| Pathfinders collect Bibles to share overseas | | Email | Print |
Created dateAug 14, 2009 Last editAug 18, 2009 at 10:18 PM
by Diane Thurber; Source: NAD Communication, herald@luc.adventist.org
[News]
When the Terre Haute (Indiana) Monarchs Pathfinder club director, Glen Morrow, heard about the "Project Word" initiative (fomerly “Bible and Buck”) to collect Bibles to ship overseas and $1 dollar bills to defray shipping, he thought it would be meaningful for his club to participate. With only 12 Pathfinders in the club, they considered approaches to best communicate the inititative to their neighbors.
A grid of the streets closest to the church was created and neighbors identified to be contacted. Pathfinder leaders requested $300 from the church's evangelism fund and used the money to create a postcard to tell about the Project Word initiative and invite neighbors to participate. The card also informed neighbors that the Pathfinders are a youth ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. A collection date was included on the card as well as the Pathfinder director’s and pastor’s names and phone numbers to call for additional information or if they desired Bible studies. The Pathfinder club members applied address labels and stamps to the postcards, and sent them out.
The following Sabbath the Pathfinders, in full dress uniform, visited 380 homes. They shared their goal to collect Bibles to take to the International Pathfinder Camporee in Oshkosh, Wis., August 11-15. Surprisingly, the Pathfinders found many neighbors who didn't possess a Bible, but they were able to collect 36 Bibles that day to take to the camporee and even found one individual who wished to begin Bible studies. Edward Momanyi, 16, said, "It was a pretty good experience. We met a lot of nice people who were used to people selling things. We weren't selling anything, so they were taken back that we didn't want their money."
At one house, Andrew Sheese, 14, found a women who didn't receive a mailed postcard. However, he was excited because, "She was looking around the house [for a Bible] anyway." Hers was the first Bible he collected.
In addition to receiving Bibles from their neighbors, the Pathfinders set up collection boxes at church and some asked friends and co-workers to donate unused Bibles. Church members also donated money to help ship the Bibles overseas and solicited funds from their co-workers. Morrow said, "It was a neat way to talk to people about what I do at church without being offensive."
In all, the Monarchs brought 153 Bibles to donate to Project Word at the camporee. The club's Bibles were added to the thousands of others brought by Pathfinder clubs from throughout North America and approximately 63 international clubs.
Because so many of the Monarchs' neighbors were found without Bibles, the Pathfinders will follow up in the near future and distribute Bibles to the homes they contacted earlier. Richard Onyancha, a Pathfinder parent and local church elder, said, "If our church is going to have an impact, the local community needs to know who we are. The only way to do this is to get out of our comfort zone. I would love to see our church continue to infiltrate the community."
It was announced that more than $23,000 was collected during the Sabbath morning offering at the camporee to ship the Bibles overseas, and an additional offering was taken later. Pathfinders will travel to four mission sites in 2010 to deliver the Bibles and preach about Jesus. For additional information, visit www.adventistyouth.org.
Linked to photo #1120. There are also two additional photos, one showing the whole club.
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