WORLD TRADE CENTER RELIEF FUND | Return to Ministry List
Reflections | January 2004
The last contributions to the WTC Fund were received about a year ago, contributions made to honor the first anniversary of the WTC attacks. The total contributions did not quite reach the total of $1.9 million that we had estimated but came very close.
As the process of ministry has developed in the aftermath of 9/11 we have had to adapt to meet the changing needs and opportunities that emerged. One can see these changes to some extent by comparing our plans for using the fund as we expressed them in March, 2002, and the actual use of the fund as shown below.
Perhaps, the most striking change from our original plan, has been the fact that we have distributed far more of the fund than we envisioned in direct aid to people in financial crisis because of the effects of 9/11. About $311,000 more has been directed to meet people's immediate and ongoing needs than our original budget indicated. The desire to meet such needs was the primary reason for the creation of the fund and for so much generous giving from Christians across the country. Our fund was always directed primarily to help people who were badly hurt by 9/11 but who for one reason or another might "fall through the cracks" in eligibility for the massive 9/ll funds. As we saw the vast scope of the need unfolding before us in the lives and stories of person after person, we believed that it was wise to change our plans and respond to what we were seeing.
Obviously, the $311,000 became available by reducing the amounts that we had originally designated for longer-term ministries and by savings on administrative costs. The Manhattan Church of Christ supplied the office infrastructure for the WTC Fund and kept overhead costs to a minimum.
We have always believed that many individuals and churches gave to this fund rather than to the Red Cross or one of the huge 9/11 funds specifically so that their gifts could both help victims' immediate physical needs and so that spiritual needs could be addressed and the message of Jesus Christ could be spread in the aftermath of the bewildering events of 9/11.
We still believe that the greatest, most lasting "monument" that we can leave to the victims of 9/11 would be a vibrant, faithful, loving, serving Christian community in lower Manhattan that will live for generations to come as a witness to the saving grace and love of God rising from the destruction of human hatred and violence. We have designated $420,000 of the WTC Fund for outreach specifically to the spiritual needs of the city in the aftermath of 9/11. A substantial amount has already been used in street evangelism, prayer ministry, and spiritual and emotional support for those in crisis. The nearly $300,000 that remains will be used primarily for evangelism and for planting a vibrant church in lower Manhattan. We have consciously moved slowly in using these funds, using volunteer workers whenever possible, so that we could observe how the city's plans to rebuild the area around the WTC would develop. We want to make sure that our efforts are well-focused and as effective as possible.
As of August, 2003, Joe Hays (along with his wife Laura and baby Sophia) joined our ministry to focus specifically on evangelism and the planting of a new church in lower Manhattan. Joe was trained at ACU and at Princeton Theological Seminary, and has been serving as the minister of the Fortress Church of Christ in Fort Worth. We are truly grateful that Joe has agreed to lead this work. We want to build a congregation that reaches across the many class barriers in Manhattan from the poor to the highly successful financial managers that often dominate the world of Wall Street. All alike need the Gospel and the grace of God. We believe that this new phase of our work, which is just now moving into focused action, will be the very best way to crown the great generosity of the members of Churches of Christ across the country who contributed to the WTC Disaster Fund. Even though we will be using less of the WTC Fund for this great project than we originally planned,
the Manhattan Church of Christ is fully committed to this process of church planting and will continue to support it even after the resources of the WTC Fund run out. |
Ministry Contact: Dr. Thomas L. Robinson | E-mail
|
|
Summary of the WTC Disaster Fund
to the Present |
| Total Contributions |
$1,897,494.00 |
100% |
| Total Distribution to date |
$1,603,072.09 |
84.5% |
| Total to be Distributed |
$294,421.91 |
15.5% |
Overview of the Use of the
World Trade Center Disaster Fund
|
| Ministry to Need Applicants: |
| Direct Grants to Families applying for aid |
| $1,321,032.52 |
69.6% |
| Direct Counseling concerning Family needs |
| $83,170.56 |
4.4% |
| Total Direct Ministry to Need Applicants |
| $1,404,203.08 |
74% |
Outreach and Community Ministry
Total designated for: |
| Outreach, Evangelism, Church Planting & Community Ministry |
| $420,000.00 |
22.1% |
| Grief Recovery Groups and Counseling |
| $52,112.50 |
2.7% |
| Herald of Truth Prayer Ministry and Follow-up |
| $30,450.00 |
1.6% |
| Evangelistic Outreach: Manhattan after 9/11 |
| $43,015.59 |
2.3% |
Total Used to Date |
| $125,578.09 |
6.6% |
| Total yet to be used for Evangelism, etc. |
| $294,421.91 |
15.5% |
Administration, Responses to Contributors, Research, Services to visiting Church Groups, Distributionof shipments of material, Financial care, etc. |
| $73,290.92 |
3.9% |
|
HOME