December 17, 2001
Mission Odessa wraps up Christmas joy for hundreds of kids and parents
___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___ODESSA--Santa came driving up to Mission Odessa recently in a sport utility vehicle.
___Not the real Santa, of course, but one of the many volunteers and contributors who help the West Texas ministry help others in need.
___This SUV was full of sleeping bags to be distributed through Mission Odessa's Christmas Store.
___"A lot of our kids don't have beds to sleep on, so we try to have a lot of sleeping bags," explained Margaret Edwards, director of the ministry of First Baptist Church of Odessa.
A VOLUNTEER helps children select Christmas presents at Mission Odessa's Christmas Store.
___Some people may forget how real poverty is for children in the United States, but Edwards and her team of 106 volunteers see it daily.
___They also get to see God at work.
___Sometimes that evidence comes in the form of a letter written in a child's penciled scrawl, tied together with red ribbon and enclosed in Christmas wrap.
___Such a letter came from an 11-year-old boy after last Christmas.
___"Mrs. Margaret, I thank you and all the people that help you. That took their time to make time for families like ours that are less fortunate to have a wonderful Christmas. We would not have all these toys if it wasn't for Mission Odessa. My mom and I would never have picked up a Bible if it wasn't for the Mission Odessa churches in the apartment complex. The most important change was the change between my mom and me. My mom don't drink and do drugs anymore. She don't curse at me. It was anger--she was a very active person and when she became disabled, I lost my mom. But because of Mission Odessa and people who donate their time for people who need to find Jesus Christ--thank you--I found my mom again and we found Jesus. You will always be in my heart."
___At the time the note was written, the boy's father was incarcerated. Now he has been released and attends church services regularly with his family. That's the kind of outcome that makes all the hours of volunteering worth it, Edwards said.
___And the volunteers of Mission Odessa do put in many hours, she said.
___What started out as an apartment ministry now has Bible studies five days a week in both English and Spanish, kids' clubs, homework clubs, adult craft classes, Bible clubs at two day care centers, substance abuse counseling and support groups, life skills and education classes for people on parole, English-as-a-second-language classes, a retirement home ministry, a new believers' class and Bible studies directed at former substance abusers. And there's also a food pantry and clothes closet ministry.
___"Our volunteers just go non-stop," Edwards said.
___But even that is not enough.
___"One apartment community has called numerous times, asking for us to begin a Bible study there, but I don't have a team to send," said Edwards, who also is director of mission ministries for First Baptist Church. "That's the sad part of this job. When you know there are people who need your help, and you just don't have the volunteers to help them."
___The church started the ministry about nine years ago, and the branches of ministry are ever-extending, Edwards said.
___"It's not like you go out looking for opportunities. It's like the day care Bible studies--one day the phone rang, and they were asking us to come and lead Bible studies for their children."
___The Christmas ministries may be the ones the children look forward to with the most expectation. They earn Christmas dollars by attending Bible studies, learning memory verses and even longer passages of Scripture, such as the Beatitudes or the Lord's Prayer. They are allowed to earn up to $100, which they can use to buy presents for their family members.
___Watching the kids shop in the Christmas Store--where nothing costs more than $5--is a lot of fun, Edwards said.
___"These kids are really unique. Some want to get one or two things for themselves, but most of them just want to buy things for their families," she said.
___"What's really nice is that you'll see a boy with $75 with his buddy that might only have $30 and he'll give him five or 10 dollars so he can get something he wants to buy for someone in his family."
___A puppet show and a reading of the Christmas story remind the children of the true meaning of Christmas.
___Before the children leave, they receive pre-cut wrapping paper and a spool of tape to take home for wrapping their presents.
___"Some people say, 'Why do you send them home with wrapping paper and tape?' Our kids don't have those kinds of things at home. They don't have wrapping paper, or even scissors and tape," she said.
___This year, the children did their shopping on Saturday, Dec. 8, and parents or grandparents came on Monday, Dec. 10.
___Through a line item in the First Baptist's budget, designated gifts of church and community members and people bringing gifts by the ministry center, Christmas will be a more joyful time for about 350 families.
___And many children will sleep more restfully in new sleeping bags.
___
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