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In June, a team from the church traveled to Sierra Leone for a week of ministry and a celebration of the Joshua International Primary School in Grafton Village, known locally as “Joshua School.” The school, which officially opened on September 20, 2010, provides free education to children affected by Sierra Leone’s horrific 10 year war and who are involved in various forms of child labor.

June 2011 Sierra Leone Missions Team

In 2008, as a church, we came together with Joshua International to focus our iCare efforts on the purchasing of land and building of this school. The campaign raised $680,000 in just six months! The project was PAID IN FULL and allowed Joshua International to move forward on construction and completion.

Joshua International School Construction, October 2008

This beautiful country was embroiled in a devastating war that lasted more than a decade, leaving many of its citizens displaced, ill, injured and traumatized. Grafton Village was created by the Sierra Leonean government as a response to the over crowding in its capital, Freetown, by wounded and displaced refugees fleeing the rural areas during the course of the war. It is a community of 12,000+ Sierra Leoneans that is divided into four distinct camps: The Amputee Camp, The Polio Camp, the Internally Displaced Camp and The War-Wounded Camp.

The primary victims of the war were children with multiple thousands of them left orphaned, used as child soldiers, sex slaves, tortured and traumatized. Now these children exist on the streets and in villages throughout Sierra Leone, cared for by village elders or forced into child labor to survive. It is children just like this who benefit from a free education through Joshua International Primary School.

We are so proud of the work that Joshua International Ministries has done and want to say THANK YOU to all of you who gave so that this project could be completed. Here are just a few highlights of the trip:

There are currently more than 350 students served by Joshua School receiving a free education, Christ-based teaching and hot meal each day. This beautiful campus is set high upon a hill overlooking Grafton Village and can be seen from many far away provinces. On the lower side of the hill, in the shadow of Joshua School, sits one of the only former schools available in Grafton prior to Joshua School – an Islamic Education Center. Thank God for his favor in location and impact upon this community. Joshua School sits high and proud as the most beautiful and noticeable facility for miles around.

Upon arriving at the school, the children had prepared an opening ceremony to welcome our team and show their appreciation for our part in making the school available to them. This was a touching and fun time for the entire team.

While there, we also opened a medical clinic to allow the students and their families to receive free health check ups and needed medications. Over the course of our trip, we saw hundreds of patients and treated everything from minor scratches to malaria and serious wound infections. It is the goal of Joshua International to open the medical clinic on a regular basis within the next year.

Team members spent their days in the classrooms with the kids teaching them about Jesus and showing them His love:

Several of our team members taught midwife classes to women from the local community and we supplied them with child-birth kits to assist in healthy, sanitary births and their ability to help the mothers parent well and provide the right care for their babies:

In all, we spent the week loving on and being loved by the Grafton community and its precious kids.

We had spent the week trying to teach the kids about Jesus and His love, so we ended our time with them by displaying His love in the same act of service He himself used to care for the disciples – we washed over 300 children’s feet and the teachers, security guards, maintenance staff and Joshua International Sierra Leone team. It was a moment to touch each child and adult, pray over them and demonstrate the loving heart of Jesus – and, a moment that moved our team to tears.

Thank you, Victory, for your support of Joshua International Ministries and iCare. You truly are making a difference.

For the history of the project, visit these links:

Sierra Leone iCare Project Launch, April 2008

Project Update & Ground-breaking Photos, June 2008

Joshua International Primary School Complete Information

Every year at Christmastime, we seek to set aside the clamor of our over-commercialized culture, to look beyond our own (all-too-often-selfish) wants and desires to the great needs of the world around us. As we remember that God gave us his best in the form of his son Jesus, we in turn, seek to give our best back to him by giving to the world.

This year, our Christmas Gift to the World will be directed to the furthest corners of the world…starting right in our own backyard.

Watch this video to find out all about it:

If you’d like to give towards our Christmas Gift to the World using our secure online giving link, click here.

Each year since 2003, during the first weekend of October, churches across metro Atlanta have partnered together to serve the community during Compassion in Action Weekend. Well, this year was no exception. In fact, it was a big win for the body of Christ in Gwinnett County, and for Victory as well!.

