Featured – Mission News, Needs, and Prayer Requests – National Association of Congregational Christian Churches https://www.naccc.org National Association of Congregational Christian Churches Mon, 15 Dec 2025 19:04:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 Support the 2026 Intergenerational Mission Project https://www.naccc.org/support-the-2026-intergenerational-mission-project/ Mon, 15 Dec 2025 19:04:12 +0000 https://www.naccc.org/?p=18607

We need your help to make the 2026 NACCC Annual Meeting and Conference Intergenerational Mission Project a success! This year, we will be filling hundreds of ditty bags for Seafarers’ Friend.

Seafarers’ Friend is one of the oldest missions of the Congregational Way. Nearly 200 years ago, Seafarers’ Friend was founded with the mission of supporting the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the merchant mariners who made life in New England possible. One of the ways they meet those needs is through their ditty bag ministry.

For centuries, sailors have kept small cloth bags known as ditty bags that contain sewing kits, grooming items, spare clothes, and other small personal items. Each year, Seafarers’ Friend collects items from numerous churches and community groups to help stock these bags, and, during the holiday season, they pass them out to the seafarers in their ports. While each ditty bag contains different items, they try to ensure that every seafarer gets a similarly packed bag.

This is where you come in. As part of this Intergenerational Mission Project, we will be filling hundreds of these bags, and we need your support in gathering the items that will make them up. From chapstick to deodorant, socks, playing cards, and much more, there are many items your church can collect in service of this project. Additionally, we would love for the members of your church to write encouraging letters for the mariners or craft colorful pictures to be included in the bags.

So that we’re able to track what is being collected and by whom, we ask that you please sign up for what you’ll be collecting here.

Thank you for participating in this exciting project and helping out our mission partner, Seafarers’ Friend! Questions can be directed to Joanne Simpson.

Thank you for enriching the lives of seafarers worldwide!

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Calling All Crafters! https://www.naccc.org/calling-all-crafters/ Mon, 15 Dec 2025 18:15:21 +0000 https://www.naccc.org/?p=18599

 

 

We need your help to make the 2026 NACCC Annual Meeting and Conference Intergenerational Mission Project a success!
 
This year, we will be filling hundreds of ditty bags for Seafarers’ Friend, one of the oldest missions of the Congregational Way.
 
For centuries, sailors have kept small cloth bags known as ditty bags that contain sewing kits, grooming items, spare clothes, and other small personal items. One of the highlights of the ditty bags distributed by Seafarers’ Friend is the handmade hats and scarves that are included in each one.
 
We need all the knitters, crocheters, and sewists within our community to start making hats, scarves, and bags now so they will be ready to send with your delegations to the conference.
 
Instructions can be found here, or you can email js2026@gmail.com for more information.
 
Please sign up for what you’ll be making or collecting here to help us track what is being gathered and by whom.
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Welcome ChildVoice https://www.naccc.org/welcome-childvoice/ Mon, 08 Dec 2025 16:55:48 +0000 https://www.naccc.org/?p=18569

The NACCC’s Mission and Outreach Ministry Council is delighted to share the news that we have a new Global Mission Partner – ChildVoice. Headquartered in Newmarket, New Hampshire, this special ministry serves to address issues of war and child exploitation.

Founded in 2006, ChildVoice acts on the conviction that children silenced by war can be restored in safe, therapeutic settings with loving care, spiritual and emotional counseling, and effective education and vocational training. Their ultimate goal is that every child will be equipped to reintegrate into their community, being self-sufficient as they pursue their goals in life. There are dozens of active conflict zones all around the world. ChildVoice’s vision is to be present in every single one, bringing God’s restoration and hope to all communities affected by war.

ChildVoice pursues its mission through comprehensive spiritual, rehabilitative, and developmental services facilitated through contextually relevant programs run in both their community-based Empowerment Centers and their non-traditional boarding school, the Lukome Center. Their programs and services include psychosocial trauma intervention; comprehensive psychosocial and spiritual counseling; capacity building, life skills training, and vocational skills training; and aftercare to maximize successful post-completion integration through long-term coaching, counseling, business training, and more.

Since its founding, ChildVoice has served 15,373 kids, youths, and families, with a 99% success rate of girls passing vocational training programs, and with 263 adolescent girls having participated in the Lukome Center program. We sincerely hope you will embrace our new ministry outreach through this exceptional organization.

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Convoy of Hope – 2025 Thank You https://www.naccc.org/convoy-of-hope-2025-thank-you/ Thu, 04 Dec 2025 14:02:03 +0000 https://www.naccc.org/?p=18549

The NACCC is grateful for our partnership with Convoy of Hope, one of the trusted relief organizations our One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) crisis relief fund works through to support communities in need. Their compassion, experience, and on-the-ground presence help ensure that your gifts reach those who need them most.

This end-of-year “Thank You” video from Convoy of Hope expresses their appreciation for the generosity of NACCC churches and their congregants, and highlights the impact of their relief efforts throughout 2025. We’re thankful to join with them in bringing hope and help where it’s needed most.

