11/06/2025
Long read but necessary.
I have been reading the following passages today and reflecting on what we have been doing the past 23 plus years in Chicago. As I read them, I believe this is what every staff person and every donor and every prayer partner has yoked themselves to over that span of years and I am absolutely convinced that the Lord has been pleased by it because there are thousands who have been touched by the grace of God through the work of Family Empowerment Centers (www.familyempower.org).
James 1:27 Reads
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Zechariah 7:9-10 Reads
Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother, and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor.
Isaiah 1:17 Reads
Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless; defend the orphan, plead the widows cause.
Proverbs 19:17 Reads
One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed.
Proverbs 21:13 Reads
He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered.
Galatians 2:10 Reads
They (Paul speaking of the leading Apostles) only asked us to remember the poor – the very thing I also was eager to do.
Mark 10:14, 16 Reads
But when Jesus saw this (speaking of the disciples shooing children away from Jesus) He was indignant and said to them “Allow the children to come to Me; do not forbid them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these…And he took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.
Now each one of us can and should live our lives this way each and every day, however for 23 plus years we have done that as a community of people near and far bringing honor to our God by our participation with God and the work He has done through the Family Empowerment Centers. One of our seasoned board members often reflects on life and will remind us how important it is to simply love. That captures the heart of the Father as reflected in the above passages.
As we move on to the end of 2025 it is imperative to our continued survival as an organization that we garner your continued prayers and financial support. We stand, literally on the brink of having to stop what we do for a lack of financial support. The widow, the orphan, the stranger, the poor, the children; they are not going away. Their needs are not going away. As a matter of fact as we have faced into every Crisis that has come in the past 5 years despite being poor ourselves (organizationally we have always depended on the gracious provision of daily bread from God) we have said yes to the invitation of God to love those who are most broken, those who are experiencing the most trauma in their lives, and we have lived as a light in what is otherwise a very dark world and a very dark life experience for those we serve despite our financial positions.
Our budget even slimmed down this past year as we have reorganized and reduced programming to match what we could afford to do as our giving has dropped, ranges between $35,000 and $40,000 a month. Our projected income each month is less than half of that. It is now our season of need, and we need you to help us financially. We need heroes who will give generously to our work. We need monthly partners who will commit $500, $1000, and $2000 a month to our work. We need partners who will commit to yearly gifts of $10,000, $25,000 and $50,000. We also need the widow’s mite, the person who is willing to give not out of their abundance but by faith that they are joining in with God. (Giving can be done online or traditionally through paper checks)
We need you. There it is. If you have made it this far, we need you. Pray for us, ask the Lord how you should participate, and then pray for us some more. If you have made it this far and you have been touched by the work of Family Empowerment Centers, leave a comment or testimonial about the work and impact of the Center through your lens as an inspiration to us and others.
F. Scott Manke,
Executive Director
www.familyempower.org
Our vision is to build whole people, whole families, and whole communities, thereby transforming the culture of mission and ministry.
