A few weeks ago Pastor Norbu Tamang shared with us that his church (Christian Community Friends Church Columbus) was in need of a few items, which included Christmas gifts for the children in his church, tambourines, a guitar, and a sound system. The immediate need was for Christmas gifts for 28 children in his church. We wanted to help out and determined that we needed to raise a total of $500. On Sunday morning, December 13th, the Lord moved in our midst and Orange Friends Church donated $506 to the cause! With that donation, Rochelle White purchased the gifts and put together 28 "shoe boxes" (similar to Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes) filled with gifts for the children. The gifts included Bibles for the older children, Bible story books (Veggie Tales) for the younger children, hats, gloves, socks, Chapstick, pens, pencils, word search books, candy, cross necklaces for the girls, flashlights, watches for the older boys, body wash for the older girls, pajamas for the little ones, shirts, and a toy and a stuffed animal for each child. On December 20th, Orange Friends Church raised an additional $360 for the 18 families that attend the Bhutanese Church and the amount was exactly enough to purchase $20 gift cards from Kroger for each of the families! The same day, Pastor David Mabry preached at the Bhutanese church and delivered the gifts, a guitar that someone donated, and tambourines that Orange Friends Church donated. Willoughby Hills Friends Church donated $1,000 towards the sound system and Karl Freudenreich (Worship Administrator at Orange Friends Church) helped purchase and assemble the system. He also trained some leaders on how to use it.
Thank you so much for your generosity! Please keep the Christian Community Friends Church Columbus (Bhutanese Church) in your prayers. The church has many young families and has great potential in reaching out to other Bhutanese refugees.
