December 18, 2000
Texans beat the Grinch with Christmas stores
___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___For many families, the grinch that steals Christmas is green--and comes in the form of a dollar bill.
___Christian ministries around the state are trying to make sure that doesn't happen, however. And they're finding opportunities to reach many families with the good news of Christ's birth at the same time.
___Christmas stores--where parents who cannot afford Christmas gifts for their children are allowed to pick out gifts at no cost--are becoming more plentiful throughout the state.
A DALLAS-AREA BOY holds up his stash of Buckner Bucks earned for good behavior at school. The token money is redeemable for gifts at a Christmas store operated by Buckner Child and Family Services.
___Valley Ranch Baptist Church in Coppell is conducting a Christmas store for the first time this year. The Valley Ranch community, home of the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Stars practice facilities and some players, is an area of affluence and not an area where many needy children are found, but Pastor Larry Parsley said his church is a little larger in its vision than the immediately surrounding community.
___"If we're going to do the things the Bible instructs us to do, we're going to have to drive outside our ZIP code for the most part," he said.
___So the Valley Ranch church has partnered with Cornerstone Baptist Church, an inner-city Dallas congregation situated in the midst of poverty. Pastor Chris Simmons said the majority of households in his community have an average income of less than $10,000.
___"There are never extra dollars to put aside for Christmas for these parents," Simmons said. "If someone doesn't help them, these children will not have a Christmas."
___Simmons and his staff have done the legwork of identifying families with legitimate needs, while Parsley and his congregation have worked to make sure enough gifts are made available. Simmons said 75 percent of the families being helped are not members of Cornerstone and 65 percent are not members of any church.
___The first question for Valley Ranch was how many children the church could help, Parsley said. He sat down with his church's missions committee, outlined the plan, and then everyone, including himself, wrote down the number of children they might be able to help.
___On his piece of paper, Parsley wrote 150 children. As it turned out, his was the lowest number in the room. All the laypeople were thinking much bigger. So the church will help 500 children have one gift valued at about $25 and another valued at about $10.
___"The general feeling in the room was if it was something we could easily do, then why do it?" Parsley explained. "We wanted to do something God would have to bless."
___While admitting the project is a large one for the first year, Parsley said it has beeninvigorating for all involved.
RED WAGONS and warm hats are ready for distribution at Mission Arlington.
___"It may seem a little grandiose, but it's also exciting. It was fantastic to see our children bring 200 presents to the altar Dec. 3. God just seems to consistently encourage us," he said.
___The families who will be the recipients of the gifts also are being encouraged, Simmons said.
___"The difference between this and some other programs is that it allows the parents to pick out a gift for their child, rather than having somebody just drop something off. Both ways are good, but I think it helps the parents to feel a little more involved in their child's happiness."
___Twelve to 15 families at a time will be transported to the Valley Ranch site, where they will hear the Christmas story, have a time of prayer and then be given a shopper helper to assist parents in finding the types of gifts they would like for their children.
___This ministry is directly related to the church's mission statement, Parsley said.
___"One of the planks of our mission statement is to expand the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth," he said. "We want to build a pipeline of ministry from Valley Ranch to the inner-city, knowing the blessings will return."
___First Baptist Church of Midland has been ministering through its Christmas store for seven years. While the large West Texas church is able to help about 1,200 children this year, Minister of Missions Dale Pond believes any size church could start a Christmas store.
___"The size of the church may limit the size of the store, but I think just about any church could pick a target group, such as an apartment complex, and they could have a Christmas store for that target group," Pond explained. "It's just a matter of feeling like it's a ministry they feel a need to do."
___Many adults who come to shop for their children get more than they expected, he added. "It's one of the best evangelistic tools we have. We had about 50 people saved last year and average between 30 and 60 people each year."
___As with many outreach ministries used in Baptist churches statewide, Christmas storesin Texas began at Mission Arlington, a ministry of First Baptist Church of Arlington.
AT MISSION ARLINGTON, Director Tillie Burgin (second from left) poses with a pile of donated Christmas store toys along with volunteers Craig Prather and Mat Hart (right) and two visitors from Belize, Nilo and Dori Rios. The Rioses came to Texas observe the Mission Arlington model for ministry. (Photo by David Clanton)
___The Arlington store began in 1988, said Tillie Burgin, director of Mission Arlington.
___"We had been giving out toys here and there, but we began noticing that we were seeing a lot of people who had been evicted in January. We asked why and found out they were able to pay their rent and utilities when nothing special came up, but they were not able to save anything for Christmas," she explained.
___"They were spending their rent money on Christmas," Burgin said. "We started telling people, 'Pay your rent. Pay your utilities. Let us help you with the toys.'"
___Last year more than 14,000 Arlington-area children had toys on Christmas morning through the donations of the 80 to 90 churches that now contribute to Mission Arlington and Mission Metroplex.
___About 25 people at a time come in and hear the Christmas story before the shopping begins. That happens all day long for two weeks.
___"If we had all those people in a ballpark or a stadium, we would call it a crusade, but we do it 25 people at time," said Lauren Musgrave, director of the Mission Arlington Christmas store.
___After hearing the story, children are taken to a supervised playroom while their parents and a shopper helper find them one big toy and two stocking stuffers. The gifts are then taken to another room where another group of volunteers wraps the gifts. The idea is to make the parents feel as good about the experience as their children do, Musgrave said.
___It takes about 2,000 volunteers to run the Arlington Christmas store each year.
___Burgin said a woman recently came to the facility with a basket of stationery, pens, soaps and other small items she wanted to donate. She explained that she had been helped by the ministry years ago and had been waiting for the opportunity to give something back. Before she left, Burgin asked her if she wanted to volunteer to help this year.
___"She looked at me so surprised. She said, 'You'd want me?'"
___And indeed they did want her. It was another way to illustrate the bottom line of the gift-giving ministry, that everyone is the handiwork of God and is a person of worth.
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