HARRISBURG (BRN) – It was a high goal to achieve. One that Kathie Aiken, Baptist on Mission (BOM) on-site partnership coordinator, wasn’t sure they would reach this year.
As backpacks kept coming in, North Carolina Baptists quickly exceeded their goal of 21,000 backpacks for the annual Appalachian Christmas Outreach. At 21,142 backpacks, N.C. Baptists established a new record by collecting the most backpacks in the history of the Christmas outreach.
“We didn’t think, at first, that we were going to reach the 21,000 goal, but then we did and went over. It was a blessing,” said Aiken.
Aiken and her husband, Dewey, both serve as on-site partnership coordinators for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the Baptist Resource Network of Pennsylvania and South Jersey (BRN). For 12 years, the Aikens have contributed to the Christmas backpack outreach, helping years before it grew into the regional ministry it is today.
“There were a lot of communities where small churches, very small churches, needed some help. They had some needs of their children and their families that they couldn’t meet by themselves. They needed partners to help them, and that is where we got connected with them,” said Aiken.
Establishing these connections then allowed the Aikens and other N.C. Baptist volunteers to aid these small churches in a big way during the Christmas season.
Starting with just one or two churches, N.C. volunteers met the needs of these churches and their communities by filling backpacks with essential items, such as food, hygiene products, warm clothing and Bibles as well as a few seasonal items, like toys and a copy of the Christmas story (now offered in both English and Spanish).
The ministry quickly grew to include more and more churches in the Appalachian region as churches heard about this opportunity for partnership.
“We said this is not something that just one or two churches need to be doing, this is something everybody needs to be involved in. That’s when we worked with Mark Abernathy through the partnership of Baptists on Mission and we were able to begin there in Appalachia,” explained Aiken.
Spreading Christmas cheer across PA
Since its humble beginnings, the Appalachian Christmas Outreach has extended its reach to most of the east coast. Backpack deliveries now range from the mountains of West Virginia to the suburbs of New York.
“It has just grown every year,” said Aiken.
This year, in Pennsylvania, a total of 2,651 backpacks were delivered and distributed to 14 churches affiliated with the BRN, including six church plants and four Hispanic churches.
“Of all of those we had, and this is exciting to me, there were four Hispanic churches that received. That was encouraging to me,” said Aiken.
BRN churches in Pennsylvania that received backpacks include: Plaid Community Church in Pittston, Restored Church in Wilkes-Barre, Riverbend Community Church and Misión Vida in the Lehigh Valley region, The Foundry in Wallingford, La Iglesia Electric City in Scott Township, God’s Field in Freedom, Faithbridge Community Church in McKees Rocks, Colonial Hills Baptist in Bedford, Iglesia La Fuente in Columbia, Covenant Community Church in Harrisburg, Vida Life Church in Somerset, Anastasis Fellowship Church in Reading, and Harvest House Community Fellowship in Towanda.
To keep with the Christmas intention, Baptists on Mission ask that all churches receiving backpacks find a way to distribute the backpacks through a Christmas-themed outreach or event. BRN churches met this requirement by passing out backpacks at community festivals, local schools before winter break, and holiday food distributions.
At Harvest House Community Fellowship, this requirement enabled the church to have a unique position at “Hometown Christmas,” a community-wide Christmas festival sponsored by the Towanda Chamber of Commerce.
“It’s when they do their big tree lighting and all the businesses on Main Street will open their doors and have free activities,” explained Chuck Fricker, senior pastor at Harvest House Community Fellowship.
Equipped with 200 backpacks and in need of a way to distribute them, Fricker contacted the Chamber of Commerce and got permission to set up a tent outside during the festival and give away backpacks.
“They put us outside, and they didn’t even know that they put us on the corner. So as people rolled up the street to come to the event, the first thing they saw – the only outdoor thing they saw – was a big tent with backpacks and all these gospel or scripture verses that we had on banners. So, it inadvertently caused us to be the face of the Chamber of Commerce event,” said Fricker.
In Bradford County, Towanda is the county seat, and its population is mostly made up of low socioeconomic families.
“In an underserved community and a community that’s very lost, we know that we were, at a minimum, able to bless them during the Christmas season and give them kind of joy where they probably wouldn’t have gotten it otherwise,” said Fricker.
