by Norma Gunter
As we enter a new year I’ve been looking back at some of the things that happened in 2014. I was thrilled when I saw our ABW Christmas tree on the stage in Fellowship Hall. It brought back so many memories of the year we collected the purple ornaments. Sue Jones made a lot of the ornaments, some cloth covered. My daughter, Marcie, wrote the names of the different ABW missions, in white, on purple ornaments. Thanks to those who put the tree up and has protected it all these years.
The ABW White Cross gifts of the heart project was a success. The final report was in the church bulletin on August 10. With the help of the children’s Bible School offering twenty school kits were provided to Church World Service for needy children around the world.
The USED STAMP ministry has also been a success. On January 15 I sent a request to Alliance Stamp Ministry for information about saving used stamps for missions. The first batch of stamps was mailed on March 12. Three other mailings have been mailed since with a total of over two pounds of stamps. I received a thank you note which said, as of November, $36,000 dollars has been sent to the Sunday School Project for Spanish speaking people. Thank you to all those who have helped with this project. Keep saving the used stamps.
The new ABW White Cross projects for 2015 include money for Burundi and South Africa. We also have Hand Work requests, Home and Overseas Mission projects which I will share later.
Please remember me and my sister in your prayers while we are in Costa Rica later this month. Our plans with Susan Hegarty, our American Baptist International Missionary, and her daughter Katy have been finalized. They are here in the states for Christmas but will be back in Costa Rica before we get there. It will be great to work with her again.