Projects allow children to minister in stressful time

Sep 28, 2005
CAROLYN NICHOLS
Newswriter

LAKELAND (FBW)–Items lovingly packed in shoeboxes, Ziploc bags and backpacks are being rushed from Florida churches and Christian schools to those most affected by Hurricane Katrina. Children are participating in hands-on projects that not only help others, but also help themselves deal with the stress of catastrophic storms.

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The First Academy, a ministry of First Baptist Church in Orlando, joined with the congregation in collecting materials for “compassion bags.” Items were collected as specified in published lists and were packed into one-gallon Ziploc bags. Three types of bags were sorted by content: food kits, hygiene kits and first-aid kits. The academy also is collecting money to be used for disaster relief and to help TFA alumni who have been affected by the storm.

As a member of Association of Christian School International, First Academy is also enrolling students from the Gulf Coast region whose families have been displaced by the storm. Already six new students are studying at the school, and, although some of their families are awaiting a return to their Gulf Coast homes, some plan to relocate to Orlando permanently, according to a TFA news release. The new students’ school expenses are covered by donations from church members.

The school/church partnership in placing displaced students “is fulfilling our school year theme – Each One Reach One,” said headmaster Steve Whitaker.

In addition to raising almost $100,000 for disaster relief, Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater is involving its children in ministry to those in need. The preschool and children’s ministries are collecting shoeboxes that will be distributed to children in Biloxi, Miss The packed-to- the-limit boxes are customized for boys and girls, ages infancy through teenagers. The church is anticipating sending hundreds of boxes to Bay Vista Baptist Church in Biloxi Oct. 11, when Calvary Baptist members will return for a second time to work in clean-up projects and debris removal, according to Skip Dvornik, minister of ministries and missions.

“The Bay Vista church is already involved in a dramatic array of ministries in its community,” he said. “We hope to have the privilege of personally delivering the boxes to people in their neighborhood.”

Calvary Baptist leadership has encouraged families in the congregation to pack the boxes together, so that parents will talk about the storm and its aftermath with their children.

“Children are aware of the disaster and its impact on families,” Dvornik said. “This is a marvelous teaching opportunity, when parents can talk about sharing with others in need – even when they live far away.”

In Lakeland, what began as a nine-year-old’s sacrifice of her allowances and birthday money, has mushroomed into a disaster relief ministry project involving hundreds of people in her city and beyond. Olivia Ann Allensworth had saved her money for three years, waiting for the perfect opportunity to give it away. News reports of the displaced families fleeing Katrina spurred her to spend her $400 on backpacks and supplies for elementary students who started the school year in a school far from their Gulf Coast home.

She told her Lakeland Christian School principal, Fred Weikman, about her gifts, and he invited the school’s student body to get involved. Now several local children’s ministries and Christian and public schools are on board with the project. World Vision, a national organization, donated teddy bears for the backpacks.

“Now it’s all over the place,” said her father, Don Allensworth, administrative pastor of First Baptist Church at the Mall in Lakeland.

The growing project has involved the entire family, with mother Pam administering the details and 11-year-old Landon lifting and carrying boxes and backpacks. A web site, www.Kid4Kid.com, disperses information and collects funds for the $20 filled backpacks.

Don Allensworth told Florida Baptist Witness Olivia Ann has “always been concerned for others.” He related how Olivia Ann ministered to a senior adult lady in their congregation. Sylvia Thompson, who for years visited home-bound seniors, was home-bound herself. Olivia Ann and her father, before the cross was mounted on the top of the church steeple, took the five-foot high cross to Thompson’s home.

As the elderly saint held and caressed the cross, Olivia Ann reminded her father to “make sure nobody cleans the cross before it goes up.”

“Mrs. Thompson died four days later, and Olivia Ann knew that she was ready to meet Jesus,” Allensworth said. “This was a neat thing for her mom and me to experience with her.”

Olivia Ann, already with a reputation of compassion, has adopted the motto: One kid can make a difference. Before October, she hopes to deliver 1,000 backpacks to Gulf Coast children, and she dreams of adding 4,000 more as contributions pour in.

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