He continued: “And that’s not to mention the fact that each one of those families that received a backpack have one or more Bibles now in their homes, depending on the number of kids.”
In Wilkes-Barre, Pa., a city just two hours south of Towanda, Restored Church is in the process of distributing 300 backpacks over the course of four different events.
Internally, Restored will be hosting a special Sunday morning gathering for kids, complete with crafts, a gospel conversation and backpacks. The church will also host a Christmas party for their students, encouraging each student to bring a friend, so they may receive a backpack. Fifty backpacks have been set aside for both of these events.
Externally, Restored has partnered with an inner-city program and donated 50 backpacks for the program to distribute to their students. The remaining 150 backpacks have intentionally been set aside for Restored’s current compassion ministries. This includes the church’s regularly scheduled food distribution as well as two other outreach events, which were created for the purpose of distributing the Christmas backpacks.
“Before we had the backpacks, I probably had four or five people from the community come to my office and ask me [if] we do anything for Christmas presents to help their family, because they didn’t have any,” explained Tim Morris, discipleship pastor at Restored Church.
He continued: “This gave me an opportunity to say yes [and] to help people in our community who didn’t have Christmas presents.”
Beyond Christmas gifts, the backpacks also allowed Restored to meet the physical and spiritual needs present in its community.
“It helps our compassion ministry side because we’re not just giving toys. It is food and toiletries, which are vastly needed. But then the other thing is the gospel side, it’s just sowing seeds and making sure people have a Bible and putting a copy of the scriptures in homes. On top of that, having it in their own language is a massive deal,” said Morris.
In addition to Harvest House Community Fellowship and Restored Church, six church plants associated with the BRN received backpacks from BOM, including Anastasis Fellowship Church (AFC) in Reading, Pa.
To distribute their portion of backpacks, Anastasis hosted a “Walk through Bethlehem” live nativity experience that culminated with the giving of nearly 100 backpacks to guests. Guests enjoyed a five-station Christmas gospel story with live actors and period props, a family photo booth, holiday-themed snacks and festive music.
A mission team from Red Bud Baptist Church (RBBC), Castalia, N.C., was essential in making it all happen. The partnership began when Pastor Larry Baker and his wife, Shannon, met RBBC’s pastor Mark Howard and his wife while speaking at the Baptists on Mission World Missions Conference at Fort Caswell, N.C., this past June.
While the entire atmosphere was festive and joyful, there was one moment that stood out for the two ministering teams. During a lull with no guests, AFC and RBBC members had a spontaneous time of worship, filling the space with prayers and great joy. Throughout the night, there were many spiritual conversations and prayers, a true gift to all who participated.
“I just want to give a shout out to Red Bud Baptist Church for sharing Christ’s love in a practical way during our Walk to Bethlehem event by generously providing these backpacks and being a huge part of our Gospel presentation to the community. We know what they did will make a difference this Christmas,” said Larry Baker, senior pastor at Anastasis Fellowship Church.
AFC also was able to share nearly 100 backpacks with the Children’s Home of Reading, a social service nonprofit offering specialized residential, educational, and community-based programs to help over 4,000 children and families in crisis every year.
The joy of partnership
This year, the partnership between BRN and Baptist on Mission (North Carolina Baptists) secured that over 2,000 individuals in Pennsylvania will receive the gospel in the form of a backpack.
“These folks in the Carolinas that are filling these backpacks, they’re regular church members at regular churches that are trying to be missional and spread the gospel,” said Fricker.
He continued: “So, by being willing to partner with them and distribute these backpacks you’re honoring the faithful service of other saints that are trying to proclaim the good news of Jesus.”
Morris, who first met the Aikens and heard about the Appalachian Christmas Outreach at BRN’s Accelerate Conference, echoed Fricker’s encouragement, saying, “Dewey and Kathie Aiken are amazing, and if you’re not connected with them, you need to reach out to them and have an initial conversation with them.”
He continued: “They will most likely be able to hit you back on a second or third conversation with something that brings tremendous value to your ministry.”
Starting in January, the Aikens and N.C. Baptists will start the Christmas backpack process all over again, aiming to collect 22,000 backpacks in 2024. BRN churches interested in receiving backpacks or connecting with North Carolina Baptists, including Baptists on Mission and the Aikens, can do so by visiting BRN’s preferred partner page or the Baptists on Mission website.