For Gwinnett County, because over the course of this weekend, some 2,560 believers from over 100 churches came together to serve on 108 different outreaches throughout the county. Participants did everything from mowing lawns to painting a rooms, clearing brush, distributing food, beautifying local schools and parks, visiting nursing homes and detention centers, and much, much more.

And, this was a great weekend for Victory because of those 108 outreaches, 24 were facilitated by Victory. And of the 2560 participants, 1,108 came from Victory. These were men, women and children, young and old, of all races reaching out to their neighbors and others to show the love of Christ. How awesome it is to see the body of Christ serving our community in this way! So many people were blessed…and not just those on the receiving end of these loving acts of service. As one Victory volunteer said, “This was the first time we volunteered as a family. It was powerful in more ways than one. It was really important for my children to experience. We loved it!”

Were you there? We’d love to hear about your experience. If you’d like to tell us about it, click to Share Your Story. And don’t forget to do this anytime God does something in or through your life as a part of Victory so others can be encouraged as well!

Unite 2010 Recap from Victory Videos on Vimeo.

On Saturday, August 14th, over 200 men women and children from Victory took one of our four pillars – Transforming Community – to the streets of Avalon Park subdivision in Lawrenceville.

Like our previous community outreach in the Alcovy Springs subdivision, our V•Groups Pastor Rich Mace and Missions Pastor Dennis Russell led the charge. “About three or four days after our Alcovy Springs community outreach, Banae Honeycutt, V•Groups Administrative Assistant, thought her neighborhood could benefit from a community outreach.” Pastor Rich explained when asked how Avalon Park had been chosen, “Like many neighborhoods in metro-Atlanta, Avalon Park is experiencing a number of foreclosures resulting in homes and yards falling into neglect.” He continued, “Banae participated with Alcovy Springs, and after having the thought, she arrived home one afternoon to find a note on her front door from a neighbor asking that something be done.”

Avalon Park, a community with approximately 170 homes does not have a homeowners association and “the first night, only 12 homeowners came out to hear the vision being cast for their community.” Pastor Rich explained “We sent flyers out and encouraged them to participate. Only 60 homeowners wanted to participate but once we arrived this morning, more came out.” In addition to bringing Jesus to others, the idea of the community outreach is to “pay it forward” and have the homeowners blessed by the outreach, be a blessing to someone else in turn. Pastor Rich was pleased to see Alcovy Springs homeowner Howard McIntyre doing just that.

As teams of volunteers, assigned to “zones”, worked tirelessly, Banae Honeycutt, an Avalon Park homeowner for 13 years, shared her thoughts, “This is important to me to bring the community together and let them know we care about them.” At first the homeowners were skeptical, but the excitement grew. When asked how she responds when people say this type of outreach is only for people in impoverished neighborhoods she said, “I share with them that it is not just the poor and impoverished that need Jesus. God paid it forward for all of us. I hope the community will embrace this. I want the community to come together and keep it up.”

As rain clouds darkened the skies, a light rain began to fall, but the volunteers, including Vivian Roman and her daughters, Nadia (15), Makayla (11), Jada (8) and Brianna (5), were undeterred. “I felt it was necessary to be here to demonstrate the need to help others,” Vivian explained while lovingly directing her daughters as they painted a mailbox post. “The world tells kids that it’s ‘me’ first, and this shows them the importance of serving others.” Tiny Brianna, barely able to reach the mailbox, worked diligently on her part of the post, carefully applying the paint, completely unaware of the white paint streaks in her hair. When asked if she liked helping others she replied, “Yes. I like helping, and I like painting. I learned how to paint in school.”

Avalon Park homeowner Carlene Beck, quickly moving between work zones, clipboard in hand, took a moment to assess the activity, “It’s very important for the community. Hopefully, homeowners will see the importance of upkeep and instill pride of ownership. This gives everyone the chance to meet others. It’s great all around.” When asked about the importance of the community outreach, Milay Vargas put it simply: “Para ver nuestra comunidad bonita.” (Translation: In order to see our community beautiful)

With lunch time quickly approaching, Victory member Amy Edwards set up the food tables, while husband Torrey and fellow Victory member Andrew Schneider manned the grill. “It’s important to show that the church is not just inside the walls of Victory,” said Amy. Keeping a watchful eye on the sizzling hot dogs, Andrew commented, “It’s very important to be here to show, and not just tell, who Jesus is.”

