Christmas on Mission
Throughout the year, our discipleship team and church leadership have encouraged Mt. Bethel Church members to live ON MISSION 365. Our church family has taken this call to heart, especially during this holiday season.
Here are some of the ways we’ve seen church members step out in faith to share the true reason for the season:
Christmas Bikes
Earlier this year, we asked our local missions partners what their biggest need was and were somewhat surprised to find out it’s bikes! Bikes are a highly requested item from families our partners assist during the holiday season, as they’re a popular Christmas gift.
In July, our church family raised over $30,000 to purchase 150 bikes and helmets. Just before Thanksgiving, members of our church family from all generations showed up to assemble these bikes for our partners!
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“From the response to Christmas in July [to purchase the bikes–to assembling them in November]–to the expectation for all who receive the bikes for Christmas has been a move of God and collective move of our community! THIS is living On Mission 365 looks like,” exclaimed Gaylyn Kelly, Lead Pastor of Discipleship.
Join us in praying for the recipients of these bikes. May they feel the love that moved Jesus to enter our world that first Christmas!
Groups Serving Together On Mission
Another joy this holiday season has been seeing groups in our church spread Christmas cheer and the hope of Christ with others.
The back of Mt. Bethel Church Choir Members Steve and Mary Beth Worch’s car filled with gifts for Orphanage Emmanuel in Honduras.
Our choir members collected and donated Christmas gifts for the children in the care of our missions affiliate Orphanage Emmanuel in Honduras. Through this effort, these kids–many who have been abandoned by their families–will know their Heavenly Father loves them so much He sent His Son to save them from their sins!
During our middle schooler’s Christmas Party, our students not only brought gifts for each other, but also donated socks for our local Missions Partners, MUST Ministries, to gift to people in need. Socks are a much-needed item for those impacted by homelessness and can be used by our partners to break down barriers some might have to receiving holistic help and hearing about the hope available through Jesus.
On Opening Day of their Basketball Season, families from Mt. Bethel Church’s Recreation Ministry brought board games to donate to MUST Ministry’s annual Toy Shop, which provides struggling families with quality gifts to give their children at Christmas.
Our Love and Marriage Sunday School Class displayed spiritual leadership in their homes by involving their kids in their holiday missions efforts. Every year these young couples decorate and deliver wreaths to members of our church family and community who need a little extra cheer–whether it’s because they’re grieving a loss of a loved one, battling an illness, or facing personal hardship.
This year, they not only invited their children to deliver wreaths with them, but their kids also helped them host a Christmas party for residents of Salvation Army Atlanta’s Red Shield shelter–a transitional housing program for families and individuals in extreme poverty. The kids at Red Shield were assured of God’s great love for them through Jesus’ birth and the kids of our Love and Marriage families experienced the excitement of sharing the true meaning of Christmas with others!
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“It’s a great way for us to get out and serve others with our families and take time to really remember what this season is all about,” Amanda Thomas, member of the Love and Marriage Sunday School Class, commented.
Angel Tree
Love and Marriage wasn’t the only Sunday School class to lead on mission this Christmas. Our FaithMates class stepped up to lead this year’s Angel Tree initiative.
Mt. Bethel Church has provided Christmas Gifts through its Angel Tree program for over 28 years. This year, the program was expanded to include support not only to boys and girls in the Cobb Country Foster Care system, but to other ministry partners -The Salvation Army, Kidz2Leaders, and MUST Ministries-who support families in need as well.
The expansion of this year’s Angel Tree didn’t deter members of our FaithMates class from taking the reins and encouraging Mt. Bethel Church Members to sponsor “angels.” Each Sunday for over a month, members of the FaithMates class manned a table in The Connector of our church building to answer questions people had about the project. Our church family donated over 750 gifts!
Middle Schoolers Wrapping Presents Giving through the Angel Tree initiative for Kidz2Leaders
Not only that, but FaithMates helped our middle schoolers–many of whom are children of FaithMates members–wrap 50 of these gifts for Kidz2Leaders’ Hope4Christmas Party. This event shares the true meaning of Christmas with kids from homes where at least one parent is in prison as part of our Missions Partners’ effort to stop the cycle of generational incarceration.
“We are so grateful for the FaithMates Sunday school class and their efforts leading the Angel Tree program another year!” expressed Brooke O’Hara, Mt. Bethel Church’s Associate Director of Missions. “They have a true passion for serving as a family and supporting our local community in need year-round. They are a true example of what it means to live out missional discipleship.”
Mt. Bethel Church Volunteers sorting gifts at Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Warehouse
In total, 50 volunteers from our church gave their time and talent to serve at various missions partner opportunities connected to our Angel Tree project including the Hope4Christmas party, The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Warehouse, and MUST Ministries’ Toy Shop.
“It was a joy seeing the impact our church’s Angel Tree gifts make to those on the receiving end,” stated Brooke.
Mt. Bethel Volunteers at Kidz2Leaders Hope4Christmas Party
How Will You Live on Mission This Holiday?
We shared each of these stories with you not as a “look-at-us” moment, but to give thanks for the incredible compassion displayed by members our church family this Christmas and to inspire you to follow their example.
Consider doing something this holiday season to spread the joy and hope of our Savior with someone else. It can be as simple as baking Christmas cookies for a neighbor who has experienced a hardship this year, reaching out to a friend you haven’t connected with in a while, or making a monetary donation to one of our Missions Partners in honor of a non-believing friend and then sending them a Christmas card that lets them know a gift in their honor will be making a difference.
Whatever you choose to do, there’s no better way to celebrate the holidays than by doing something to let someone else know how much Jesus loves them.
To learn about upcoming service opportunities you or your small group can be a part of, visit www.mtbethel.org/missions .