The Presence of Angels
On Saturday, December
19th, 2009 First Baptist Church in Medina the presence of angels
presided. After months of meticulous plans and preparation, the ladies and
gentleman of our Church family excitedly arrived to serve the needs of Angel
Tree recipients and their families. 
Annually, the Food Pantry committee of FBC in Medina, receives names of children of all ages, and their families in need of Christmas blessings. In 2009, the harsh economic realities left eighty one children on our list that were in need of help during the Holy Season of giving. (Elf) Mrs. Elayne Mills eagerly coordinates this need with jolly Christmas enthusiasm! It is a work of love for her to assist our church in this mission.
The Angel Tree childrens names and needs were anonymously listed, and all eighty one children this year were graciously adopted by our church families. The gifting process begins as the presents arrive, and “Elf” Elayne sorts the anonymous presents to be grouped with food pantry needs of the particular family.
With the assistance of many other FBC Church elves, the plan was formed to present our Angel Tree children and families their gifts, along with food pantry items for the holidays. First Baptist Church was blessed with the unexpected monetary gift from the Core Café and other private donations. Christmas hams were provided for the thirty five Angel famlies from our Food Pantry with these generous contributions. This monetary gift truly filled a need for our church in providing this service at Christmas time.
An Angel Tree Christmas party was planned for the morning of December 19th, where the Angels could arrive, have breakfast, shop and create gifts. The Food Pantry was coordinated with these festivities.
Our church musicians played special Christmas hymns and sang with the Angel Tree families. Brother Allie shared creative gospel stories with the children and families.
The appreciative smiles from the Angel Tree children warmed our hearts and blessed all of our church family that were present that morning. It was a wonderful Christian experience to serve the needs of others, with the combined effort of our Church family.
During our Angel Tree party, a Holiday gift shop had been created with donated gifts that each Angel Tree child was allowed to shop and choose a gift that was wrapped for them to take home to share with their parent or guardian. The children were also allowed to choose a book that was given to them at that time. The children were very excited to have the opportunity to give.
After shopping in the Holiday gift shop, each Angel Tree child was escorted to the Craft room. The children were assisted in creating a Christmas ornament to also take home and share with their family for Christmas from FBC in Medina.
Thank you to all our Church family and community friends for the donations of food, money, the sharing of music and your time to make this event possible for our Angel Tree families! Your donations of nutritious breakfast foods, gifts and treats for approximately 100 children and adults were generously provided upon arrival that morning to our festively decorated church hall. Without the Christian outpouring of love from our church, this could not have been possible. God bless you all.
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The food pantry is an out-reach ministry of our congregation, funded by individual donations from members of this church, and also from others in our community who are aware of our efforts in this regard. This ministry is under the umbrella of our Family Outreach Ministry, and as such is underwritten in our church budget.
Gifts to this ministry consist of cash, canned goods and other staples, clothing, and hygiene items. Occasionally, we receive meat in the form of venison, or pork, from hunters who choose to donate this meat. These gifts are welcome, and greatly appreciated, as they reduce the pressure on our budget.
An annual expense that is above the norm of what we do is school supplies. Many of our clients (if not all) have school age children. Basic items, such as paper and pencils, can be covered by our budget. But many expenses connected with children returning to school are beyond our means. Every year we receive donations of gift cards that we are able to distribute, discreetly, to those families that we know have specific needs. Praise God for these donors.
Currently, we are serving from 12 to 18 family units – about 60 people. These folks come to us from all over Bandera County. If they show up at our door-step, we give them what we have. We pray with them. We do ask what specific prayer requests they may have. Most of them have been coming long enough that we have had the opportunity to get to know them, and to know a few details about their families.
Please, continue to pray over this ministry. Pray for those who come to be served, and pray for those who volunteer their time, and pray for those who contribute.