Mission and Outreach Fund Ingathering

The Mission and Outreach Fund provides financial support to both global and local mission and outreach projects to share God’s love with all people. Today, the Mission and Outreach Fund grants support Daughters and others who are called to be God’s hands and feet in the world today, to share God’s Word and love both locally and internationally, to love through action, and to bring people into the love and knowledge of Jesus Christ. 
 

The Fund has an interesting history having been initially established as a “Self-Denial Week” by resolution at the fifth annual convention held in Washington, D.C. in 1897. Originally, Ms. Lily Funsten Ward, a member of The Order and a missionary to China, had asked that a day be set aside for the celebration of Holy Communion with special intention for the church in China. In response, The Order established and observed an annual “Self-Denial Week”. After her death a year later, the Fund was renamed the Lily Funsten Ward Self-Denial Fund in her honor. The Fund continued to provide support for missionaries in Wuchang, China until they were excluded from the country, whereupon the Self Denial Fund expanded to provide support to missionaries and missions in Brazil and around the world. At the convention held in Portland, Oregon in 1922, a resolution was adopted setting aside February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, as the ingathering day of the Self Denial Fund. The Fund was renamed the Mission and Outreach Fund by resolution at The Order’s National Convention held in Louisville, Kentucky, in June 2024.

Today, the Mission and Outreach Fund grants support Daughters and others who are called to be God’s hands and feet in the world today, to share God’s Word and love both locally and internationally, to love through action, and to bring people into the love and knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

How to Make a Donation

The easiest way to donate to the Mission and Outreach Fund is to do it online here. For those not comfortable with donating online, a printable donation form is  available for to print and mail to the National office.