General STEM News
General News From STEM
- NOV 21
Hurricane Devastates Dominican Republic
First reports back from STEM partners in hurricane-hit Dominican Republic.
THE NEED
Hurricane Noel devastated the Dominican Republic in early November. The entire country is currently in a state of emergency.
- Over 16,000 homes have been destroyed
- More than 78,000 people are displaced
- At least 87 are confirmed dead
- 48 people are still missing
- Floods and mudslides have affected 80 percent of the country
- 95 percent of the plantain, banana, and tomato plantations have been damaged
- 40 percent of the water-supply distribution has suffered severe damage
- 60 percent of the 122 aqueducts have suffered severe damage
- At least 100 communities are still inaccessible because of damage to roads and bridges
- Cases of Malaria and Dengue Fever are rising rapidly in impacted areas
- Rats have infested many communities, spreading sickness and disease, even causing several deaths
MEET THE NEED
Harvest Holistic Ministries in partnership with STEM Ministries
HOW TO HELP
1. Give a financial donation to ministry in the Dominican through Harvest Ministries. The greatest need in the DR is money for simple resources such as food, drinking water, and medications. Our partner churches are unable to meet many of these simple needs of their people because of lack of funds. They are in desperate need of resources to minister to the people of the DR. Any donations of financial support would be greatly appreciated. If you feel led to support financially, please send donations to:
STEM Ministries
P.O. Box 386001
Minneapolis, MN 55438
You must specify that the funds are for the “Dominican Republic: Disaster Relief.”
2. Form a team to go to the Dominican Republic
- Because of the severity of the situation in the Dominican, no STEM teams will be sent there until spring 2008. However, if you’re interested in being one of the first teams to help, now is a great time to start the process.
- Teams that go during this rebuilding process will need to be very flexible with the schedule and projects. Be ready to serve, sacrifice, and share God’s love to many people who are in a broken time in their lives.
- The first tasks for STEM teams to the DR are disaster relief and recovery, motivated to be a blessing and to demonstrate love and care — with no strings attached — thereby earning the privilege of sharing the gospel.
Read more about STEM outreaches in the Dominican Republic at http://www.stemintl.org/trips/opportunities/teams/locations/dr- SEP 28
STEM CEO Addresses Annual IFMA/EMS
STEM Founder/CEO, Roger Peterson, provided the opening morning address for 300+ delegates at the annual IFMA/EMS Conference held in Minneapolis Sept. 27-29. The conference theme was a milestone theme: "Short-Term Missions — Long Term Impact?" This was the first time in the rich and long history of the IFMA (Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association of North America, Inc.) that short-term mission was the focal theme topic of this important annual gathering of mission CEOs and other mission leaders from the United States and Canada.
In his plenary address, Roger provided general but highly relevant 2006 and 2007 overview information on the U.S. short-term mission movement, thanks in part to David Armstrong of ShortTermMissions.com, who provided Roger with data from 80,000 basic searches (Jan-Apr 2007) performed on the ShortTermMissions.com website.
Professor Robert Priest of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Chicago IL, provided the opening EMS (Evangelical Missiological Society) workshop, and was also responsible for helping organize other academic presenters in the area of short-term missions. EMS membership is composed primarily of educators and professors of mission from the various evangelical academic institutions located in North America.- AUG 23
STEM Successfully Completes Financial Audit Review
The Audit Review Committee (ARC) announces acceptance of STEM’s 2006 Annual Audited Financial Statements prepared by Babcock, Langbein, and Company. Earlier today the ARC made their unanimous recommendation to the STEM Board of Directors to approve these Statements at the September 6, 2007 meeting of the STEM Board of Directors.
On December 31, 2006, STEM’s total assets stood at $235,412 (compared to $135,631 the prior year).
At year-end December 31, 2006, STEM’s total revenue was $1,323,827 with total expenditures of $1,189,849 for a net “excess revenue” of $133,978 (compared to a negative –$29,093 the prior year).
We give the Lord thanks and praise for a stronger financial year in 2006!- APR 20
Use of Year End Bequest Announced
A long-time STEM prayer and financial supporter, Mary M. Seth, 99 years old, went home to be with the Lord one year ago March 2006. Mary had named two mission organizations in her Trust — one of which was STEM. So when the matters of Mary’s estate settled on December 27, 2006, STEM was honored to receive her final gift for $116,115. STEM now announces that a significant portion of this generous bequest will be used during 2007 and 2008 to create a much-needed web-based STEM Team registration process, to be integrated with handling of other STEM Team information.
This financial blessing comes at a crucial time for STEM; in 2006 STEM was privileged to send 590 short-term volunteers. However, this year in 2007 we are already scheduled to send more than 850 short-term volunteers — that’s an substantial one-year increase of 44%. Using Mary’s generous gift to help accurately and quickly process increased amounts of Team-related information will help STEM speed up administrative operations for increased numbers of people, while maintaining fidelity and integrity within the overall process. Ultimately, it will help send even greater numbers of short-term volunteer workers into many parts of the world that still need to know — through our tender words and selfless deeds — of God’s love, freedom, and salvation available only through the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Glory to God!- JUL 13
STEM in Finland
STEM Founder Roger Peterson will be keynoting the "Finland Youth Mission Conference 2006" Aug 8-10. Up to 5,000 youth plus adults are expected to attend. Roger presents "GodSpace 2007" in six sessions -- an overview of the entire world that God Loves. Finland has a population of 5.2 million people, with an estimated 1/5th (1 million) "Great Commission Christians."- FEB 16
Katrina "Clean-Up" Donations
Make a "Recruit Katrina Clean-Up Teams!" donation on-line! Simply click the “Donation/Payment/Support” button at the top of this page (anytime, 24/7!) — or call us toll-free at 1-877-STEM-646 (during normal business hours). You can also mail your donation to STEM, P.O. Box 386001, Minneapolis MN 55438.
STEM needs your financial help to rapidly contact, recruit, and send up to 17 one-week "clean-up" teams to Slidell, Louisiana, between April 02 and July 28 in 2006.- OCT 15
Donate Household Items
Donate items lying around your house — and get a tax deduction! STEM has a partnership with The Charity Group, that allows STEM to receive cash for your donated items. It's a simple process that doesn't take much of your time. Go to http://stemintl.org/donations/give#assets and click on The Charity Group link or logo. Complete the form describing your donation. The Charity Group will send you packing materials and a receipt. It's that simple. Items need to have a value of at least $75.- SEP 15
Guyana Added
STEM Ministries has added Guyana, South America, as a new mission field for STEM Teams. Churches or organizations interested in sending teams to Guyana should contact STEM Team Operations.
