Where Needed Most
If you talk to a personal finance expert, one of the first things they will tell you to do is build up an emergency fund. The reason for this being that it helps give you a buffer for when life’s little surprises pop up: the leaking dishwasher, the air conditioner that needs to be replaced in the middle of a heat wave, car repairs that go above and beyond the typical maintenance, or even losing your job. Having an emergency fund is a wise way to steward your resources and reduce the possible stress that comes with these ups and downs. It gives you flexibility and helps you respond to the most important need at hand.
FAIR’s Where Needed Most project is like an emergency fund for humanitarian aid and justice. It means that we can use funds to address needs both big and small—whatever is needed most. Of course, we know that sounds vague. It’s hard to really define what might be needed most because… well… we just don’t know what God has planned to use those funds for in the future!
Here are a few recent examples explaining how this fund has been an asset in meeting needs, as well as a scenario where we might use the funds in the future.
Fellowship Child Sponsorship Program — Joy Foundation
Joy Foundation (Dominican Republic) was announced as a new Fellowship Child Sponsorship program location in May 2022. Since it was a pre-existing ministry, the transition of sponsors’ donations to the Fellowship needed to take place before the ministry could be fully funded through FAIR. This left a financial gap for the first month, meaning that there was greater need than there was funding. The FAIR team was able to use $500 from the Where Needed Most fund to bridge the gap for that month, meaning that school supplies and grocery packages could still be purchased for the students and their families.
Pakistan Flooding Relief
In late August, FAIR announced the Pakistan Flooding Relief emergency appeal. The flooding was a situation that FAIR had been tracking through Fellowship International missionaries Mark and Karen Naylor since mid-July. FAIR sent an initial $3,200 from the Where Needed Most fund to purchase mosquito nets and food packages for individuals connected to two community ministries in Sindh. This meant that FAIR could immediately meet the urgent needs without the time required to send out an appeal and receive enough donations to cover the purchase of supplies.
An Idea for the Future
Have you heard of micro-loans? This is idea concept that’s been around for a while, but we’ve been hearing about it a lot more in the past few months. Of course, FAIR is NOT a financial institution, so the idea of starting to provide micro-loans doesn’t fit. BUT, we would love to build the Where Most Needed fund to the point that we can provide micro-grants. The idea would be that in the case where Fellowship International missionaries identify an enterprising individual who has a desire to start a business to better provide for his/her family, FAIR could provide a micro-grant to assist with that. Maybe it’s $500 to buy sewing supplies, or $1,000 for an oven to start a bakery. In cases like these, the missionary could request funds to empower that person to be in a position to sustainably meet their needs and that of their family.
November 29th is Giving Tuesday. This year, to mark Giving Tuesday, we are encouraging you to make a donation to FAIR’s Where Needed Most Catalogue project. Our goal is to raise $10,000 towards this very important fund.
Donate today or join us on by giving on November 29th.