WE EXCEED OUR AIM FOR MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

St. John’s Episcopal Church participates in the Millennium Development Goals through support of African Team Ministries, an interfaith African mission group, and also through support of Episcopal Relief and Development.

In 2000, leaders from the United States and 190 other nations came together to develop a plan to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015. The Millennium Development Goals guide this work, and help to measure its success. The goals are:

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Achieve universal primary education for children
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/Aids and other diseases such as malaria
• Ensure environmental sustainability.
  

By selling jewelry and crafts for African Team Ministries, St. John’s raised $741, aimed at goals 2, 4 and 6. Most of the funds we raised go to AIDS orphanages, schools and hospitals in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Since African Team Ministries prices the jewelry and crafts to sell with a 100 percent markup, we raised $370.50 beyond cost, and all those funds go directly to institutions in Africa. Episcopal churches are encouraged to give .7 percent of their annual budget to Millennium Development. Our total, $370.50, is 1.5 percent of our budget, so we have more than doubled what we intended. The glory goes to God. The help goes to children we will probably never see, but who are dear to us in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

For more information on the Millennium Development Goas, see the following web site: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/.