“Hindsight is 20/20.” A commonly used phrase that often carries with it a negative connotation. It’s a phrase that’s also being used in conjunction with this past year, 2020, that, no doubt, always will be associated with the adversity we all continue to face – in one way or another — as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this adversity, however, the E91 Foundation has continued to fulfill Christ’s directive: going into the world, teaching, making disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), and meeting the physical needs of hurting people (Matthew 25:35-40). In fact, during 2020, E91 Foundation awarded grants totaling $121,656. Following are those organizations and/or individuals that received grants this past year:
CRU/Keith Spence — $5,000 to purchase supplies to facilitate virtual workshops (due to COVID-19) for staff in South Asia; E91 LIFT Campaign/Church Planting — $12,500 for a new-church plant in New York City; TCM (Taking Christ to Millions) International Institute — $5,000 to help bring TCM’s practical ministry-training program to Sierra Leone in West Africa; Young Life/Coleman McIntyre — $5,000 to fund new hiring/onboarding initiatives for Young Life staff in Indiana/Kentucky; Christian Missionary Fellowship (CMF) International — $5,000 to host and educate refugee children at a Christian school in Southeast Asia; IDES (International Disaster and Emergency Services) — $877 for worldwide ministry of responding to disasters; Jesus Inside Prison Ministry/Jesus House — $2,500 to provide a safe Christian setting for prisoner re-entry; The Tolan Donor Advised Fund within the Foundation allocated three grants totaling $32,079 to the following ministries: Alexander Christian Foundation (college scholarships to Indiana students entering the ministry), Polish Christian Ministries, and Allendale Christian Camp and Retreat Center; E91/Masks — $3,500 was granted by the E91 Foundation to partner 50-50 with East 91st Street Christian Church to provide $7,000 to purchase KN95 masks for area hospitals in a collective project with some 20 Indianapolis-area churches. As a group, the churches pledged money to buy 200,000 masks. The initial batch of masks was distributed during the first week of April!; Shepherd Community Center — $5,000 grant to help Shepherd “meet families’ immediate needs during the pandemic.” E91 Foundation’s grant specifically was earmarked for providing food relief — “mitigating the extreme circumstances caused by COVID-19 and ensuring families have access to food. . . .”; THE ARK Christian Ministries — $2,500 for double-decker ropes course, an outdoor facility where groups can be hosted during COVID-19; Ascent 121 — $5,000 for furnishing classrooms/therapy rooms as well as providing therapeutic supplies and resources for teen survivors of sex trafficking in Indiana; Central Christian College of the Bible — $5,000 to support the launch of a Master of Arts in Ministry Leadership degree; Christian Student Fellowship/Indiana University — $7,500 for safety and cleaning needs due to COVID-19 at IU campus ministry so that discipleship/mentoring could continue; Jubilee Village Project — $2,000 to provide Luo language Bibles to Kenyan villagers; Life Centers — $5,000 to help relocate the southeast Indianapolis Life Center and to hire a full-time Burmese-speaking employee; Mission to Connect — $2,500 to purchase tents, food, bus passes, and basic necessities for those who are homeless; National Network of Youth Ministries — $2,500 for training and development meetings to increase the support of youth leaders with partner ministries in the greater Indianapolis area; OMF International/Grovers — $5,000 for church planting in Cambodia; Operation Find and Feed — $3,200 to help underwrite 12-week Operation Lead the Way class for homeless men; Refuge for Women — $5,000 to help launch Survivor Made, a job-training program for women who are victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Since its founding, E91 Foundation has granted more than $1.6 million to evangelical nonprofit ministries in Indianapolis and throughout the world. The generosity of our donors makes it all possible.
“. . . Are you giving generously to things God cares about?,” wrote Pete Briscoe in his Oct. 31, 2020 online devotional excerpted from his book, Experiencing LIFE Today. “. . . Are you really allowing Him to guide your generosity day to day,” continues Briscoe, “according to clear Biblical principles and the leading of His Spirit in you? Or will you die rich and foolish?”
Incorporated in 1994, East 91st Street Christian Church started the E91 Foundation as a long-term Christian charitable entity separate from the church’s day-to-day business and budget. The Foundation was formed to provide members and friends with an opportunity to leave a long-lasting legacy of Christian service and missions through bequests, memorials, and gifts. The Foundation adheres to Christian beliefs and principles and provides a vehicle for the broader Christian community to remember Christ and give a portion of their family’s final assets or unexpected proceeds back to God.
We invite you to prayerfully consider partnering with us by donating to the E91 Foundation. While a board maintains the endowment and grants funds to qualifying entities, donors can make contributions for specific purposes or create an endowed fund. The board then uses the interest each year within the donor’s guidelines to fund missions and ministries.
If you’re interested in making a one-time donation to the E91 Foundation, we can accept cash, check, or donation via PayPal. If a check, please make it payable to “East 91st Street Christian Church Foundation.” Checks or cash may be sent via regular mail to: East 91st Street Christian Church Foundation, 6049 E. 91st Street, Indianapolis, IN 46250. You may also make a one-time donation or a legacy memorial gift via PayPal on our donation page. Any E91 Foundation board member is also able to accept donations, answer questions, or help you through the process, or you can visit our donation pages to get more information or to contact us to help expand God’s kingdom. Please consider – if you haven’t already — leaving a lasting legacy for the support of Christian service.
As we’re reminded in 1 Timothy 6:17-19: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
Blessings,
Blair and Beth Austin, Co-Presidents
E91 Foundation “Excel in the Grace of Giving” (2 Corinthians 8:7)
