Ministries

Mission Opportunities

We received this email from Traci:

"As the holidays draw near (just ten weeks away), I want to invite you to be a part of an incredible opportunity. This month, the elementary Sunday School lessons have focused on how we can all make a difference. We've been talking about how we can all use what we have to help others and that God made each of us in an amazing way.

As part of the lesson one Sunday a few weeks ago, I shared with our second graders a little bit about our daughter's testimony. Many of you are familiar with Avery's miraculous healing whenever she was born fourteen weeks early, weighing one pound and eleven ounces. It was truly an honor to share her story with the FBC congregation on Mother's Day, and I was excited to learn that a few of our students were in "big church" that Sunday to hear it.

Our daughter is three now, and if you ask her, she'll proudly tell you about how she used to be "tiny and sick," but ask her what happened next, and she says, "God healed me." Can I get an "Amen?!!"

That part of our lives was so incredibly overwhelming, but it was also the beginning of a very amazing miracle. Avery spent sixty-two days there and it was a roller coaster ride, full of tears, concerns, and emotions. It has become our family's yearly tradition at Christmas time to go back to Harris Hospital and bring as many things as we can carry to the sick and tiny babies (and their parents & siblings) at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (the NICU--pronounced "Nick-You").

Thanks to Mr. Andy Welch (and his addiction to Hobby Lobby), our 2nd grade class is already hard at work making Christmas stocking decorations and other crafts to spread hope and love to these families. Each week, our kids are sharing ideas of how they can make a difference, and they are learning what they can do individually to help others. We brainstorm not only about what the babies need, but also about how we can do nice things for the siblings of these babies and their parents.

I will be in contact in the coming months with the social worker at Harris Hospital's NICU to see what specific needs we can meet. Until then, our class is bringing baby items each week through Christmas. We have preemie diapers and a toy so far, but it's a start. My daughter, Avery, and I are going shopping this week to pick out some preemie outfits at Babies R Us or maybe a blanket, burp clothes, or whatever else ends up in our shopping cart.

The big brothers and sisters of these NICU babies are likely spending more than their fair share of time at the hospital, so they could use a surprise or two as well--coloring books, stickers, markers, etc... For the parents who have little time at home and almost no time to cook, we are providing "Subway" gift cards (any amount), since there is a "Subway" at Harris Hospital. This email is incredibly long, so I apologize for the information overload. Please consider prayerfully whether or not you would like to join us in this "Christmas of Giving" endeavor. We will have a drop-off box in our classroom upstairs (2nd door on left) for anything you would like to give. All I ask is that the items are new, whether it's something for a baby or sibling.

God bless you!

Traci Cottrell"