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Mission School of Hope – Molobo Repairs https://www.naccc.org/mission-school-of-hope-molobo-repairs/ Wed, 15 Oct 2025 17:07:53 +0000 https://www.naccc.org/?p=18371

An update from Mrs. Beatrice Diffang, President, Mission School of Hope:

The classrooms at the Molobo campus were built about 23 years ago and they had become old and severely dilapidated. Poor infrastructure doesn’t just affect learning; it deeply shapes how children see themselves and their place in society. The children at Molobo had developed a strong feeling of inferiority complex with regards to their friends at the OWENS Family campus which so far has been rated the best in the district with regards to clean, beautiful facilities and a wonderful learning environment, no wonder the best pupil in the national entrance exam into the middle school came from OWENS.

The dilapidated state of the school did not just lead to the development of a low self-esteem in the lives of the children but led to the feeling of embarrassment and neglect. The constant reminder of broken walls, damaged floors, broken doors, and leaking roofs can make them feel their future is also “broken”. Most often children who feel neglected by their school environment may grow up with a mindset that they cannot change their circumstances, reducing initiative and leadership qualities. In short: A broken classroom environment builds broken self-esteem. Children start believing they are unworthy, invisible, and incapable of rising above their conditions—unless deliberate interventions are made.

To continue reading, click Report on MOLOBO Repairs.

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Happy Life Mission Happenings – July 2025 https://www.naccc.org/happy-life-mission-happenings-july-2025/ Thu, 24 Jul 2025 15:30:55 +0000 https://www.naccc.org/?p=18070

Curious about what a day in the life looks like at Happy Life Mission? Check out their most recent newsletter for a peek at how it all unfolds, including some especially adorable video clips of the children at play!

Happy Life Mission requests your prayers for the healing of three-month-old Kyle who is struggling with his digestive system, their two young adults who will be starting college this fall, their sixth grade and Form 4 students who are preparing to take the National Exam, and, of course, for the right adoptive parents for the children in their care.

Read the full newsletter update from Happy Life Mission here.

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Mission School of Hope – Grieving Miss Njock Eyong Patience Mbu https://www.naccc.org/mission-school-of-hope-grieving-miss-njock-eyong-patience-mbu/ Mon, 14 Jul 2025 16:59:23 +0000 https://www.naccc.org/?p=18028

It is with profound sadness that Mission School of Hope announces the passing of Miss Njock Eyong Patience Mbu – the daughter of Mission School of Hope’s president, Mrs. Beatrice Diffang – on July 09, 2025.

Patience was Mission School of Hope’s secretary. Her love for the children, cheerful heart, character, and passion for the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ were exemplary.

She died in a bus accident on the Ekona-Buea road in the South West region. This accident shook the whole nation of Cameroon, leaving many families bereaved.

Mission School of Hope requests your prayers for their community and, especially, for Beatrice and her entire family who have been severely affected by the departure of their daughter, sister, and friend.

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Love Worth Sharing Updates – July 2025 https://www.naccc.org/love-worth-sharing-updates-july-2025/ Fri, 11 Jul 2025 20:16:17 +0000 https://www.naccc.org/?p=18016

In their July 2025 newsletter, Love Worth Sharing, an NACCC Recommended Mission, highlights the bleak nature of the current situation in Haiti. They share that the United Nations is reporting that gangs now control nearly 90% of Port-au-Prince and that gang violence is spreading across the country.

Food and fuel prices continue to soar, and the government is near collapse. Many individuals and families now live in makeshift camps because they have been forced to flee their homes after gangs invaded and razed their communities.

Reports are that many children are now joining the gangs as the situation grows desperate, and they are willing to do whatever it takes to earn money to survive.

They ask for your continued prayers and support, especially for the safety of their staff and the children and families they serve.

Read the full newsletter here.

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An Update on Texas Flood Relief – Convoy of Hope https://www.naccc.org/mission-partner-updates-an-update-on-texas-flood-relief/ Thu, 10 Jul 2025 21:19:17 +0000 https://www.naccc.org/?p=18000

NACCC Mission Affiliate Convoy of Hope is on the ground in Texas, providing desperately needed relief to communities that have been devastated by recent flooding.

As of this afternoon, Convoy of Hope has served more than 6,854 individuals and distributed 130,962 pounds of products to those in need across five Texas communities.

Your donations to the NACCC’s One Great Hour of Sharing Disaster – Texas Flood Relief Fund help them deliver urgently needed supplies and assistance.

To donate now, visit our website, where you can choose to contribute via PayPal or Venmo, or find instructions on how to donate via check. Please include a note designating the funds to OGHS – Texas Flood Relief.

To watch a video update from Convoy of Hope, click here.

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Happy Life Mission Updates – May 2025 https://www.naccc.org/happy-life-mission-updates-may-2025/ Mon, 19 May 2025 14:35:43 +0000 https://www.naccc.org/?p=17708

Happy Life Mission was recently visited by a medical team from Houston, Texas, that partnered with Jesse Kay Hospital to serve the local community in Kenya. Their mission? To bring not just medical support, but healing, love, and spiritual encouragement to hundreds in need.

The team worked tirelessly, reaching people of all ages with professional care and compassionate hearts. Children, parents, and elderly members of the community were able to receive checkups, treatments, and most importantly, someone to listen, pray, and walk with them – if only for a moment – through life’s challenges.

In a season where so many are feeling the weight of uncertainty and hardship, this outreach was a much-needed reminder that they are not forgotten. As people walked away from the hospital grounds, they did so with more than just medicine – they left with renewed hope and uplifted spirits.

Read the full newsletter update from Happy Life Mission here.

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