Missions Ministry

We strive to serve and be witnesses for Christ by unleashing compassion in our church, community, country and world. Some ways we do this at Mount of Olives is by supporting the Christ's Hope International CarePoint in Keetmanshoop, Namibia financially as well as by providing educational and Christian mentor support to the orphans. We also support mission work in Eastern Europe and Honduras by sending missionaries and support.


The Missions Ministry typically meets at 11:00am the first Sunday of each month on the church's courtyard - all are invited to attend to learn more and get involved.



2022 Mission Trip

Namibia Mission Trip - July 2022

A team of 10 from Mount of Olives traveled to Namibia this summer to serve at the CarePoint our church supports there. In Namibia, the team hosted a reunion for the young adults served by our church's non-profit Lives Fortified For Christ throughout their youth; they then helped our team for a week with repairs, cooking and cleaning at the Christ's Hope International Carepoint for vulnerable children. A full circle of love. Thank you again to all who supported and prayed for this team and the work completed!



2023 Mission Trips

Three mission trips are planned for summer 2023 to Namibia (2) and Honduras.

If you'd like to donate to financially support these mission trips or to donate directly to an individual missionary's fundraising efforts, click the button below.


Donate to 2023 Mission Trips 


There are still a few spaces left on the 2023 teams. Interested in going on a mission trip in Summer 2023? Want to learn more? Contact Andrea Karsh, Missions Ministry Leader.

Support for Ukraine

How can you help?

  • Pray for SON (Spiritual Orphans Network, formerly Eastern European Missions Network) Mission Partners and all people in Ukraine.
  • Pray for the people of Russia
  • Donate to SON's Special Ukraine Fund. This fund will offset costs for SON Mission Partners associated with evacuation and other emergency expenses


CLICK HERE TO DONATE to SON's Special Ukraine Fund 

Missions Fundraisers

Easter Breakfast Fundraiser

Sunday, April 9, 2023 from 8:00am-12:30pm

This is an annual fundraiser for the Missions Ministry.


Learn More & Get Tickets 


Blood Drive & Bake Sale Fundraiser

Next Blood Drive: Sunday, April 30, 2023

Sign-up or drop-in to donate blood to our local blood banks and stop by the Bake Sale! Plus - LifeStream donates $$ to our ministry for each blood donation.


Garage Sale Fundraiser

Each July at a private residence in Lake Forest - Thanks to all who support by donating items to be sold!


California Pizza Kitchen Fundraiser: TBD

Enjoy a meal at CPK on Marguerite Pkwy, present the flyer to your server, and CPK will donate 20% of your check to our Missions Ministry.


E-Waste Recycling Fundraiser

Thanks to all who donated electronics for recycling in September 2021!


Oktoberfest Fundraiser

Save the Date: Saturday, October 14, 2023 from 5:30-8:30pm

Thanks go all who attended and supported the Missions Ministry via our Oktoberfest event in October 2022. 

This was a fundraiser event with live Oktoberfest band, fun, fellowship, food and drinks.


Evergreen Wreath Sales Fundraiser

In the fall, we pre-sell Evergreen wreathes for pickup in December. You can also order online here using our group code "MO24125" for items to be shipped directly to you. Contact Andrea Karsh with questions at akarsh@uci.edu

Namibia Ministry

The Potter's House CarePoint in Keetmanshoop, Namibia


Mount of Olives Church (MOO) is partnered with Christ's Hope International (CHI) to help support The Potter's House CarePoint in Keetmanshoop, Namibia. 


Formerly, MOO supported The Ark Keetmanshoop, which was an orphanage for AIDS affected orphans on the same property as The Potter's House. CHI has moved away from the group home model and towards the more effective CarePoint model. It has been discovered that children prefer to live in smaller family unit settings (extended family, foster family, etc.) versus a large group setting. 


The children attend the CarePoint in the afternoons after school and receive the benefits listed below. Through the CarePoint, children grow up to be Cycle Breakers, breaking the cycle of AIDS and its effects, and break the cycle of poverty, living longer, healthier lives. 


