Glade Spring Baptist Church in Virginia hosted a packing party for a neighboring congregation that was damaged during Hurricane Helene.
She peered through a busted window into the church basement and saw that floodwaters from Hurricane Helene had left a muddy mess. The Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift items that First Baptist Church of Damascus, Virginia, had collected during the year were now wet and filthy.
Operation Christmas Child packing parties are one of Jaz’s, center, favorite activities each year at First Baptist Church Damascus, Virginia. Because her church flooded, neighboring Glade Spring Baptist hosted a joint packing party with the two churches.
Jaz, age 11, saw something that gave her hope—a doll lying on top of a plastic storage container that appeared unsoiled. She desperately wanted the doll to go to a young girl somewhere overseas, delivered to her inside an Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift.
“I don’t really know how to explain it, but packing shoeboxes is just fun,” Jaz said. “You know they’re going to kids who need it, and they’ll definitely enjoy it.”
But even the doll, which had looked untouched, was found to be waterlogged when church members retrieved it. It was too damaged to be gifted. And, with all the church’s collected items destroyed, it seemed unlikely that Jaz would even get to pack shoeboxes this year.
Healing Hearts, Opening Doors for Ministry After Helene
When Lisa DeBusk, Jaz’s great-aunt, heard about Jaz’s sadness and disappointment, she immediately felt compelled to help.
“I can’t go over to their church and muck out mud, but I can help heal their hearts by helping them with packing shoeboxes,” she said. “It broke my heart to think that Jaz couldn’t pack shoeboxes.”
Lisa DeBusk, right, was overjoyed to help host a packing party with Angie Fritz, Operation Christmas Child project leader for First Baptist Damascus and young church member Jaz. Angie is a member of Glade Spring Baptist, the congregation that welcomed First Baptist for a joint packing party.
For 20 years, Lisa has served as the Operation Christmas Child project leader at another local church, Glade Spring Baptist Church, 20 minutes from First Baptist. She also serves as an area coordinator.
Glade Spring packed fewer than a dozen shoeboxes their first year, but their decades-long commitment to the Samaritan’s Purse project has multiplied. Last year alone, the 50-member congregation packed more than 600 shoebox gifts and also served as a drop-off location for the community.
Hurricane Helene left First Baptist Damascus, Virginia, a flooded mess. The church’s months-worth collection of shoebox gift items was ruined.
Lisa is thankful to God for growing this fruitful ministry at Glade Spring over the years, and she has learned to trust Him to provide. “He has taught me to wait and be faithful,” she said.
Her faithfulness to God and her passion to share the Gospel with children led her to coordinate a joint shoebox packing party for both churches. She wasn’t going to let Hurricane Helene dampen the passion that struggling churches had for sharing the Good News with boys and girls.
The two churches combined resources and packed together. “I feel so blessed to be part of this,” Lisa said.
Volunteers prayed over each thoughtfully packed shoebox gift assembled at the party at Glade Spring.
In the days leading up to the packing party, church members worked long hours sorting the gift items by gender and age group. They set up stations for people to write letters to include in the shoeboxes. And they spent time in prayer over each and every box they packed.
We praise God that in one night, the two churches packed 710 shoeboxes. They are planning to pack another 300 by the end of National Collection Week.
Lisa knows that every shoebox is an opportunity for a boy or girl somewhere in the world to hear the Good News. She also prays that God will use the packing party hosted at Glade Spring to work in the hearts of the children who participated.
“This is a life lesson: when people in your community are hurting, you see what you can do to help and give of yourself,” she said.
Lisa’s daughter, Brandi Powers, joined the packing party as well. Living in a small, tight-knit community, she knows many of the Damascus church members. “It’s nice to get together and be able to help your neighbors,” she said.
Trusting God’s Provision
As delighted as Lisa and members of Glade Spring were to host the packing party, members of First Baptist Damascus were equally thrilled to join the festive celebration.
Brandi Powers, Lisa’s daughter, also loves to help pack shoeboxes.
“God made a way for us,” said Angie Fritz, Operation Christmas Child project leader for First Baptist Damascus. “We’re excited to still get this opportunity to pack Gospel opportunities.”
Angie had heard that the church was damaged during the storm, but when she saw the church for the first time, she was still overwhelmed.
“I didn’t get to the church until two days after the flood because we had roads washed out. A lot of people couldn’t get out of their houses,” she said. “Everything was surreal.”
The church basement also housed the fellowship hall, Sunday School classrooms, and children’s ministry space. But what grieved Angie the most was seeing the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and gifts destroyed.
“My heart was broken, because I knew that for every item lost, and every box that would not be filled, it was a lost Gospel opportunity.”
Angie is grateful God that He sent Glade Spring to encourage her and other church members. Their generosity during the painful aftermath of Hurricane Helene lifted their spirits and strengthened the congregation to face the days ahead.
“It’s nothing about me, or about First Baptist or Glade Spring. It’s about God demonstrating what He is doing,” she said.
The Sunday before the hurricane hit, Samuel VanSlyke, pastor of First Baptist, preached about Abraham’s faithfulness to God, even if that meant sacrificing his son, Isaac. He was going through a sermon series on the book of Genesis.
Samuel VanSlyke, pastor of First Baptist Church, Damascus, enjoyed gathering with other congregations to be a part of global ministry to children.
After the storm hit, the congregation gathered the following Sunday at the local middle school where Pastor Van Slyke taught on Joseph’s faithfulness in the face of trials, even after his brothers tossed him into a pit.
He said it wasn’t coincidence that the Lord led him to prepare those two sermons. He considered it a reminder that our Savior is always in control and is always working during the most difficult of times.
“We have faith that God allowed us to go through that storm for a reason,” he said. “Our new church motto is ‘The Lord will provide.’”
As he looked around the room during the packing party, he saw so many joyful hearts and smiling faces. Pastor VanSlyke knew it was an experience he’d never forget.
“We’re always going to have a testimony about the goodness of God.”
Volunteers show off creative shoeboxes that will soon travel to faraway places.
