The Board of General Superintendents has announced that the 2010 Thanksgiving offering theme will be Challenge 2010 and will feature a World Evangelism Fund (WEF) PLUS offering in addition to the regular Thanksgiving WEF offering. This WEF PLUS offering will provide immediate funding to Nazarene mission fields globally. Funds raised for the WEF PLUS portion of Challenge 2010 will be considered a Ten Percent Missions Special and are separate from the 5.5 percent annual WEF giving goal laid out in the new Funding the Mission plan.

Unshakable faith
The Funding the Mission plan allows local churches to increase support for ministries they regard as having the most significant impact for the Kingdom. This new funding design will result in growth at the local church level and, as a result of this local church growth, eventually will provide for an increase in the WEF. However, as with any denomination-wide shift in mission strategy, there is a period of adjustment. The Church of the Nazarene is faced with a challenge during this transition: to retain our highly effective missional thrust despite temporary reductions in the WEF. That is where WEF PLUS comes into the picture.

Unstoppable movement
The goal for the WEF PLUS portion of Challenge 2010 is $6 million. This is in addition to the regular Thanksgiving WEF offering, for which churches traditionally give around $2 million. The "challenge" that WEF PLUS poses is less financial and more personal: to rally Nazarenes around a shared goal to retain the current momentum of God's mission through Nazarene missionaries globally. Despite a global financial crisis that could easily threaten the Church's global mission, our Church has seen unprecedented growth across the last three years, adding over 300,000 new members.

Unbounded generosity
The legacy of generous giving by Nazarenes will allow the church to sustain this growth despite economic hardship. We can achieve this goal by each regular attendee giving an extra $10, or its related world-area value. This extra amount is for WEF PLUS and is beyond any regular Thanksgiving WEF offering. Reports arrive daily from congregations globally who will sacrifice to help meet the global church's $6 million WEF PLUS goal. Many have even offered to contribute a day's income toward WEF PLUS. 

Unwavering commitment
Nazarene Missions International Director Daniel Ketchum shares the story of the Santa Cruz, California, church. Their staff members have willingly offered one week's salary to the Challenge 2010 WEF PLUS offering. God is also moving in South Africa, where a women's conference raised 6,000 rand ($825 USD) for WEF PLUS and many churches in the region are already receiving monthly WEF PLUS offerings.

Resources for the Challenge 2010 WEF and WEF PLUS offerings are available online at www.nazarene.org/challenge2010. New videos and resources are available for each of the six weeks preceding the Challenge 2010 offering. These communicate ways and reasons for congregations to invest in the global mission of the Church of the Nazarene. The Challenge 2010 offering will be received on November 21, 2010, in the U.S., October 10, 2010, in Canada, and various other November and December Sundays in other world areas.

For additional information not provided on the website, contact the Stewardship Ministries office at 800-544-8413 or email stewardship@nazarene.org.
--Stewardship Ministries (Note: All funds are expressed in U.S. dollars).