Physical

  • Hot nutritious meals
  • Medical evaluations and care/HIV testing
  • HIV testing and monitoring
  • Hygiene standards education
  • AIDS awareness training
  • Home monitoring to ensure safe homes with clean water, food, mattress

Spiritual

  • Spiritual mentoring
  • Face-to-face counseling
  • Robust and ongoing Bible study program
  • "Genesis Design" sexual purity training

Educational

  • Tutoring/educational tools
  • Measurement of academic achievement
  • The spread of HIV is reduced
  • Opportunity to know and grow in Christ


MOO practices its partnership by helping secure sponsors for the children, sending mission teams to the CarePoint to provide educational and medical assistance and helping fulfill other needs as they arise.


Give to Namibia Ministry


For more information and to find out how to get involved, contact Andrea Karsh at akarsh@uci.edu or 949-303-9788.

Namibia Education Fund

The Namibia Education Fund provides financial assistance and Christian mentorship to about 30 teenagers and young adults in Namibia. These children grew up as siblings in the Christ's Hope International orphanage "The Ark at Keetmanshoop" supported by Mount of Olives Church, and were later placed in foster care or distant relative care when the orphanage closed and the program was redesigned in 2013. Some of the oldest children now live on their own as young adults.


With the assistance of a social worker in the country who used to be a house parent at the orphanage, the MOO Namibia Ministry started its own non-profit in Namibia called "Lives Fortified for Christ" and is able to provide the following services:

  • Regular Home Visits by the social worker
  • Financial assistance, from school supplies and winter jackets to tertiary education (trade school, vocational training, college)
  • Homework Help, Career Guidance and Christian Mentorship
  • Christian Reunion Camps
  • Spreading Love and Hope with birthday and Christmas gifts and MOO team visits in the country

Our goal is for each of these orphans to become a cycle-breaker in their world of poverty, alcoholism, and AIDS, and to become a Christian leader in their own beautiful country!


Give to Namibia Education Fund


For more information and to find out how to get involved, contact Andrea Karsh at akarsh@uci.edu or 949-303-9788.

East European Ministry

Mount of Olives partners with Spiritual Orphans Network (previously known as East European Mission Network - EEMN) to do ministry in Slovakia and Ukraine.


Spiritual Orphans Network Connects Spiritual Orphans to the Global Family of Christ - by building relationships through Christian missions to former communist and Soviet bloc nations that Engage, Reclaim and Transform lives in Christ!


Support for Ukraine

Please help our brothers and sisters in Ukraine by donating to the SON Ukraine Special Fund. This fund will help offset costs associated with evacuation and other emergency expenses.


Click Here to Donate 


Our Slovakia mission teams work with SEM (Fellowship of Lutheran Youth) which is a working partner in Puchov and the Vranov English camps. SEM also organizes SEMFEST - a national open air festival with Christian concerts, seminars, lectures, outdoor activities, food and games, conferences, the Perfect in Christ study program, Helping Hand - a mission driven outreach that helps and supports local and regional youth groups and Meet God, an intense Bible study and competition project.













 
Our teams also work with EVS (The Slovakia Evangelistic Center), which is an independent mission organization, related closely to the Slovak Lutheran Church, whose purpose is to spread the Gospel of the Lord throughout Slovakia in a number of ways. EVS staff are involved in translating well known English language Christian books into the Slovak language for publishing, publish Christian literature and devotionals, producing TV documentaries, Gypsy community outreach, prison ministry, running various website chatrooms and blogs with Christian teaching and facilitating yearly mission-based conferences. 

For more information or to find out how to get involved with ministry in Slovakia and Ukraine, please contact Victor Standke, victor.standke09@gmail.com

Honduras Ministry

Mount of Olives Church is partnered with BMDMI (Baptist Medical and Dental Missions International) to help support Good Shepherd’s Children Home in Honduras.


The Good Shepherd Children’s Home (GSCH) exists to provide a Christian home where abandoned, abused, and neglected children can live in a safe and clean environment; where they can receive proper nutrition; where they will be loved; where they will receive an education; and most importantly, where they will learn about Jesus Christ. 


In 2019, we sent two mission teams to GSCH, and our third, and largest team yet, was scheduled for the summer of 2020, and is rescheduled, due to COVID-19, for the summer of 2022. We sent $1300 that was raised for the 2020 mission trip to GSCH to pay to replace washing machines that had reached the end of their useful life.


For more information or to find out how to get involved with ministry at Good Shepherd Children’s Home, please contact ministry volunteer leaders: Xavier Elizarraras at xandae@hotmail.com or John Harrison at mensministries@moochurch.org.