A group of ladies serving in the Christmas Store together had more fun helping parents get the Christmas gifts they needed for their children. The smiles on their faces both illustrates and symbolizes the incredible spirit of our volunteers this Christmas season.What a great community!

On this day after Christmas, we are pleased to share with you the results of your generous, faithful, and sacrificial support.

As most know, when you give to Mission Arlington^®, you are actually giving through us to someone in need. Our administrative overhead is a low 2.8 percent. This means that when you give financial support, 97.2 percent of every dollar goes directly in ministry to people, and not towards the administrative needs of the organization.

Tillie Burgin Director of Mission Arlington since the beginning, in the Christmas Store talking with a volunteer.

On the other hand, when you donated various items, such as food, clothing, furniture, and/or Christmas gifts for children, 100 percent of each contribution goes directly to the people. You give it, and we give it away. It has long been our policy not to re-sell anything you give. Truly, we are twice blessed – once when you give, and again when we give it away.

For this reason, among others, we view ourselves as a simple reflection of our community.  We can only give to others what you have first given to us.  We believe that the strength of our work here comes from the Lord first, and then in and through your generosity.  Individuals, families, civic groups, companies, corporations, churches, schools, and so many more, contributed Christmas gifts, bikes, food, and thousands of volunteer hours to make the holiday season so blessed for people in need. It was and is extraordinary to watch the outpouring of love coming from all directions.

Some of you adopted children through our “angel tree” process. Others adopted families, and still more gave in and through our Christmas Store. More than 7,000 of you showed up to help us give gifts away in our Christmas Store. Wow!

All in all, 7,351 families received help, representing 30,514 children.  We were able to tell the Christmas Story in five different languages (English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Sign, and Arabic), and 368 adults indicated their desire to begin a walk with Christ, and another 743 adults rededicated their lives to Christ, or told us that they wanted to know more about faith.  Follow up begins with each family starting today.

We are so grateful for the privilege we have of serving with this community to help people in a moment of need.  Your prayers, your help, and your financial support make a huge difference here.  We wish we could express our thanks to each of you individually. As we pray for you this morning, our hope is that the Christ of Christmas has found his home in yours as well, and that your own Christmas moments were blessed, because you first helped someone else to be alright.

We are truly enjoying this season at year-end, and looking forward to the year ahead.

To God be the glory!

College students from “Go Now” Missions, from all across Texas are here serving for a week. We are blessed!

College students from across Texas and from all over North America are here this week and next, helping Mission Arlington in a variety of ways at Christmas.

Three hundred (301) College students from Shreveport Louisiana, Blue Mountain Mississippi, Campbellsville Kentucky Tyler and Wichita Falls, Texas, and Pryor, Oklahoma, among others have been here this week helping Mission Arlington^® in our Christmas Store, collecting and delivering bikes, picking up and delivering furniture, sorting & separating food, helping people park, and so much more. Nineteen college students are here from all across Texas (pictured above), sent to provide leadership at Christmas time.

These young people could be spending their Christmas break in any number of ways, but they chose to spend their well-earned vacation time and school breaks serving at Mission Arlington.

We are so grateful.

A Crowded Christmas Store on the very first day the store opened for Mission Arlington Bible studies and congregations.

It’s Christmas time at Mission Arlington^®.  Our front room is full of working families, just needing a little help to get by. Because you give, we can help.

Our dental and medical clinics are brimming with people. Volunteer doctors and dentists are here, using their gifts to make a difference. Our donated trucks, filled with furniture, are leaving here every fifteen minutes, taking what you have given out to homes of hard-working families in need.

Volunteers are here. Individuals, families, and various kinds of groups – from civic clubs to corporations big and small, to church groups of most every size and shape.  These volunteers include people of all ages – from young children, to teenagers, college students, and adults – some in their 90s.  Even more of you are driving in, donating Christmas toys, food, furniture, and so much more. Streams of cars fill our driveways almost every hour of every day. In these days before Christmas, we start early, leave late, and love every minute in-between.

When you add to this the number of children – over 7,000 – who have received Christmas gifts from the store so far, then it is easy to think about Mission Arlington^® in terms of volume, crowds, and big numbers. We love the experience of being surrounded by so many people helping and being helped, especially because we know that our Lord is in the mix.

Five year-old Natalie received her bike, and a special bike helmet this past Saturday. It isn’t about “the bikes,” but about each child that receives one.

