UMNS photo by Paul Jeffrey, UMCORFeb. 2, 2006
A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom
What started as a Christmas offering from a United Methodist congregation to help displaced people in Sudan has turned into a five-year, multimillion-dollar project.
For the past year, Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Tipp City, Ohio, has been working with the United Methodist Committee on Relief to address needs in that African nation.
Since February 2003, the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, has resulted in more than 200,000 deaths and left some 3 million people homeless. The New York Times reported Jan. 28 that efforts by the United States, United Nations and European Union to end the conflict seemed to be collapsing with reports of renewed violence.
The Sudan Project began at the end of 2004, when the Rev. Mike Slaughter, senior pastor, challenged his 4,000-member congregation to contribute half of what they would normally spend on Christmas gifts to the "miracle offering" for Sudan.
With the $317,000 raised from that offering, Ginghamsburg and UMCOR established a self-sustaining agriculture program in Darfur. Through its efforts, 5,208 families have been able to start farming again, and 26,000 people in the camps are benefiting from the harvest.
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