It's Been a Year: Report to Provincial Council
The Anglican Relief and Development Fund (ARDF) was founded in 2004. For over 16 years, ARDF has leveraged ACNA’s deep global and domestic relationships to bring Kingdom-changing relief and development projects, implemented by the local church. Every year, we submit a report to the ACNA Provincial Council. Here are the highlights from this year’s report.
COVID-19 relief being distributed in Rwanda.
Highlighted Initiative
ARDF has been overwhelmed by the consistent requests for disaster relief funding. Even though we do not see it on our news, there is almost always a disaster - from flooding to famine to COVID relief. During the pandemic, we realized the urgency of getting funds to partners quickly. We worked hard to improve our process so we could respond to more needs and reach new partners. In early 2021, we launched The Joseph Fund for Disaster Relief, based upon the story of Joseph and his management of resources in Egypt. Genesis 41 tells the story of Joseph spending seven years saving resources to be ready for a seven-year famine. His foresight and planning enabled the nation to be ready to respond to an otherwise devastating situation. Like Joseph, ARDF needs to be wise and proactive, rather than reactive.
Relief Efforts
We are excited that due to generous donors to The Joseph Fund, we have been able to respond to relief events we otherwise would not have been able to support. In the past twelve months, we have released over $390,000 to the local church to assist with relief activities in 20 countries. We report the details of these projects on the Relief Page of our website and also in our quarterly Relief Update.
In working with ACNA churches to deliver domestic relief, we’ve learned that there is a desire to partner more effectively when a disaster strikes. People want to help! ARDF is currently exploring how we can help ACNA dioceses form a network of volunteers who are ready to help in time of disaster. We are excited about the possibility of leveraging the expertise of others who have already faced similar challenges and connecting them to those wishing to equip their own churches and dioceses for when disaster next strikes.
Development Grants
Last fall, our Global Council approved three new development projects: a community center in Nigeria, a seminary in Myanmar, and a boy’s high school in Northern Kenya. Despite the pandemic, these projects, along with eight previously approved projects, are well underway. In the past twelve months, we sent more than $475,000 to partners in seven countries. You can find more information on these projects on our Project Page and in our semi-annual Project Update.
Update from Northern Kenya (KCEP)
Kenya Christian Education Partnership (KCEP) began as a nonprofit supporting quality Christian education in Marsabit County, Kenya. KCEP joined the ARDF family in 2018. As a long term project of ARDF, we have watched their programs grow and thrive. This year, the students at the flagship Tumaini Academy brought accolades to the tiny village of Sololo with their award winning test scores. Yet even this is tempered with sadness as this region has battled many challenges in the past year from locusts and flooding, to economic hardship due to COVID and currently a severe drought.
Northern Kenya - and already arid landscape - is currently experiencing a drought. Recently, some rain has fallen. Please pray that more will come.
Church Partnerships
One of the most exciting developments over the past year has been our deepening relationships across the ACNA. Thanks to shared relationships, ARDF was able to match funding with partners of nearly ten ACNA churches for relief efforts. We are looking forward to expanding this model to include matches for the development projects of our joint partners.
ARDF has also been meeting with churches to explore ways of working together to support the global church. Some churches are exploring global missions for the first time. Others have been building on existing relationships for years. We are learning a lot from the experiences of North American Anglicans and are excited to continue to share our perspective on what healthy global engagement looks like. It is an honor to serve the ACNA and we look forward to more of these conversations in the year to come.
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