Evansville, Indiana
Evansville, a town in the southwest corner of Indiana on the Ohio River, is a city that looks like any other mid-west town at first glance. Unfortunately, poverty, especially for children, is high even with low unemployment. This article from local channel 14 news is just a small picture of the situation in Evansville. There is even more data here, at city-data.com.
Over 27% of residents are living below the poverty line, including 40+% of children, twice the state average (this is also twice the Charleston, SC area numbers). Most of these are coming from families where one or both parents can only find part-time employment. These children/families are relying on the schools to feed them one good meal a day.
Our goal is to leverage our current relationships with various food donation groups that my grandmother volunteers with here in the Charleston, SC, area to find places in Evansville to donate so we can set up free dinners several days a week. In coordination with food-based outreach, we are also going to be offering free tutoring for elementary, middle and high school students. All of this will be coordinated with the preaching efforts of our lead planter/pastor Chris Mattingly.
We are hoping to develop a group of other Christian servants who are willing to reach out and serve. We will also be spending most of our time collecting and cooking food as well as helping students with their schoolwork. In order for us to be able to spend our time ministering to both the physical and spiritual needs of the community, we are looking for both monthly and one-time givers, as well as a strong prayer team. This will give us the needed time to grow a support network in Evansville without putting the burden of supporting our family on those we are trying to serve.
Ways You Can Support Our Mission Work in Evansville:
Monthly support. This is the most significant way that you can help financially. One of our supporting churches is a brand new church plant – already committing to reproduce! No gift is insignificant.
Make a one time contribution. If you’re already committed to help others on a monthly basis, you could still make a one-time gift. You might consider conducting a special offering on one day, asking people to give to this special cause. We’ll support you with information and a video that you could show. I’m available to speak in conjunction with this if it’s helpful.
Connect us to a church in your formal or informal network. We need lots of churches to support this work, because the mission field is large, the expenses are high and the harvest is ready.
