Rah, Rah, Sis, Boom, Bah, Go Sponsorships!

There’s a reason cheerleaders are notoriously peppy. If you want to get people excited about something, put excited people in charge of spreading the word. Edgewater Alliance Church in Edgewater, Florida did that when it formed a small core group of 8-10 people in charge of getting people excited about its sister church program in Honduras. They are getting ready to use their excitement in the church’s upcoming sponsorship push. Rah, Rah, Sis, Boom, Bah, Go Sponsorships!

Tiffany Richardson recently shared what EAC is doing to promote child sponsorships. Basically, it’s a matter of going big or going home and it is not in the core group’s nature to go home. For the entire month of May, the church lobby will be decorated to look like Honduras. Core group member, Kimberly Newell, designed and painted pallets to display the profile pictures of children available for sponsorship. The group has also reached out to people who have visited Honduras in the past to request items like pictures, clay pots, blankets, and other souvenirs. The idea is to show people what teams get to experience when they’re on the ground. The core group will also have backpacks filled with supplies sitting out so they can explain about the backpack drive that will begin in mid-summer.

Why the big push? Michelle Mercer and Mike Martin, program coordinators for EAC's sister church program, decided to up their sponsorship game by adding students from a fifth school to their existing sister church program. That amounts to about fifty new students. For the past two or three years, EAC has been proud of having 100% of their children sponsored. So now they are going even bigger! As of this posting, they already have more than half of the new kids sponsored!!

Tiffany shared, “That’s the point of the sponsorship push. We may not have decorated the whole lobby before, but we have always made it a point to focus on profiles. We are taking it up a notch. By creating a space that is visually available, people can’t help but wonder what is going on. We have two services every Sunday, plus other activities throughout the week. This exposes so much of the ministry to our church. By doing this, we have been able to get full sponsorship in the past.”

Other churches are encouraged to create this level of excitement and set aside a time for the church to have the opportunity to see the kids available for sponsorship. Tiffany said, “Just mentioning it or showing a video here or there doesn’t have the same impact.” Then she laughed and said, “If you give me Honduras, I will talk all day.” That’s why she might be considered the head cheerleader of the group.

Did we happen to mention that this
year S4P passed out Bibles to the 
kids? They do that every three years.
Perfect timing for the new kids being 
added to the Guacutao program!

You may remember that EAC recently faced the passing of Ray Negron while visiting Honduras. Ray was an integral part of the core group tasked with working on sponsorships and backpacks. Tiffany said, “It didn’t matter what the ministry needed, he was available. He was a vital part of the team, and we are feeling his loss.” What better way to pay tribute to him than by expanding the cause that was near and dear to his heart.

- posted by Christi