December 9, 2002
This church's 'Sleeper Sunday'
is no time to catch a few winks
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___THE WOODLANDS--When members of First Baptist Church of The Woodlands talk about "sleeper Sunday," they're not complaining about a boring sermon.
___Instead, Sleeper Sunday has become a Christmas tradition at the Southeast Texas church. It's also a vital link in the church's ongoing mission work in Mexico.
___On Sunday, Dec. 8, church members will fill the altar with hundreds of donated baby sleepers and other baby-care items such as blankets and lice medicine kits. Just 10 days later, those gifts will arrive in Mexico, where missionaries supported by the church will begin distributing them to families in need.
___The project began four years ago, when church members were working in Mexico and learned several babies had died there the previous winter due to lack of warm clothing.
___"Our laypeople came up with this creative idea of collecting sleepers," explained Doug Cassady, minister of missions at the church. "That's why we do it in December. We'll be taking the items across border Dec. 17-18, so they'll be there in time for the colder winter weather."
___The sleepers, blankets and medicine kits will be distributed in an orphanage and in one-on-one visits by two missionaries directly supported by the Texas church. Ed Arnold and Pilo Saucedo work from Piedras Negras to Monterey, covering the northern region of Mexico's Coahuila state.
___Sleeper Sunday has become a tradition at The Woodlands church "because of how it touched people's hearts and they feel like it's a tangible way to help people in need," Cassady said. "They also saw it as evangelistic support."
___With the sleepers and blankets, missionaries don't come empty-handed to address people's spiritual needs, he explained. "It's a much more personal kind of thing."
___The lice medicine is a new addition because missionaries and volunteers from The Woodlands have discovered a growing problem with lice among the children they meet.
___Distribution of the sleepers, blankets and medicine contributes to a strong year-round ministry the church conducts in Mexico.
___Vacation Bible Schools conducted in 83 churches this year touched 8,000 children and resulted in 1,400 spiritual decisions, Cassady said. Another 1,200 spiritual decisions have been recorded through the year-round work of the church-supported missionaries.
___First Baptist Church of The Woodlands has been working in Mexico 15 years and sends 35 to 50 volunteer workers to Mexico every summer.
___
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