day school, outreach class, missionaries, our military, President Bush, leaders of our nation, families of troops, men and women serving in Iraq, nation of Israel, China, Mid-East crisis, India, Osama bin Laden and terrorists.
These are two of the many Southern Baptist churches in Louisiana that put knees to their prayers.
CONCORD-UNION BAPTIST ASSOCIATION
The 66 churches in this association in northeast Louisiana, headquartered in Ruston, filled 2,211 shoe boxes with about $40,000 in donated items, which the association plans to take Dec. 13 to the Navajo Indian Reservation in northwest New Mexico and northeast Arizona.
It’s an annual ministry started by Pastor Bob Witt 13 years ago, which Karen Knight, ministry assistant at the association, and her husband, Harlin Knight, took over in 2001.
“We really don’t realize how blessed that we are and how much we take for granted, until you see how some others have to live,” Karen Knight said. “I remember the first summer we went [there.] The children were so excited to get a glass of ice tea. They were excited over the ice! I have never thought of ice as something special … but without electricity, ice would be a rare item.”
C-U church members worked for months to fill gift boxes for all ages, from birth to older teens, including tracts and other Christian items. Mt. Tabor Baptist sent 80 Bibles in English and 26 in Navajo.
Items for adults such as socks, scarves, gloves, hats, and blankets, also were collected. The shoe boxes and adult gifts are to be passed out by a dozen or more Concord-Union members during worship services at three locations on the reservation during the week of Dec. 13, and to about seven other Baptist pastors to take to their congregations on and near the reservation.
“This makes it a real Southern Baptist ministry, one that connects the gifts and the recipients to the local Baptist church, where the people can know they have someone local who loves them with God’s love,” Knight said.
The C-U team plan to also distribute 25-lb. sacks of flour, 10-lb. bags of pinto beans, and 3-lb. cans of lard, to the Navajo families.