By: David Rimarski – Student Minister

You’ve heard it said before that a healthy growing church will show three qualities: involvement in biblically based groups, baptisms, and generous living. I believe that we are showing those qualities at Mount Carmel, and I want to share some highlights of our church families who are living generous lives. We have had many opportunities for people to give and share their talents in order to help serve God’s kingdom. We had a group go on the Western Kentucky Mission Trip in July.  We kicked off VBS by packaging food for those in Ukraine. We have ongoing service teams that work with City Gospel Mission and Empower Youth, and we had thousands of dollars raised for gift cards distributed to firefighters and police officers. The students hosted a coat drive that gave Inter Parish Ministries over 100 coats, and just recently, we finished up our yearly Giving Tree for families and individuals in need. You can read about these events and others in our new Impact booklet that will be available this Sunday. I share all of these generous living examples with you to let you know of one final opportunity for our church to help those who are in need.

This past year I was praying that I would find an opportunity to have the Student Ministry at Mount Carmel support a missionary in some way. After praying, a dear friend of mine, a missionary in Honduras, reached out to me for any kind of support we could give to help their community that was hit by flooding. I knew this was an answer to prayer and quickly told her we would love to help her out in some way. With Christmas just around the corner, I thought it would be a great time to sell cookies! So, the Student Ministry will be hosting a cookie sale this Sunday, December 18th during the beginning and end of both services. The money raised will be used to help the community of Urraco Pueblo, a small town near the northern coast of Honduras. Rising water flooded their homes, schools, and businesses destroyed a main bridge for children to go to and from school, and forced families to evacuate their homes. The money will help those who need food, clothing, and other kinds of support.

On Sunday morning, come by the table and get some yummy cookies to support those in Urraco Pueblo who need our help. We will be selling the cookies for $5 per bag but we will also be taking flat donations as well for those who would just like to donate towards the cause. You all have been so generous this year. I can’t thank you all enough for the amazing work that you have all done by living out your faith and being the hands and feet of Jesus.