Convoy of Hope and the Artistic Rescue Project

© Mark W. Pettigrew

Recently, I was talking with my mother on the phone, and I told her about my plans to sell art prints, concert tickets and other items, for the purpose of helping to raise funds for the victims and survivors of the devastating tornado in Joplin, Missouri. I said that I would very likely distribute those funds by sending them to the Red Cross or maybe to World Vision, along with instructions to the effect that the funds should be used specifically to help the folks in Joplin.

Mother suggested that I should strongly consider sending the funds to the folks at Convoy of Hope. I was somewhat less familiar with that organization, but after researching that option, I decided that that would be a very good idea.

Convoy of Hope seems to be one of the primary relief organizations endorsed by the Assemblies of God church. (Hillcrest Chapel, the church I currently attend here in Bellingham, is a member of that denomination, which has played a major role in my life on many occasions over the years, ever since I became a Christian in 1969.)

What makes Convoy of Hope a particularly good choice for this particular project is the fact that the headquarters for Convoy of Hope are located in Springfield, MO, about 70 miles east of Joplin. Logistically, Convoy of Hope is in a very good location from which to manage relief efforts related to Joplin and its needs. That isn't to disparage other relief organizations by any means, but it is to suggest that it just makes sense to keep things close to Joplin, as much as possible.

Springfield is also the location of the headquarters for the Assemblies of God church, and that city is also where I spent the majority of my years as a child. My mother still lives there (which no doubt helps to explain why she's so familiar with Convoy of Hope).

I still remember, as a boy, visiting the birthplace of George Washington Carver, in Neosho, about 22 miles south of Joplin.

For the above reasons, and for the reason that web searches have suggested to me that Convoy of Hope is a very reputable charity (with a four star rating from CharityNavigator.com), I've decided that most of the funds raised by the Joplin Relief Project (which is a subproject of the Artistic Rescue Project, which in turn is a subproject of the Christian Arts Initiative) will be distributed by sending the funds raised by fundraisers conducted by ArtisticRescue.com to Convoy of Hope.

Here's information (found today on the website for the Assemblies of God Church) about Convoy of Hope's involvement specifically with relief efforts in Joplin (and elsewhere):