What amazed me is this church is very small and yet its members always give generously and last year they were able to not only bless the local children in our community whose parents are incarcerated, they were able to reach out to another community on the east side of the state and cover that area as well.
If you want less crime, bless these children of prisoners that did not do anything wrong and yet they are punished over and over again for their parents ill doings.
Perhaps you live in one of these areas in need and can get your church involved. Perhaps several churches can work together to reach out to these children. While you are sitting there with your Starbucks reading this, I wonder if you are saying...'I can't do this I don't have the money.' One Starbucks per month every month will help.
Do You Live in an Underserved County?
Every
year, Prison Fellowship assists churches in ministering to the
families of incarcerated parents through its Angel Tree program. Angel
Tree is a ministry that reaches out to the children of inmates and
their families with the love of Christ, offering churches an
opportunity to share Christ's love by serving the physical, emotional,
and spiritual needs of the families of prisoners.During the Christmas season, local church volunteers purchase and deliver gifts and the Gospel to children in the name of their parent behind bars. Thousands of families are served every year by church members who generously give of their time and resources.
Unfortunately, the opportunities to minister through Angel Tree often exceed the number of volunteers in certain areas. Below are the 50 counties in the country with the largest number of children signed-up for the Angel Tree program that are not yet assigned to a church (as of 10/16/12):
| County (State) | Unassigned Children |
| Los Angeles (CA) | 3,617 |
| Cook (IL) | 2,862 |
| Dallas (TX) | 1,742 |
| Fresno (CA) | 1,623 |
| Maricopa (AZ) | 1,259 |
| Hillsborough (FL) | 1,163 |
| Duval (FL) | 1,137 |
| Bexar (TX) | 1,137 |
| Wayne (MI) | 1,011 |
| Shelby (TN) | 958 |
| Clark (NV) | 945 |
| Orange (FL) | 912 |
| Miami-Dade (FL) | 798 |
| Marion (IN) | 761 |
| Escambia (FL) | 742 |
| Philadelphia (PA) | 732 |
| Guilford (NC) | 675 |
| San Bernardino (CA) | 669 |
| Cuyahoga (OH) | 669 |
| Summit (OH) | 656 |
| Tulare (CA) | 631 |
| Pinellas (FL) | 607 |
| Kern (CA) | 603 |
| Douglas (NE) | 594 |
| Lee (FL) | 541 |
| Davidson (TN) | 535 |
| Winnebago (IL) | 530 |
| Palm Beach (FL) | 521 |
| Saginaw (MI) | 505 |
| Jackson (MO) | 504 |
| Greenville (SC) | 493 |
| Cameron (TX) | 478 |
| Polk (FL) | 455 |
| Champaign (IL) | 452 |
| Volusia (FL) | 450 |
| Spartanburg (SC) | 449 |
| St. Joseph (IN) | 442 |
| Hidlago (TX) | 434 |
| Lubbock (TX) | 428 |
| Salt Lake (UT) | 393 |
| Macon (IL) | 390 |
| Essex (MA) | 366 |
| Mecklenburg (NC) | 361 |
| Will (IL) | 354 |
| Tarrant (TX) | 352 |
| Hartford (CT) | 349 |
| Santa Clara (CA) | 345 |
| Webb (TX) | 344 |
| Saint Lucie (FL) | 343 |
| Genesee (MI) | 333 |
To learn more about the Angel Tree program, and how you and your church can get involved, please visit http://www.angeltree.org/christmas.
1 comment:
what a great thing to do. I have donated to Angel Tree and Salvation Army in my areas.I know Christmas is not about gifts, but children need to know people care in so many ways.
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