy at the many gifts He gives us, especially his Son, Jesus Christ. In turn, we want to be God-like. We want to share with others just as God shares with us. Especially at Christmas, we give gifts to others in our lives to share that joy. Sometimes the Global Mission Team finds others who are answering the same call, and we celebrate our shared causes. Recent collaborators have been Compassion International (2016), Feed My Starving Children (2017), and Global Health Ministries (2018, 2019).
 
Our gifts to our Tanzanian partners and others through these partnerships impact people’s lives in many ways. Education is one of the greatest gifts we give; you will find secondary school scholarships, textbooks, and benches, cement, and paint for a new school library among our selections. 
 
A special education-themed gift, new this year, is a book titled “Among the Maasai”. Julie and Mark Cutler spent a year as missionaries in Tanzania early in their marriage. Now you can read the book Julie has written to describe her experiences educating girls from the Maasai tribe, including the lessons that she learned from them. Profits from her book will be donated to a Tanzanian school for the education and empowerment of Maasai girls.
 
Health-based gifts include cancer medicine for the Jacobson Centre in Moshi, TZ, nursing scholarships, textbooks for the Arusha Lutheran Nursing School, and stethoscopes for nursing students. Newborn Kits, created in collaboration with Global Health Ministries, are used as an incentive for expectant mothers to participate in prenatal care and to deliver their babies at a health facility – safer for both mothers and babies! A new gift this year, soccer balls, encourage physical fitness and teamwork among Tanzanian children.
 
Some of our gifts have an economic impact on Tanzanian families. A dairy goat, bee boxes supporting honey production, and seedling avocado and papaya fruit trees all provide both foods for a family and products for them to sell to others.
 
Other trees, 100 at a time, will be planted together in orchards in the parish. They represent hope for a future with a healthy environment through reforestation.  In Tanzania’s equatorial climate, trees enjoy a long growing season and mature quickly.
 
Nduli Parish, our companion congregation, is filled with people of great faith. They take pride in the simple structures that serve their preaching points and use our gifts of supplies to be good stewards of their places of worship. One of our most popular gifts, year after year, is a Swahili Bible to be placed in the hands of a faithful believer.
 
Stop and visit our sales table on Sunday mornings (December 1, 8, 15, and 22) to view our charming, unique ornaments. This year we are offering 16 different gifts, ranging in cost from $10 to $100. Click here to see our complete order form. Print it and bring your order to our table on Sunday morning. You can also pick up our form on Sunday mornings at our display, at the Welcome Center, or in the office. Global Mission Team members look forward to helping you select gifts for your giving season. Thank you for your support of Alternative Christmas Gifts.
 
                                        ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Global Mission Prayer:
Oh God, we know that you are with us on our most joyful days and in our darkest moments. Thank you for sending Christ into this world to shine a radiant light into our lives. Let our Alternative Christmas Gifts brighten the lives of our Tanzanian companions, and let their joyful gratitude and generosity remind us how little else we need when we have you. Emmanuel! God is with us! Amen.
 
Global Mission Events:  

• Alternative Christmas Gift Sales – Sunday mornings, December 1, 8, 15, and 22, in the narthex at CtK