Although I have quoted the following before, it truly touches my heart and I wanted to share it with you again:
| “Generosity—our ability to offer the best of who we are and what we have for the benefit of one another—is perhaps our most valuable human attribute. In fact, it may be the singular quality we possess that has the capacity to transform the world.” —Generous Life, Increasing Your Joy Through Giving by John E. Fetzer Institute, Inc. |
The holidays are frequently a most challenging time for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and questioning folks and their families and friends. Whether in or out of the church, many feel isolated and alone.
In the SDA Kinship community, none of us are alone because we have family and friends here. We have heard many wonderful stories this past year of unconditional love and encouragement received by our members from their families of origin, families of faith and their Kinship family, online and face-to-face. Sadly, we also hear stories from our members who still don’t have safe places to be themselves, relax with others who respect their identity or learn with others in an open, supportive environment. That’s why your contributions to Kinship—your time, funds, skills, and advocacy—can help make a life-changing difference for someone today.
With your support this coming year, we will be starting a new project dedicated to helping pastors, teachers, administrators, counselors, and families around the world provide better support to the LGBTQIA people in their congregations, schools, and communities. We are excited about it and look forward to sharing that with you very soon!
Each of Kinship’s programs or projects—publications, retreats, trainings, conferences, pride events and parades, and our website as well as social media to connect our members around the world—cost the organization something. Some members offer time, energy, talents, skills, heart, and soul; whatever it is, we all do it because we love this community and each other. But we can’t make a difference without your generous donations as well.
Now that the year is winding down, there’s no better time to reflect on all the things we are grateful for. As an organization, SDA Kinship works well because of you. Your gifts this season will strengthen all branches of the Kinship family. And remember, your donation is tax-deductible in the USA. So let’s continue to nurture our community together! With your contribution, our family will grow and touch more lives for many years to come.
| “When we share the best of who we are, we become wiser together. When we share what we have, we make our community a richer place.”—Wayne Muller |
Best wishes for a warm and wonderful holiday,
Yolanda Elliott
President, Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International, Inc.