Showing who Jesus is deeply touched homeowner and Honduran native Mary Corea. Holding her baby daughter and watching as a team worked to repair her mailbox, she was overwhelmed by the kindness of people she had never met. “My husband and I want to go to a church where we can help others. We will be going to Victory tomorrow.”

Thanks, Victory, for “alcanzando a la comunidad con el amor de Dios!” (reaching the community with the love of God!)

Want to get in on the action next time? Join us for one of our next set of community transformation projects on October 2 as we unite with churches all over Atlanta through Compassion in Action. (Find out more info and how to sign up by clicking here.)

As many of you already know, we recently announced our very first satellite campus – Victory @ Hamilton Mill. Our team is extremely excited about this new season for the church and all of the lives that we have the opportunity to be impacted in the Hamilton Mill area.

If you missed the announcement, we’ve dedicated a page on our website to answering your questions and providing some background.

Visit the Victory @ Hamilton Mill page.

Currently we have 1,200 families who attend Victory and live in the Hamilton Mill area and the existing facilities are not equipped to handle that kind of a crowd. This is why Victory @ Hamilton Mill is our current iCare focus.

Below are some of the immediate financial needs:

• Building out of basement to accommodate the elementary aged children, this includes installation of a stairwell and elevator for handicap access
• Remodel of current Newborn – K children’s space. The current space is small and includes outside modular buildings. We will be remodeling to move all Children’s Ministry inside the building and removing the modulars from the property. This will include transforming current office space into children’s ministry rooms so that we have more room to care for our precious kids.
• General upkeep and needed maintenance on the buildings and property. We need to do some painting, repair and general upkeep to the grounds and buildings to keep the property in good condition.
• Installation of new signage around the property to identify it as Victory @ Hamilton Mill and to provide better directional assistance to those visiting the campus for weekend services.

Additionally, we believing that within a year we will have the current debt on the property paid off – about $993K is owed on the existing property which is valued at $2.6M.

God has truly blessed us with these new facilities and our new family at Hamilton Mill. Thank you for always giving generously to iCare and for praying along with us as we launch into this new phase Kingdom growth.

To give to iCare online, click HERE.

iCare July 2010 from Victory Videos on Vimeo.

Did You Know:

• The fastest growing group of homeless people is children under 9 years of age?
• The majority of homeless families with children are headed by single-mothers who are homeless due to below poverty earning levels or are fleeing domestic violence?
• Experiences of homelessness and poverty are often legacies that repeat generation to generation?
• With respect to child homelessness, Georgia ranks 49th of 50 states in overall solutions and long-term planning?

The needs of homeless families with children are increasing. The need to address them has increased as well. So, throughout the month of July, the focus of our iCare giving campaign was on two transitional housing ministries, right here in Gwinnett County, who are doing just that: the Quinn House and Rainbow Village.

Located in downtown Lawrenceville, GA for the past 25 years, The Quinn House is a multi-task, non-profit Outreach Operation that assists hundreds of people in Gwinnett County and in other areas of the State, through their Residential Program, 40-day Drug and Alcohol Program, licensed Food Bank, Senior Food Box Program, Family Holiday meals, thrift stores and more!

Rainbow Village, a transitional housing program for homeless families with children in north metro Atlanta, has a proven program of success that allows those families an opportunity to break the cycles of homelessness, poverty and domestic violence. The program provides self-sufficiency planning and case management, workforce development, life skills training, financial counseling, an after school program, evening classes for children and youth, and access to other tools and resources necessary for rebuilding their lives.

Thank you, Victory, for your generosity in giving!

