US Trip 2021-2022

Quick summary and requests for our upcoming visit:

• We will be coming back to the US for Christmas 2021 and January 2022.

• I will be visiting with supporters and working on support maintenance.

• I will focus on our up-coming 1-time campaign, stay tuned for more info!

• We are looking for a vehicle we can use for local Chattanooga use, only. Please let me know if you know of any options or good deals on car rental.

• Another need is for a cell phone for Tathiana. She is used to iPhones, so a good quality, used iPhone is preferred, if anyone is looking for a good place for their used iPhone!

100% Year-End Goal

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Before the year of 2020 laid its burdensome self to rest, our partners had already given hope for 2021. We reached 100%, and even beyond, our $6500 goal before January 1, 2021.

We are hopeful, humbled and honored to be part of a group of people who are committed to what God is doing in Belo Horizonte. To Him be the glory.

2020 Year-End Giving

What a year, am I right? 2020 brought several new things to our lives. And 2020 has also continued to bring some common realities. Year-End giving is one of those things that continues to be very important to our sustainability on the field.

For the past three years, Year-End giving, special one-time gifts, campaigns and the like have been the lifeline that our support account needed to be able to sustain the following year. This year is no different. 2020, COVID-19, quarantine was tough for life-on-life ministry, but the loss of a few more supporters has made these final months a bit tougher. Year-End giving is as vital as previous years.

We are aiming to raise $6500 in Year-End, one-time giving in December 2020 and January 2021 in order to realistically expect to finish 2021 in the black.

If any of our faithful supporters are able, we ask that you consider participating as so many have in the previous few years; and even ask new year-end givers to participate this year. 

We continue to believe in what we are doing here in Brazil. We pray that God would use our wonderful support team to continue to supply for our needs.

For online giving, follow this link: www.campusoutreach.org/donate/jon-elam

Merry Christmas and Happy 2021!

Thankful 2020

This season of thanksgiving, we give thanks to you who support us in so many ways. As Jesus said, "...unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." John 12:23-26

Thank you each for being living examples of wheat that has produced beyond imagination!

Jon, Tathiana and family

OPPORTUNITY (Phil 4:10) - Year-End 2018

We love to be involved in what God is doing here, and the small strides are reason for celebration. We hope God will explode a new season of students coming to know Jesus and be burdened with a desire to be used by God to make the good news of the gospel of grace known through all walks of Brazilian life and to the ends of the world.

Here are some brief highlights in numbers to help summarize:

• 10 years: it has been this long since our Belo Horizonte campus teams have had a dedicated Area Director.

• 5: the number of new campus staff we have transitioned to our team in the past 18 months - and the possibility of 2 more in 2019.

• 35: number of full-time students who will participate in our Beach Project in December 2018.

• 115: participants in our annual Investigative Retreat in June.

• 3: new Christians on campus who were baptized and joined our local church!

• 80%: discount we were awarded for Sara to attend preschool 3x/week next year.

• 3: new monthly support partners in 2018

• $470: total in cancelled monthly support pledges over the past 2 years.

• -($1000): current negative support account balance.

As we approach the end of 2018, we close one chapter in a current role and home of the previous 7 years, and look toward 2019 and a new role (see post for more), we are entering in #GIVINGTUESDAY with a special request for Year-End Giving. I am sharing this opportunity for Year-End Giving, much as Paul wrote to the Philippian church, “I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.” (Philippians 4:10). Thank you for your continued concern, prayer, pledges and care!

Please send an email to jon.elam@campusoutreach for more info that will not be publicly posted.

Campus Outreach 40-Year Celebration Booklet

Every supporter with a donation made since January 2016 will receive a booklet.

The 2018-19 school year marks 40 years of Campus Outreach! Forty years later, God has multiplied Campus Outreach to the point where the gospel is changing lives on 125 campuses in 23 US and 13 international locations.

Together with you and thousands like you, faithful supporters of this ministry, we are taking time this year to celebrate all that God has done over the last four decades. One of the things that Campus Outreach as network of ministries has done is produce a movement-wide publication with 40-year metrics, stories of impact, global maps, and spotlights for each CO franchise.

For anyone who has given a donation since 2016, your copy of this publication should arrive in the next few days. As you read through this 40 Year Impact Report, we want to say thank you!

Please take time to find all the Campus Outreach locations and staff you support, and pray for our ministry. As you explore the broader context, we hope you’ll get a glimpse of how your support is making a difference on a global scale. Your prayers and partnership are the foundation of all that God is doing.

If you did not receive a booklet and would like one, there is an electronic version available. You can also see more celebration of God’s work over 40 years of CO at the website: co40years.org

Online Giving - New Functionality

I am very excited to let you know that the Campus Outreach online giving platform is getting a major upgrade. Our new online giving platform will be powered by iDonate via the Campus Outreach Global Resource Center in Birmingham, AL. This service facilitates giving through debit and credit cards and non-cash gifts.

Each staff will have their own personalized donate page. AFTER DECEMBER 1st, 2017, mine will be www.campusoutreach.org/donate/jon-elam

Key New Features:

• An improved giving experience provided by iDonate.com’s platform
• All giving amounts accepted via credit card, debit card, bank draft, or any other source of giving
• Setup recurring donations through credit card, debit card or bank draft on ANY day of the month
• Opportunity to elect to pay the cost of the credit card, debit card or bank draft transaction fees so that these costs are not charged to the account of the staff member you are supporting (Electing to pay the fees will be tax-deductible to you)
• Opportunity to give non-cash gifts like electronics, stock, cars, jewelry, phones and other assets.

Our online giving platform is powered by iDonate.com via the Campus Outreach Global Resource Center. This service facilitates giving via debit/credit card and non-cash gifts for all CO franchises that elect to participate. Gifts are made through CO Global, Inc. and receipted directly by the appropriate CO franchise. Please direct questions or comments to giving@campusoutreach.org. 

This information will be sent via physical mail to all current supporters from Campus Outreach in Birmingham. To see a PDF of the letter, click the icon to the left.