Batesville Backpacks

BATESVILLE, ARK. – The Batesville Seventh-day Adventist Church held their first annual “Backpacks to the Community” outreach in mid-August. Church members gathered together and filled 200 backpacks with school supplies such as paper, pencils, folders and binders. Out of the 200 backpacks, 165 were handed out and everyone who received one was deeply appreciative.

Colleen and Debbie, two women who helped prepare and distribute the backpacks, shared how they were impacted through this outreach. Colleen said, “It was a blessing working together with the church and the young people while we were putting the backpacks together. During the time that we handed out the backpacks, the looks on the faces of all the children as they got to choose from all the colors and then the excitement of their first day back at school was such a blessing to me! I think they helped me more than I helped them!”

Debbie said, “I am thankful that I got to be part of such a wonderful event. It was so exciting to watch our church youth and adults find joy in wanting to help the children of our community. From observing the gratitude of the parents, to the smiling faces of the children, we witnessed everyone being blessed. It was a beautiful opportunity for our church to play a part!”

God is so good to us and it is so important for us to remember that we are called to serve others; to be witnesses for Jesus in all that we do, even if it’s through a backpack.

By Francis Taylor