Covenant News

Covenant Has Global Impact Through Relief Efforts

KEYSTONE, CO (June 22, 2005) - Jim Sundholm, director of Covenant World Relief (CWR), commended delegates attending the 120th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church for their support and that of the churches they represent in combating disease, malnutrition and lack of clean water that claim the lives of 30,000 children each and every day throughout the world. "You are making a huge difference in the world," Sundholm said.

Moved to tears during several portions of his presentation, Sundholm thanked those in the audience and the thousands of Covenanters they represent for giving so generously of their time, finances and support for the myriad of initiatives sponsored by the Covenant. He noted that in just one instance, $35,000 raised by Covenanters engaged in a domestic crops production program was leveraged to secure $135,000 in improvements through partnerships with other relief groups and governmental entities.

Covenant World Relief funds have been used to pay for projects ranging from economic development initiatives like fish farms in Southeast Asia to helping construct the first latrines and wells in Chad refugee camps for people fleeing the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

Ethiopian officials asked CWR to start a vocational education program in the largest prison in the nation. The program includes classes on welding, carpentry and sewing. "It cost you 26,000, but was it ever worth it," Sundholm observed.

Within 20 hours of the tsunami overwhelming Sri Lanka last December, money from CWR was being used to help people recover, Sundholm said. He added that money had come from many sources, including a child who asked that her birthday gifts be money donated to tsunami relief.

Sundholm said he has wept as he opened checks sent to help CWR work around the world. "It's so emotional to receive your generosity, and in Christ's name to be a steward of your gift."

In other business, delegates overwhelmingly approved two resolutions, one addressing ministry to families and one protecting and promoting life. Three commissions were extended for additional five-year periods, including Ethnic Ministries, Town & Country Ministries, and Urban Ministries. Earlier, delegates cast ballots for various offices and positions on boards and commissions – those results will be announced Thursday.

The new China initiative also was presented – a program that will seek to raise $200,000 a year for the next five years to support the planting of churches in China. Following the viewing of a new video detailing ministry opportunities, John Martz shared his perspective following a visit to China as part of a five-member exploration team that also included Donn Engebretson, Don Meyer, Chris Brueninger and Keith Tungseth. They were accompanied by Dave Dolan and David Husby, along with representatives of the Taiwan Covenant Church that is leading the China effort.

China was the first mission project of the newly formed Covenant at the turn of the century. Covenant missionaries were evacuated following the murders of three Covenant missionaries in the late 1940s. The Taiwan Covenant Church is now pursuing partnerships with pastors and others involved in the underground church movement, to support those efforts, and issued an invitation to the Covenant in North America to join in that ministry.

The opportunity for sharing the gospel has never been better, noted Martz, who is serving this year as moderator of the Annual Meeting. He said he assumed that Communism presented the greatest threat to Christianity in that country, and was surprised to learn instead that "global materialism" is the greater danger.

There are an estimated 75 to 80 million Christians in China, and of that number, three-fourths are part of an underground church, which is banned by the government. There is a deep hunger for truth, which makes the timing right for a new Covenant China initiative, Martz observed.

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