by Sharon Mager
Ft. Washington, MD — El Bethel Baptist Church is hosting a Christmas “store” for their community through Dec. 23. Each day, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., the church opens their doors to provide free gifts, thanks to a Birmingham organization that donated thousands of dollars worth of new products.
Neighbors were thrilled to get free gifts. (Photo courtesy of El Bethel Churc)
Dessie Dixon, the Wife of James Dixon Jr., El Bethel Church pastor, said, “We’ve had 11 categories of gifts — toys, electronics, bedding, clothing, shoes, outdoor equipment, household items, pet supplies, and Christmas items. Church members give guests a small gift bag of goodies, and one bag to “shop.” They can fill the bags from any of the tables.
Dessie laughs as she shares how people’s eyes light up, and they ask, “Are you serious? Is this for free? And you mean I can get anything from any table? No charge? This is unbelievable!
“Today was really just wonderful,” said Dessie. A neighbor called about their children’s school Christmas party. Many of the students live in an economically depressed area, and the school was trying to give each child a gift but was coming up short. Could the church help? Dessie immediately contacted the school. “We blessed them with the rest of the toys they needed.” Dessie said the teachers were excited, and she was blessed to be part of helping them.
James and El Bethel have a relationship with the Christian Service Ministry (CSM) in Birmingham, Alabama, an organization that connects resources with needs. James said, “We took mission teams and worked with them for about five years. My wife and I have talked about doing this (Christmas store) for some time. I asked them about helping, and they opened the door to us.”
CSM offered so much that James rented a 26-foot truck and drove it to Birmingham, where CSM volunteers packed it full. Then, kind of like Old St. Nick himself, James returned with the gifts. Church volunteers organized the goods and set up “shop.”
“It’s really good, nice stuff they gave us. It has really been a blessing,” said James.
El Bethel has a heart for those in need. For years, partnering with local churches, they participated in providing a time for people experiencing homelessness to have a warm place to sleep and hot meals, but then the program stopped during COVID.
Now, El Bethel and the other partnering churches are working with United Planning Organization in Washington, D.C (UPO) to provide snack packs that are picked up by UPO and delivered to people who are homeless. In December and January, the churches also prepare various hot soups to go with the snack bags.
“I’m excited about helping people and blessing their lives,” said Dessie.
Sharon Mager serves as a communications specialist & editor of BCM/D news and stories Feature photo courtesy of El Bethel Church