During the month of June, as you my recall, our iCare giving was focused on supporting one of our close local partners in ministry, the Norcross Co-op. Through both financial and material donations, we joined together to bless this ministry and those they serve in a big way – hundreds of families will be given the help and hope they so desperately need. Here is an excerpt of a letter that Shirley Cabe, the Co-op’s Director, wrote in response:

Dear Pastors, leaders and members of Victory World Church:

On behalf of the Norcross Cooperative Ministry Board of Directors, staff, volunteers and clients, thank you so much for your recent donation of $35,042 from the iCare offering during the month of June. This awesome blessing will help many families in our community who are struggling to make ends meet. I also want to thank everyone for the food donations that came in during the month. VWC members donated over 500 bags of food and personal care items.

Over the last few months, we have experienced a 25% increase in the number of our client visits. Currently we are serving over 1,100 families per month. Many of these families have never come to us for help before. Your donation will be used to help these families with basic needs: food, help with utility bill payments, rental assistance and temporary lodging for our homeless families with children.

Thank you again for your donation and your continued support of the outreach and ministries of Norcross Cooperative Ministry. Please continue to pray for our clients, this community and the staff and volunteers of Norcross Co-op. Working together we can transform this community, one family at a time.

In Christ,

Shirley Cabe

Thank you, Victory for your compassion and generosity!

If you’re a regular attender at Victory and God’s been doing something in or through your life here, please consider helping to build the faith of others by sharing your story here.

On May 1st & 2nd, torrential rains pummeled Nashville, TN and surrounding areas, bringing more than 13 inches of rain in less than 48 hours. The result was creeks, rivers and lakes overflowing, washing away roads, homes, livestock and livelihoods. In all 29 people died, thousands lost everything and the places we’ve come to know and love in Nashville were completely underwater – the Grand Ole’ Opry, Opryland Hotel, the Titan’s stadium, the Predator’s Arena, historic downtown and much more.

The storm and its catastrophic results are being called things like, “the 1000-year flood,” “the costliest non-hurricane disaster in the nation,” and “the worst disaster to strike Nashville since the Civil War.”

As Nashville’s sister-city to the south, many of us have friends and family there who’ve been impacted by the storm. A good deal of those we know reside in the residential areas hardest hit by the storm – Bellevue, Kingston Springs, Pegram & Dickson, TN. So, we’ve partnered with Cross Point Community Church (crosspoint.tv) to assist them as they focus their clean up and recovery efforts within these communities.

We are supporting Cross Point both financially and with volunteer assistance. Our first response team from Fusion departed on Friday, May 7th for a weekend trip to help demo homes and salvage belongings. (See the video update from that trip below.)

Additional teams continue to depart each weekend throughout the month of June. If you would like to be a part of a Nashville Flood Relief team, please email Josh Wilkinson at jwilkinson@victorywc.org for the information.

FLOOD RELIEF TEAM INFORMATION:

It is important to remember when considering volunteering for one of our teams that the work will consist of all manual labor – pulling up carpet, stripping dry wall, shoveling debris. Additionally, the accommodations will require you to bring a sleeping bag and air mattress.

View the Video Update from our Second Flood Relief Team:

View the Video Update of our First Response Team from Fusion:

View Our iCare Nashville Flood Relief Video:

View Cross Point’s Flood Relief Photos:

Over the last four months since the catastrophic earthquake decimated the impoverished island nation of Haiti, many people from Victory World Church and others in our community, have generously given of their resources in an incredible way. Here is a synopsis of the things that God has accomplished thus far (as of May 12th, 2010) through this outpouring of compassion:

• We have sent 27 people to Haiti in three different mission teams, with more on the way.
• Provided $800K of relief for $40K investment on trip 1
  • Delivered full day’s ration to over 150,000 people
  • Delivered over 38,000 gallons of water
  • Provided wood for Canadian Navy to build 2 shelters for 96 orphans
• Had a role in the building of 6 more shelters for 288 orphans
  • 4 shelters built by Canadians using wood we provided
  • 2 shelters built by team 3 using wood Canadian Navy provided
• Provided mattresses and pillows for 240 beds for orphans (trip 2 and 3)
• Provided sheets and pillowcases for 96 beds for orphans (trip 2)
• Provided Medical Relief
  • Dr. Donavan Christie saw hundreds of patients (trip 1)
  • Progressive Medical saw hundreds of patients (trip 2)
• Sent by 20’ container #1: Over $25K worth of clothing, food, and medical supplies. Items were distributed by team 2 to two orphanages and one displaced persons camp
• Sent by 40’ container #2: Over $82K worth of clothing, food, water, medical supplies, tents (420), tarps (300), generators (3), and construction tools. Items were distributed by team 3 to two displaced person camps, an orphanage, a TB hospital, Operation Hope and Grace International
• En route by container #3: $272K worth of goods is on its way now [1800 tents, $80K in medical supplies, 40’x60’ tent (temporary church and school for orphanage) food, and clothes]

