Each year at this time, we challenge our church to spend less on holiday shopping and give generously to support Kingdom-building projects.
Giving will open on November 26th, 2023. When you give, please be sure to select ‘Thanksgiving Offering’ from the dropdown!
Thanks to the incredible generosity of our congregation, we have met our giving goal! We are so grateful for the gifts we received for these projects.
If giving for the Thanksgiving Offering closed before you had a chance to give, please consider giving to the General Fund (click here to give!). First Free supports missionaries, mission organizations (both local and global), and lots of awesome ministry right here on our campus.
Thank you for your gifts and your faithful support of First Free!
**Please note that all gifts are applied equally to both projects until our goal of $100,000 is met. We cannot designate gifts to one project or the other. If donations to this fund exceed the stated goal, excess funds will be used at the discretion of First Free Church for ministry purposes.
The deadline to give to this year’s projects is December 31.
Oasis International was founded in 1989 and has served thousands of refugees who have come to St. Louis from all over the world.
Often, refugees arrive with no possessions or knowledge of life in our country. Oasis partners with organizations and churches to provide support, furniture, connection, and caring relationships so refugees can resettle and thrive.
First Free partners with Oasis through financial support, regular volunteer teams, hosting barbeques for immigrants, and through many who befriend refugees. Oasis is a strategic partner, and we join them in helping refugees and as we learn from them how to befriend the refugees and immigrants in our own communities.
The Oasis International ministry operates out of a storefront building at 5035 Gravois in St. Louis. This is a very advantageous location for many reasons. It is, however, an old building that needs repairs and renovations. In particular, the large windows on the street side of the building are cracked, unsightly, inefficient, and unsafe.
The estimates that Oasis has received for replacing the windows on the front of the building are in the area of $50,000. Volunteers could help with the demolition of some walls that have been built over parts of the current windows.
New windows on the front of the building will enhance the ministry of Oasis by providing a welcoming experience for refugees and staff. This project will also help the ministry with heating/cooling costs as the current windows are not energy efficient. Safety for staff, refugee families, and volunteers will be increased with increased visibility and security from new windows.
The ReachGlobal church plant in Kypseli, led by Stefanos Mihalios, has shown great success in building relationships with people from the neighborhood and drawing them to the worship services.
Currently, the church serves about 110 people every week, meeting in two full services every Sunday. Half of the people attending the church are people from the neighborhood who have come to know the Lord or are still exploring Christianity. In order to grow further and to establish the church, they plan to relocate to a new building facility. They have found a suitable venue for purchase, and have managed to raise the funds needed for the purchase.
This larger facility will require additional investment and preparation to facilitate worship and ministry.
Installation of a second story for offices and utility rooms, heating and cooling units, fire escape doors, bathrooms, Sunday school rooms, and a small kitchen area are needed. In addition, the church needs to furnish the building with new chairs, projectors, speakers, storage cabinets, etc.
The estimated cost for replacing the heating/cooling units, purchasing chairs and furniture for the building, and sound equipment is $50,000.
First Free is building a partnership with the ReachGlobal team in Athens. We currently support a missionary who serves with ReachGlobal at the church in Kypseli. In June 2024 we are planning to send our first short-term team to serve in Athens. Much of the focus of this team will be in the Kypseli area.
This new building, along with the necessary furnishings and equipment, will allow the Kypseli church to increase its outreach into this part of Athens.
Thank you for giving generously to support these projects!
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