MELBOURNE, Fla. — In celebration of 25 years of service, Central Florida’s own Christian Care Ministry (CCM), which offers the popular Medi-Share healthcare sharing ministry, is launching its first-ever “Day of Sharing,” a nationwide initiative to motivate and mobilize people to share their time, talent and treasure to serve others.
On Saturday, Oct. 6, Medi-Share’s 410,000 members have been encouraged to band together with their families and friends to serve their communities. CCM employees will also form teams to perform acts of service in their local communities of Melbourne and Colorado Springs.
Here are just some of the organizations CCM employees and their families will be serving in the Central Florida area Saturday:
The Salvation Army, which exists to meet human need wherever, whenever and however it can, providing shelter, overcoming poverty, stopping domestic abuse and loving the elderly.
The Children’s Hunger Project, which provides a way for as many elementary school children as possible to carry food home for the weekend in their backpacks, so they can return to school the following Monday with a better and healthier foundation for learning.
Love, Inc., which trains and unites churches to help people in need and focuses on helping single women aged 40–60 and the disabled elderly living alone.
Nana’s House, which provides a safe, secure, and loving home where neglected, abused, needy, or abandoned children can come and experience God’s love and healing.
The Dock (Dorcas Outreach Center for Kids), which provides a safe gathering place and nurturing center after school and during the summer for low-to-moderate income kids.
Space Coast Seafarers Ministry, which provides a home away from home and ministry to international seafarers docking in Port Canaveral.
The Brevard Rescue Mission, which works to permanently break the cycle of homelessness in families by providing homeless women and their children housing, access to health care, transportation, education, nutrition, job training and life skills in a safe, Christ-centered residential setting.
The Marine Resources Council, which seeks to improve water quality and to protect and restore the fish and wildlife resources of the Indian River Lagoon, coastal waters, inshore reefs, and the watershed by advocating and using sound science, education and the involvement of the public at large.
Honor America, Inc., which is dedicated to increasing the knowledge of our citizens about America’s heritage, constitutional form of government and history. As a civics education resource to our community, Honor America operates the Liberty Bell Memorial Museum in Melbourne and hosts numerous events and activities throughout the year.
Like so many great American endeavors, Christian Care Ministry began in a garage in Melbourne in 1993. Founder John Reinhold partnered with the American Evangelistic Association to form and operate the ministry. The ultimate result was Medi-Share, the nation’s leading healthcare sharing program, which joins together more than 154,000 families who share one another’s medical bills. In the past 25 years, Medi-Share members have shared more than $1.9 billion of one another’s’ medical bills.
Medi-Share is based on the idea of a community that shares each other’s burdens as the early church did in the book of Acts 2:44–47.
“When we thought of the best way to celebrate 25 years of ministry,” explained Michael Gardner, senior director of communications for CCM, “We naturally gravitated to sharing because it’s at the heart of everything we do. We want to inspire others to share tangible acts of faith, hope and love in a way that betters their communities.”
CCM employees already serve the local community as part of the ministry’s formalized volunteer program. Employees receive up to three paid days off each year to serve others, and many use this time to serve local churches, ministries and other community goodwill organizations.
Gardner said, “Our ministry hopes to once again become a catalyst to the nation by encouraging Christians to share other people’s burdens, and modeling what an authentic community is all about. It’s the perfect foundation for our next 25 years.”
For more information on the National Day of Sharing, visit www.DayofSharing.com.
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About Christian Care Ministry
Based in Melbourne, Christian Care Ministry operates the Medi-Share health care sharing program through which members voluntarily and directly share each other’s medical bills. Since the program’s inception in 1993, Medi-Share members have had more than $3.1 billion of their medical bills shared and discounted. Medi-Share has more than 410,000 members in all 50 states.
More than just healthcare, Medi-Share is a community of people who share their lives, faith, talents and resources and pray for and encourage one another. For more information, visit www.MediShare.org/News.
