Gifts of Hope
Blessing Others Through Fair Trade Shopping Opportunities by Lance Finley, CGGC Executive Director
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or many years, the congregations of the Churches of God, General Conference have been strong partners in the cross-cultural ministry efforts of Global Reach. These partnerships have been lived out in a variety of ways, often with a strong emphasis on going, seeing and participating in global ministry fields. For the past two years, we’ve been forced to think creatively about how to be partners in Global Reach ministries due to the restricted travel brought about by the global pandemic and other rising tensions across the globe. How can you participate in what God is doing around the globe when you can’t lead mission teams outside the U.S.? How can you participate in global ministry when it’s nearly impossible to go somewhere else in the world? How can you make a difference somewhere else in the world when you can’t go there in person? On December 4, 2021, the Mt. Pleasant Church of God (https://mpcog.org), located in Mt. Pleasant, PA and a part of the Allegheny Regional Conference, hosted the Gifts of Hope fair trade shopping event. We asked Penny Zeisloft and Blaine Barclay to share about their experience with Gifts of Hope and fair trade. 12 May/June 2022
