Our Office
51 W Monroe St
Franklin, IN 46131
(317) 494-6226
9:00 am – 5:00pm
Monday – Friday
9:00 am – 5:00pm
Monday – Friday
Our Boutique
51 W Monroe St
Franklin, IN 46131
(317) 494-6226
10:30 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday – Saturday
10:30 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday – Saturday
Reach* Says Thank You
Fish, Rice, and the Bread of Life
A Look Ahead…
In the midst of all this, though, I’m genuinely excited about what God has in store for us as a CGI community in 2021. God stretched us in 2020 and I’m sure He’ll continue to stretch us in the coming year. I’m convinced that in the midst of all the chaos, doubts, and difficulties around us, God is purifying us and honing us to become the people he has designed us to be: faithful, strong, and full of His mercy and love for those around us and around the world. So today I want to share with you a brief summary of what we think 2021 will look like for CGI:
First, our main concern will be to continue strengthening our existing programs. For example, we’re starting classes in Battambang with a brand new cohort of culinary students. Our project to help victims of flooding in Cambodia get their homes and farms back on track will continue throughout the first half of 2021. And in Phnom Penh and stateside, BYTAVI continues to grow sales and keep women and their families employed, even while other clothing companies are going bankrupt during the Covid-related economic upheaval. God has blessed us and sheltered us during the difficulties of 2020, and we will continue to invest in our ongoing programs to keep them healthy and strong in the new year.
Second, we will be rolling out a number of new donor programs. We want to cultivate a deeper sense of community for our supporters here in the United States. In 2021, you can expect to receive more relevant information from us on a more regular basis. We want to help you discern and pursue God’s personal mission for your life. So we’ll be rolling out a number of initiatives and events for our donor community, and offering multiple ways for you to connect more meaningfully with CGI. As one example, we hope to offer Vision Trips to Cambodia (and potentially elsewhere) in late 2021, if God allows and Covid quiets down enough.
Lastly, we are continuing to look for new opportunities that God is opening for us to expand our ministry and build His Kingdom in Cambodia and beyond. We’re excited about the doors he began to open in 2020 and we look forward to building on those pilot programs in 2021, especially as the Covid crisis begins resolving.
Thank you for being on this journey with us! Thank you for your support and your prayers over the years. Thank you especially for your continued faithfulness in the difficult year 2020. I want to encourage you to trust Jesus more and more as 2021 unfolds.
He is good, He is faithful, and He is with you and me in the midst of it all!
Yours in Christ,
Todd M. Durell, MD
Executive Director
Center for Global Impact
12 Things In 2020 That Made Us Smile
1.) In February we welcomed Dr. Todd Durell as our new Executive Director. In addition to a good sense of humor, he is passionate about our work and has a lot of great ideas both for right now as well as for the future of CGI.
2.) We saw our amazing support community rally with us in March and April to raise over $18,000. As a result, we’ve been able to donate 7,483 face masks to partners around the world, and to continue the work of empowering others in Cambodia.
3.) Over the summer a new partnership in Cameroon was formed. Every Saturday from July through September, a virtual Biblical Leadership class was held with leaders from a local church that has led to exponential growth for those congregations and numerous baptisms of new believers.
4.) Staff and students at the Green Mango Cafe & Bakery and Culinary Training Center moved to a new location and after months of renovations officially opened the doors to the new facilities in October.
5.) Online sales for BYTAVI have hit all-time highs and Red Runway, a virtual event this year, made November the biggest month for online sales ever. In fact, this year’s virtual event resulted in the most sales ever during Red Runway.
6.) Again our support community rallied with us to raise money to help with flood relief efforts in Cambodia and just this month we received a grant from IDES for $25K for this work.
7.) Seven Imprint Project students graduated and are now equipped with the skills needed to succeed in this world. Better yet, each of them has been introduced to Jesus and His love.
8.) We are preparing to welcome new students to the Culinary Training Center and Imprint Project in 2021.
9.) In the Dominican Republic one of our partners began using CGI’s Life Skills curriculum to help equip and prepare their students for graduation.
10.) We had the opportunity to give back to some of our partner churches here in Indiana by giving them masks to help other ministries with whom they partner. They have been so generous to our ministry and it was a blessing to be able to help them help others.
11.) We welcomed Sinuon Chhorn as the new Phnom Penh Director of Operations.
12.) God has provided for, and continues to provide, for our ministry. He has blessed us through your prayers, your generosity, and your volunteer hours.