Welcome to the Victory Blog

Recently, we kicked off a new year of our iCare giving campaign. In an inspiring video announcement that noted heartwarming progress, we saw Victory being Jesus’ hands, extending our reach locally and globally, building the God’s kingdom both spiritually and practically in Sierra Leone and Ethiopia, as well as in our immediate community. The presentation highlighted:

• A 21,000 square foot medical clinic and school that will touch more than 12,000 men, women, and children
• Ministry to more than 1,000 seriously malnourished babies
• 40% reduction in death rates in the communities served by 15 wells
• 55 young girls being housed and educated in a beautiful facility
• 16 of 34 beautifully furnished transitional apartments for homeless women

View the video here:

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Victory, you are making a huge difference in this world!

And, here’s a breakdown of what we’ve already given this year:

• $30,000 towards the Salvation Army, UNITE!, and 20 Transitional Housing Units being sponsored in partnership with other Gwinnett churches
• $20,000 for eight additional Transitional Housing Units in partnership with Open Arms/ Mary Hall Freedom House
• $20,000 to provide hospital medical equipment for Larry Derstine’s ministry, Supreme Task International
• $25,000 and hundreds of bags of food to the Norcross Co-op
• $10,000 to E.B. George in India to purchase scooters for evangelists
• 1,364 books and other educational items for the Peachford Health Center.

We cannot say thank you enough for you generosity in giving. You are truly making a difference in our community and around the globe. Thank you for caring.

And, thank you for your ongoing support in our efforts to:

• Provide more apartments for homeless women in Gwinnett County
• Fight Human Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation
• Dig wells in countries without access to clean water
• And so much more!

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Because we care, we give. Since Christmas time of last year, we have generously given nearly $850,000 towards iCare projects! Through iCare we are being Christ to individuals and communities, both locally and abroad, as we are doing in:

Ethiopia

• Where we are building an orphanage on the outskirts of the capital, Addis Ababa that will have a capacity for 70 children and is on schedule to hold opening ceremonies and begin welcoming needy children in November. And, where we have drilled nine wells already, and have three to six more on the way in the area of Angacha. Tens of thousands now have access to clean water in one of the poorest areas of the world. And also in:

Sierra Leone

• We are so excited to announce that we have raised more than $680,000 toward our Grafton Village Medical Facility and School. It is now PAID IN FULL and well on its way to completion! We will soon be serving approximately 600 children in 14 classrooms, with 18 teachers and staff; and providing quality medical, dental and ophthalmology services with Christian love, compassion and prayer!

Thank you Victory for your generous giving!

We are excited to give an update on our Sierra Leone iCare project. We’ve now raised over 83% of our target amount. At $415,000 we have nearly met our goal for the Grafton Village Medical Facility and School. It’s so exciting to see this project take shape, and we can’t wait to see what God is going to do through our efforts in Sierra Leone.

Below are some recent pictures of the foundations being laid and some wonderful photos of those being helped by your generosity:

 

We are so excited to announce that together, we have now given $340,000 towards our Sierra Leone iCare project! That’s 68% of the $500k needed to build the Grafton Village Medical Facility and School! Thanks to your faithfulness and generosity, this project is well on its way to completion. Way to go, Victory!

To see pictures from our last update, click here.

We are excited to give an update on our Sierra Leone iCare project. We’ve now raised over 60% of our target amount. At $300,000, we are well over halfway toward our goal for the Grafton Village Medical Facility and School. It’s so exciting to see this project take shape, and we can’t wait to see what God is going to do through our efforts in Sierra Leone.

   

   

For more pictures click here.

In February, we launched our first iCare project for 2008, our Grafton Village Medical Facility and School. In partnership with Joshua International Ministries we launched the campaign to build a Medical Facility and School in the heart of Grafton Village, Sierra Leone.

Grafton Village is a community with a population of 12,000. A place that the Sierra Leonean government used as a settlement site following the devastating civil war that tore apart the country, dividing the people into four distinct camps: The War-Wounded Camp, The Amputee Camp, The Polio Camp and the Internally Displaced People Camp. Of its 12,000 residents, 7,000 (58%) are school-aged children. Only 2,600 children (37%) of this number attend school due to the high cost associated with education. 90% of the children not attending school are involved in some form of child labor to assist in bringing income to their households. 85% of the children in Grafton Village were either child soldiers during the war or are born to young girls abducted during the war and forcibly raped and recruited as sex-slaves to rebel forces.

Sierra Leone is ranked as the second least livable country in the world with the highest maternal morbidity and infant mortality rates. 25% of all children born die before their fifth birthday from preventable diseases. 1 in 8 mothers die in childbirth due to lack of medical care. Grafton Village has a single health center that provides basic health care with no equipment, medication or trained doctor.

Pictures of Grafton’s only available health care center:

    

Together with Joshua International, we’ve purchased land and developed the initial architectural drawings for the next phase of HOPE for Grafton Village. Our Grafton Village Medical Facility and School will serve approximately 600 children in 14 classrooms, with 18 teachers and staff; and provide quality medical, dental and opthalmology services with Christian love, compassion and prayer.

Some of our architectural drawings:

With your help, we’re making it happen. We’re pleased to report that our current giving-to-date in our 1st iCare project of 2008 is now at nearly $239,000 – and Pastor Dennis has given the go-ahead to breaking ground! We still need to meet our overall goal of $500,000 to see this project through to completion.

 If you’d like to help us meet our goal and make a donation to our iCare, Sierra Leone project, click here.

Thank you for your generous support as we work toward helping the men, women and children of Grafton Village, Sierra Leone have a better life through Christian compassion and hope.

Use the link below to view the iCare Sierra Leone video:

iCare 2008: Sierra Leone Project