WINTER HAVEN, Fla.—Faith Baptist Church reached out to neighbors and friends by providing a “store” where everything was free for Christmas shoppers. About 500 people from the community, including children and toddlers, registered to take part in the day’s event. At 10:00 a.m. the church doors opened, and the first group of 100 shoppers entered the chapel to hear a gospel presentation. From there they moved into the store (fellowship hall), where tables, shelves, and clothing racks were filled with Christmas-gift items.
Each parent or set of parents was able to take three gifts per child under age 14 (and one per child over 14). And each child, even the youngest, was able to choose a gift for each parent. From the shopping area, shoppers moved to a gift-wrap room (one for adults, one for children), a movie room for kids, or outside to outdoor games and a refreshment stand for a free lunch.
Members of Faith donated products, gifts, and money for several months before the big day. Several spent weeks sorting through donations, creating gift baskets, and marking gifts to indicate age-appropriateness. On the first Sunday in December, the deacons collected over $5,000 for the event. On the day of the event, 57 workers registered the shoppers, served refreshments, wrapped gifts, guided shoppers (especially the younger ones), held babies so mothers could shop, and much more. “We just jumped in where we saw a need,” says Jonita Barram, who worked the jewelry table. “Hold a baby, guide a child, run interference for a mom, help carry all the gifts out the door. It was fun for us and profitable for the shoppers.”
Event coordinator Lil Tolley says the idea was to help people who have been impacted by the economy to be able to provide gifts and clothing for their families—all for the glory of God. In all, the church served 70 families, and leftover gift baskets were taken to shut-ins.
- Read more about Faith Baptist Church, Winter Haven, Fla.
- View photos from the Free Shopping Day
- Read Pastor Nate Osborn’s blog, “The Fountain of Faith“
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