And here’s a closer look at our work with the orphanages:

After the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Victory World Church and International Crisis Aid (ICA) first responded by providing food and water to an orphanage in Leogane, Haiti that once provided a home for up to 100 children, a school for 400 children and a church for the community, but which had collapsed in the earthquake. Thankfully, none of the children were in the buildings during the earthquake. However, since that time, they had been sleeping on the grass under thin sheets, and their food would have lasted just two more days when Victory World Church and ICA arrived.

That night ICA President Pat Bradley said, “As we walked in, we found the kids singing Bible songs. It was music to my ears! At the same time, it was the worst destruction I’ve ever seen. Everything is completely leveled. No one has been to help them yet. No one would have found this place. Most of the children are very young — around three to ten years old. These are children were orphaned before the earthquake, and now, the little they did have is also gone.”

We believe God took us to Haiti to find this orphanage. Over the next few days, as the number of children quickly increased to 100, ICA was able to secure enough food, water, powdered milk and blankets from the US Marines to last several weeks at the orphanage. The Canadian Army led the debris clean-up and assisted with distributions. Today, most of the debris on the compound has been cleared. This was the first of four orphanages Victory World Church and ICA assisted.

With the assistance of the Canadian Navy, we have already completed four shelters for more than 240 children at four different orphanage compounds. The first two shelters were built at what we have come to call “Our Orphanage” — the first compound Victory World Church and ICA discovered. As this number continues to grow, ICA is planning to rebuild the one orphanage for 100 children, school for 400 children and church in its entirety. If funding allows, the goal is to enlarge the compound to allow for more orphans to have a home.

More info about this orphanage

• The orphanage was founded and built by a Haitian businessman who used the profits from his business and very few donations from the community to build the compound over time.
• The orphanage sits on approximately 3 acres of level land.
• The average age of the children at the orphanage is 10 years old.
• There were originally 50 girls and 35 boys in January, but the number of children is growing due to the number of new orphans displaced by the January earthquake.
• The average length of time the children have lived at the orphanage is more than 4 years.
• ICA and the orphanage director are working with a professional construction engineer for site preparations and to design the new compound.
• ICA plans to use concrete blocks that are made to be hurricane and earthquake resistant, providing a safer facility for the children. ICA is in conversations with businesses that specialize in this type of building materials.
• There was a fence surrounding the compound which will need to be taken down and rebuilt.
• ICA intends to build the orphanage using both experienced construction worker volunteer teams from the U.S. and Haitians. We believe it is important to involve the local Haitian community in this project. The Haitians will be paid labor.
• This orphanage will provide a safe home for at least 100 children who are orphaned or whose parents are unable to meet their basic needs. It will also serve as a school for at least 400 children from the community. The orphanage has been and will continue to be a Christian orphanage where the children are brought up under Christian principles and the Word of God. ICA’s goal is to raise these children to be the next generation leaders of their nation, rather than adopting them out of the country.
• In the future, and as funding becomes available, ICA intends to implement vocational training programs at the school, which will not only teach the older children trades they can eventually start their own business from, but that will also provide sustainability for the compound. Before the orphanage collapsed, they had a bakery which was just starting to produce some income for the operational budget. ICA plans to rebuild the bakery in time. In addition, ICA plans to obtain a Cement Block Making Machine which will allow us to make blocks for the orphanage and also sell them to the community.

Thank you!

Update 3/7/2010

Here’s a brief video update about our ongoing relief efforts in Haiti: