Sunday's are different at Engage Daily. Instead of an online petition or an auto-routed letter to lawmakers, I highlight a Christian organization being salt and light in a unique way, and ask that you take the time to pray for it, "Like" it on Facebook, and consider getting involved in other ways as the Lord leads.
Please do take a few minutes to read about, pray for, and "Like" these organizations, and share their stories with others.
This Sunday I will continue highlighting the finalists for World Magazine's Hope Award for Effective Compassion. Over the course of the next two months I will highlight the five finalists, and will let you know when we can vote for the winner. The Hope Award for Effective Compassion recognizes Christian poverty-fighting programs that offer challenging, personal, and spiritual help, and which are not funded by government.
Today's finalist is from the East Region: Seeds of Hope in Camden, NJ. Here's a brief description of the ministry, excerpted from World Magazine's profile article:
"Camden is a city that never recovered from either deindustrialization or the 1980s crack epidemic. Naïve ministries won’t survive in Camden, but Seeds of Hope is different: It’s so street savvy that the police department sometimes calls the ministry staff when making arrests. “The chief, he knows the problems in the city weren’t going to be solved with handcuffs and guns,” said Seeds of Hope’s co-founder Brenda Antinore, a former high-school teacher. Her husband Bill was a successful lawyer, and they had three children and a nice suburban home—but both became addicted to cocaine and drove into Camden to buy drugs.
Police busted the couple in public fashion in 1995, with media coverage compounding the humiliation. Bill came to faith in Christ, Brenda deepened her own faith, and their marriage survived. Seeds of Hope—the umbrella organization for ministries to prisoners, prostitutes, and the poor—grew as the years passed. The Antinores’ background of addiction gives them credibility with people on the street, and the years they have worked in South Camden have given them credibility with law enforcement."
Please pray for this organization, and Like them on Facebook.
Please do take a few minutes to read about, pray for, and "Like" these organizations, and share their stories with others.
This Sunday I will continue highlighting the finalists for World Magazine's Hope Award for Effective Compassion. Over the course of the next two months I will highlight the five finalists, and will let you know when we can vote for the winner. The Hope Award for Effective Compassion recognizes Christian poverty-fighting programs that offer challenging, personal, and spiritual help, and which are not funded by government.
Today's finalist is from the East Region: Seeds of Hope in Camden, NJ. Here's a brief description of the ministry, excerpted from World Magazine's profile article:
"Camden is a city that never recovered from either deindustrialization or the 1980s crack epidemic. Naïve ministries won’t survive in Camden, but Seeds of Hope is different: It’s so street savvy that the police department sometimes calls the ministry staff when making arrests. “The chief, he knows the problems in the city weren’t going to be solved with handcuffs and guns,” said Seeds of Hope’s co-founder Brenda Antinore, a former high-school teacher. Her husband Bill was a successful lawyer, and they had three children and a nice suburban home—but both became addicted to cocaine and drove into Camden to buy drugs.
Police busted the couple in public fashion in 1995, with media coverage compounding the humiliation. Bill came to faith in Christ, Brenda deepened her own faith, and their marriage survived. Seeds of Hope—the umbrella organization for ministries to prisoners, prostitutes, and the poor—grew as the years passed. The Antinores’ background of addiction gives them credibility with people on the street, and the years they have worked in South Camden have given them credibility with law enforcement."
Please pray for this organization, and Like them on Facebook.
