When the Covenant Brethren Church leadership toured the Samaritan’s Purse headquarters we talked with the leadership of Operation Christmas Child about opportunities for our teens to serve in this amazing ministry. One of the opportunities discussed was having our teens work in one of the shoebox processing centers. This annual ministry is responsible for thousands of people coming to Christ and for starting over 1,000 churches per year around the world.
There are two processing center locations we are considering. For our churches in the Southern Region we are looking at the processing center in Boone, NC. For the more northern churches we are looking at the Baltimore, MD center.
Samaritan’s Purse needs to know what dates we would be available for so they can get us on their schedule. They need to know by August 31. We know this is very short notice but we are going to try to put together two groups that would like to serve and go as CBC youth teams.
Churches in the Southern Region who have an interest in participating should contact Scott Kinnick at scott.kinnick@covenantbrethren.org. All other congregations who may be interested should contact Craig Howard at 304-668-1731 or at craig.howard@covenantbrethren.org. We are looking at one day of service or possibly two. Either way, a night at a motel may be required. We know many schools require their students to have certain hours of community service to graduate. We are willing to call any student’s school and explain the program and see if they will excuse students for this trip. The processing centers open up after Thanksgiving. Many volunteers are needed to process the huge volume of shoeboxes that come in. It would be a great trip with lots of fun and fellowship.
Let’s show our new partners at Samaritan’s Purse what the youth of CBC are all about! Contact me soon if you want be a part of this ministry that is changing so many lives.
Craig Howard – CBC Adult and Youth Fellowship Activities Committee
