Newsletter - June 2009

Changing Lives One Community at a Time

Dear Friend,

In this issue...

• Joe Gorman is in Africa
• When the Situation Seems Hopeless
• The CoAid Store is Now Open
• Our Vision and Purpose
• Looking for New Board Members

Joe Gorman is in Africa…
Last week Joe Gorman left for a month-long visit to Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo. As the CoAid representative for Africa, he will be overseeing the delivery of sewing machines to women suffering with HIV/AIDS, installing a cassava grinder for a church-run small business, and delivering goats to needy families to improve their economic situation. We'll post Joes reports and photos on the web site as soon as we get them.

When the Situation Seems Hopeless…
Every day we hear stories of people suffering and dying. Last night I received an email detailing the case of a woman in India who has cancer. She earns about $400 a year and cannot afford to pay for the necessary treatment that could save her life.

Faced with such stories it's easy to start feeling saddened and overwhelmed. What should our response be – engage or turn away?

CoAid wants to engage, even in the face of apparent hopelessness. Fortunately, we’ve been able to send some money to our partner in India to pay for a course of chemotherapy for the woman with cancer – her name is Mrs Savitri – perhaps you could pray for her?

To engage demands we exercise faith and work within our capabilities to do whatever we can. It acknowledges that God knows more than we can and that all we must do is respond to His Spirit and walk in obedience.

To engage offers others hope and reason to keep trying. Ultimately, when we engage in our world we create the opportunities to share the love of Christ to a world he died for.

The CoAid Store is Now Open…
After several weeks of planning and hard work, we're pleased to announce the CoAid online store is now officially open for business!

We're offering you the opportunity to support our vital work by purchasing items from the Donor Gift catalog or one of our really cool "Seek Justice" T-Shirts. All Donor Gift purchases are tax-deductible.

Please visit our new store at www.coaid.org/store

Our Vision and Purpose…
CoAid will be 1-year-old next month! In the July newsletter we’ll be reviewing our first year and all that we’ve accomplished.

We’ve learned a lot in our first year – things that have worked well, things that haven’t, and things we need to change in order to move forward with greater effectiveness.

As an organization we continually re-evaluate what we do in the light of changing circumstances and opportunities. Our core vision and purpose are unlikely to change, but the way we do things will always be up for review.

Some of the areas we’re taking a long hard looking at are:

• How we create effective partnerships with other organizations
• How we resource our programs and meet costs
• How we engage and involve people with our mission

We’re excited about the future for CoAid and can’t wait to tell you about some of the projects we’re working on!

Looking for New Board Members…
This invitation is open to anyone over the age of 18 years and who is a permanent resident of Colorado, USA. CoAid is actively looking to add 4 new people to our Board of Directors. We’re looking for enthusiastic men and women, with a passion to serve the poor and needy. You must be a committed Christian, willing to get stuck in to help run the organization and preferably have experience working in a relief and development setting.

If this is something for you, please contact us.

Thank you and God bless,

Steve Neill
President, CoAid

You can make a tax-exempt online donation using your credit card, or mail your gift to:
CoAid, PO Box 632162, Littleton, CO 80163, USA

If you would like to speak to someone about your gift, please call 1-888-41-COAID (26243).