Getting Syrious

Greetings Friends,

MissioGrace is at it again and we want to get you in on the ground floor of something BIG! We're asking for your help in raising funds to ship Andrew Jones and his team back overseas so that they can resume providing hospitality, food, presence, crucial information, and general support to the displaced peoples of Syria and the surrounding areas as they cross the borders into Europe seeking refuge and safety. This time, Andrew and his team plan to meet those fleeing oppression at several key areas:

• at the refugee camps, 
• those stuck in the Balkan corridor,
• and those wandering in between countries.

You may remember that in September 2015, Andrew took a team of 18 volunteers to the Hungary/Serbia border after being tipped off about the impending border closure. They reacted swiftly and arrived two days before the border closed and used their camper truck as a mobile kitchen, feeding refugees with what they had on hand or could scrape together. Soon, they were joined by other volunteers and they began to travel to and minister to those they found at various borders, some in camps, and others who were wandering and sheltering in nearby wooded areas in Turkey. As these events were unfolding, Andrew began connecting with relocation efforts in many countries and forming a small network of grassroots ministries that had begun offering hospitality and relocation assistance all over the globe.

If you were involved with helping us raise funds nearly two years ago, you'll remember the stories and the pictures and the many, many lives that were touched.  We could never have imagined how things would develop, the connections that would be forged, the sacrifices that would be made, or the incredible trajectory that this endeavor would take. And I think it's safe to say that most of us could never have imagined that there are millions still pouring over the borders, fleeing unmentionable war horrors and escaping with nothing but their lives.

Fast forward to the present...Although the project was originally called "Syrious Love," another organization has since co-opted the name, and so moving forward, the team has decided to shorten the name to "Syrious" and a new website will be released shortly at Syrious.org  (keep checking).
 
This go-around, there has been significant pro-activity and careful planning (literally down to the detail of where the team can get the best tomatoes), With a good plan and significant networks and infrastructure now in place, we are excited to get going! And we are asking you to prayerfully consider how you can participate financially.

Andrew and the team will be using the funds towards:

• mobilizing volunteers to the field;
  
• procuring a food truck, food supplies and gasoline;
  
• spearheading the creation of educational tools and and informational and support network of ministries network (the team is gathering information on which ministries are effectively reaching out to refugees, what needs they have, and which hubs of hospitality inside Europe to recommend and connect to); and
• exploring ways to bring social enterprise training (Syrious Business) to groups of refugees at camps and in larger cities.
  

All donations will come to MissioGrace, and are completely tax-deductible. MissioGrace is a faith-based not-for-profit that seeks to empower ordinary believers to live out the Mission of God in their families, their neighborhoods, their places of employment, and their other spheres of influence by equipping them to proclaim the Good News through extraordinary acts of gracism.   We are registered as a non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and our U.S. Tax ID number is 46-1702793.

Grace & Peace,
Tracy B. Dickerson, RN, BSN, MACM, CHPN
Executive Director
MissioGrace