The Missions Ministry here at Grace isn't just about providing a person with just a meal or a blanket, it is developing the whole person and helping them realize their purpose in life.
We realize the importance of sharing God's word with the world. As part of the vision here at Grace Christian Center (GCC), financial and prayerful support goes to multiple Bible schools in China, Ethiopia, Jubudi, and Egypt, as well as to various missionary families in Germany, the Philippines, and Mexico.
The largest mission field for GCC is in Ethiopia. It covers the day to day operating cost through the tithes and offerings of its members. Outside agencies have also become partners with GCC in ministering to the natives of Ethiopia.
Pastor Terry teamed up with Getahun Tesema, an Ethiopian native, armed with the vision of meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the Ethiopian nation. The practicalities of this effort have been focused on teaching the Bible, caring for the children and teaching the native Ethiopians to be self-sufficient. Since that small beginning, the mission effort of GCC in Ethiopia has exploded. Getahun and his wife, now official staff members of GCC, oversee 536 churches in Ethiopia under the name "Grace Christian Center, Ethiopia."
Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, houses the headquarters of the Ethiopian GCC mission field. There are 10 GCC churches there. Evangelists travel through Ethiopia and surrounding countries, holding four to five crusades a year, and teaching two classrooms of kindergarten for children entering school. GCC's classes reach 200 children in Aroresa, Ethiopia.
The children of Ethiopia are a big part of GCC's outreach. Currently GCC runs an orphanage in Addis Ababa for 100 children and a foster care program that reaches 200 children. Ethiopian Foster Care case workers visit each child twice a week helping them with homework, tutoring, etc. Getahun's goal for 2010 is to have 10,000 Ethiopian children in GCC orphanages and foster care programs.
A Florida business man has donated a large sum of money for the foster care program and has challenged the business men in his area to meet that donation. Another organization has donated 1000 pairs of shoes. A Denver medical organization has given a forty foot container filled with medical supplies for the hospital. It arrived in late May. The value of the medical equipment was just over $500,000.
Water well digging equipment from GCC builds one to two wells a year in remote areas of Ethiopia. Another ministry for Ethiopia is teaching "self-sufficiency" to the Ethiopians. What started as a shoe-making trade school for women only has grown into a multi-track trade school that educates both men and women in careers in the textile industry such as woodworking, metal work, sewing, etc. The current school building is actually a factory in Nazret. There are 200 students enrolled in the school. 
GCC also runs a computer training center for up to twenty students in Addis Ababa. Because of the success of these educational programs, GCC has been asked to manage a government funded community training center program which would teach representatives from every country in Ethiopia various "life skills" such as good hygiene practices, water purification, simple first aid, etc. Those students would then teach their respective villages.
Whether the mission field is here in the United States or overseas, GCC covers it all in prayer, financial, spiritual and practical support.
Please continue to pray for the GCC missionaries and all the people being ministered to on a daily basis.
We will continue to carry out the vision that God has given to Grace, to be a world outreach center.
This is "real people. real passion. real purpose" in action.