Bethel athletes got into the Christmas spirit early by playing Santa’s elves for underprivileged children.
The women’s basketball team took a group shopping trip in mid-October to the Newton Wal-Mart to buy items for their shoeboxes: (from left), Brittany Bates, Brianna Bates, Erin Doerksen, Jaime Tschetter, Kendra Scott, Jessica Ebenkamp, Katie Regier, Lauren Ulrich, Samantha Wilkerson, Ajai Brown, Haley Bright and Taylor Durant.Mark Fox, head women’s basketball coach, and Lonnie Isaac ’93, head tennis coach, both attend the same church in Newton, which is participating in Operation Christmas Child,
a project of Samaritan’s Purse, a nondenominational evangelical Christian aid organization.
The coaches help lead Bethel’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter and decided that Operation Christmas Child might be a good project for our FCA group to spearhead on campus,
Fox said.
The project is sometimes called Shoebox Ministry
because it is about sending shoeboxes filled with gifts to parts of the world where children may not otherwise receive a gift,
Isaac said.
FCA invited others on campus to join in the project, with the goal of putting together 50 boxes from the college. They collected enough for 51 shoeboxes.
We certainly hope this will not only impact a number of young people in impoverished areas, but that it will leave an impression on our young people as well,
Fox said.
If you’d like to know more about Samaritan’s Purse and how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, see www.samaritanspurse.com.