Gifts For All God’s Children (GFAGC) is a 501C3 non-profit that began in 1988 in the minds of three women from Faith Lutheran Church in Troy. They felt the need to reach out to at-risk children who might not have gifts for Christmas. Almost three decades later, the organization has grown to serve more than 3,000 children a year in many different ways. Their mission statement reads, “The Mission of Gifts For All God’s Children is to meet needs and share the love of Christ with at-risk children living in southeastern Michigan. We do this by connecting these children with city and suburban churches and organizations, giving gifts and planning events.” Here is the story of how East Bethlehem, Detroit, became connected with GFAGC, as told by Rev. Asaph James.
The pride of East Bethlehem was the school, which had to be closed down in 2006 because of low enrollment. Our church had been in survival mode, but with the school there, we had the satisfaction of reaching out to some families with the message of Christ through the Christian education system. Most families affiliated with the school and free education left, further reducing the congregation to the faithful ones who had invested their lives in East Bethlehem. As seen through human eyes, things were looking bleak, but God had other plans for us at East Bethlehem.
The Day When Everything Changed
Until January 19, 2009, Martin Luther King Day, I had never heard of Gifts For All God’s Children (GFAGC) and, I can assure you, neither did members of the congregation at East Bethlehem. It was on that day that Patti Jacques and Carol Townsend from GFAGC asked if they could visit our church on their Urban Tour to the city. The Lord Himself visited us at that meeting, joining the hearts of the GFAGC team with the hearts of the East Bethlehem team. And so, by God’s grace and His divine plan, the partnership began.
With GFAGC, the Holy Spirit brought life back to us in the form of Valentine’s Day parties, Easter Fairs, Back to School Backpacks, and Christmas Fairs. Soon our church became the hub of these activities in Detroit. Since we were no longer running the school, we had plenty of space, and GFAGC started storing their Christmas gift items, Easter basket stuff, and school supplies for Back to School Backpacks at East Bethlehem. Time around Easter Fairs became a very busy time at East Bethlehem as the dining room space is used to assemble Easter baskets. Every year more baskets are prepared than the previous year and I think this year (2015) we made over 1,200 baskets. Once these baskets are prepared, they are distributed to other churches and missions in Detroit to be given to children.
It has been quite a journey for East Bethlehem to partner with GFAGC. We started a “Prayer for the City” ministry, in which we would call our Lutheran churches in the Detroit area asking them to host a time of prayer for the city and invite others to pray. We began with monthly prayer events and, at present, we have two “Prayer for the City” events per year: one in the city of Detroit and one in the suburbs.
It is a blessed union that we have with GFAGC: because of the grace of our Lord Jesus and GFAGC, East Bethlehem has been exposed to other churches and ministries and, most of all, Faith Lutheran Church in Troy. The volunteers from GFAGC, youth ministers, and youth group have come out with open arms to help us do so many things. We give thanks to the Lord for His abundant faithfulness and mercy to us.
We have given away free hot dogs and water bottles, standing at the corner of Mound and Outer Drive as a way of introducing East Bethlehem to the general public; Dan Karlin from Trinity, Utica helped us with that. We have had free BBQ dinners twice for the community around East Bethlehem, graciously hosted by the Youth Ministry of Faith, Troy. The District-funded Acts 2 Enterprise (A2E) had their Sports Camp at Chandler Park during the summer, with GFAGC arranging for Faith’s bus to transport kids to Chandler Park from East Bethlehem and back. In 2015, GFAGC held two Summer Camps at East Bethlehem; all we had to do was donate the space. We cannot give enough praise and thanks to the Lord.
Outreach Efforts and Results
Every year since 2009 we have had our Easter Fair, Christmas Fair, and Back to School Backpack events. The first year we had our Easter Fair, we had over 400 people (kids and parents) come because we were able to advertise it in the two elementary schools near East Bethlehem. The number of people coming to future Easter Fairs was smaller because the schools would not let us pass out our flyers. In spite of that, the number of Easter baskets, school backpacks, and Christmas gifts has increased, and so has our outreach to the community. Thanks to these efforts, 6 children have been baptized, and 8 more children and 2 adults will be baptized this fall; 14 families have attended our church regularly because of the GFAGC party outreach (6 of those families still attend–the other 9 have moved out of our community); and two young mothers will begin membership Bible classes in September.
God keeps reminding us of who is in charge. He used Susan Gawencki to write grants for East Bethlehem and we have been greatly blessed. Out of these grants we have had a much needed fence put up around the church parking lot. The GFAGC Connecting Kids to Christ Center (a hub for all the events sponsored by GFAGC) is in full swing—Debbie Ellinger has been assigned this responsibility, with the help of our Triune God. We ask His blessing upon this project.
Since this partnership began in January 2009, the Lord has brought many wonderful events and blessings to our church and community. None of these would have been possible without the support and donations of GFAGC and the hundreds of volunteers who come to help. East Bethlehem members come to share in volunteering, but are so encouraged by God’s provision through the support of GFAGC. To God be all the praise and glory for the great things He has done!
For more information or to help support GFAGC’s mission, visit their website or contact GFAGC’s Executive Director, Patti Jacques, at pjacques@giftsforallgodschildren.org
