Operation Christmas Child
For the past three years, teams of volunteers from Cambria Baptist Church have traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, to help inspect and prepare shoe box gifts for Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritans Purse.
The day our team spent at OCC’s Charlotte processing center last December was full of work, concentration, fellowship and joy. Participants inspected and prepared for shipping shoeboxes that had been filled with gifts by church members from Michigan, Georgia, Texas, and other places across the U.S. These boxes were part of the 8 million prepared last year for distribution to children around the world who are in need.
Sign-up for the next trip will begin this summer. We encourage you to make your Christmas brighter by helping to share Christ’s love and the joy of Christmas with children and their families. If you can’t go to Charlotte, perhaps you will participate by purchasing gifts and packing your own box for a child somewhere. Perhaps you will even receive a thank-you from the child who receives your gift.
Learn more about Operation Christmas Child.
Standing Rock Reservation
During the last week of July 2010, six members of Cambria Baptist Church joined with a large group from the Roanoke Valley Baptist Association in a mission effort at Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. The experience is one they will never forget.
Standing Rock is the fourth largest Indian Reservation in the United States. With a population of about 8,000 people, the reservation covers an area of about two and a half million acres. The main sources of income are ranching, farming and two casinos. Unemployment usually runs at about 65 percent. Our group found that the people are very friendly and a joy to be around, even though their lives are very hard with little means of support.
The Southern Baptist missionary at Standing Rock is Buford Marsh, better known as Pastor Boots, who ministers there with his wife, Jackie. He is aided by two missionaries who were called for two years of service. Their task is enormous. The mission covers seven towns and will soon include an eighth. The group from Cambria worked in the town of Cannon Ball, which is the home base of Pastor Boots.
Evelyn Kimball did various jobs, such as working with the children’s reading program and helping with the renovation of a chapel room. Steve Combs worked on building projects all over the town of Cannon Ball. Rachel Bradshaw helped with children’s recreation as well as with painting a mobile home that the Virginia Baptists had provided for the two-year missionaries. Carrie Bradshaw worked with the reading program, gave out clothing and played with the children. She was also involved in the women’s ministry. Claire Booth had the longest day. She was on the kitchen crew that fed the mission team and prepared an evening meal for all the children and adults of Cannon Ball. Wayne Booth worked with Bible study for the kids and with recreation.
The group’s main task, however, was to form relationships with the people to whom they were ministering. “We will never forget them,” says Wayne Booth. “We all thank Cambria Baptist for their support. It was a life changing experience for those of us who were blessed to go and be a part of something larger than ourselves.”