At the same time, Mission Arlington® has always been, as Tillie likes to say, a “ministry of ones.” Motivated by our sense that “whosoever” is the most important word in John 3:16, we’ve never been able to consider anyone among us as less important. We are coached here daily “not to miss a life,” to the point where it has become the representative culture of our place.

This past Sunday morning, just prior to an early prayer meeting in Tillie’s office, sounds of gentle sobbing emerged just outside the doors. A young mom was in distress.  Her son had recently been in an accident,  and this mom didn’t have money or means to acquire the medical equipment he needed. As a few gathered around to listen, one staff member bolted to our medical equipment closet and brought back crutches and a walker.  Through the tears, the mom told those gathered in a circle around her that she was a believer, and that she not only knew she would receive help here, but that we would pray with her.

The day before, there were thousands in the Christmas Store. That morning, only one. Every life matters to God, and every life matters to us.

We are so thankful for each of you who walk along side of us in these days. Your support encourages and inspires us to faithfulness, so that each person who crosses our path every day will experience the love of Christ here.

Thank you for your constant prayers, gifts, and support. You are making a difference here.

Because you have given so faithfully and generously all year long, and especially in these weeks leading up to Christmas, we are ready for opening day. More than 3,000 people will go through our Christmas Store today, representing several hundred families.

Parents concerned about taking care of their children have lined up early. Some of them were here all night long.

The heart of the Mission Arlington^® family today  – staff and volunteers – is not only to support each family with Christmas gifts – we want children to have something under the tree on Christmas day – but also to receive people warmly, to listen to their stories, to learn the names of their children where we can, and to provide genuine, authentic care.

A childcare is open here today, so that those parents who don’t have anyone to care for their kids will have a loving, safe place for them while the parents search for gifts in the Christmas Store.  Each parent coming through the store will also have a volunteer assigned to them as a “personal shopper,” helping them find the right gift for their children. The final stop is a wrapping station, filled with donated wrapping paper and scotch tape, so that a family can have their gifts wrapped, as if they were purchasing these gifts in a department store.

We have prayed for, and worked hard at making the store a place where people needing help can feel special and loved.  Anyone can hand out toys, after all, but our heart is to treat people with dignity and respect.  The volunteers who come from across North Texas, North America, and our own community do just that.

Our favorite part of this free Christmas store is the Christmas story.  We often hear from people coming through that while they loved and appreciated the gifts for their family, they were truly touched by the story.  We have the great privilege of being able to share Luke chapter 2, the biblical story of the birth of Jesus Christ, with every adult who comes through the store.  This past year, we were able to tell the story in six (6) different languages.

By the end of this day, the parents of thousands of children will have wrapped gifts hidden away somewhere which will go under the tree on Christmas Day.  We are so grateful for the way each of you have given, so that children and their families can truly have a Merry Christmas.  We are grateful for you.

As the store opens today, if you aren’t here helping, would you pray with us? Pray that each one coming through the store will receive the kind of care our Lord would want for them. Pray that the Mission Arlington family will be faithful, and that God will receive the glory in it all.

It is going to be a wonderful day.  We’ll keep you posted!

Assembly line, moving boxes of toys from storage into the Christmas Store across a couple of parking lots.

We are only days away now from the public opening of the store.

Last year, more than 32,000 children received toys.  Opening day of Mission Arlington^®‘s  Christmas Store is this Saturday, December 12th. The store stays open through December 23rd – every day, except for Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and it is completely free.

Fifth and Sixth graders from Oakridge School in Arlington move toys into position.

A beautiful, hard-working, group of people have been getting the store ready since it closed last Christmas Eve.  All-year, the mission staff and volunteers collected the donated toys you gave, and placed them in the store which had emptied of toys by Christmas day.

Even though we work for twelve months to get the store ready, preparation picks up in intensity the week or two prior to the pubic opening. This morning, around 100 fifth and sixth graders from the Oakridge School in Arlington have been here. Standing side-by-side in an assembly line, these bright, energetic young people moved toys out of trucks, across parking lots, and into the Christmas Store – one box at a time.

We are so grateful for the groups of people all year long who give and/or organize toy drives, so that this “store” will be filled and ready on opening day.

This community truly comes together to help:

Two fifth and sixth grade young ladies smile while moving boxes of toys through an assembly line into the Christmas Store.

Two fifth and sixth grade young ladies smile while moving boxes of toys through an assembly line into the Christmas Store.

It has been inspiring to watch children ask their friends to bring gifts for the Christmas Store, instead of something for themselves on their birthdays;

a team of ladies works on the restoration of dolls all year long, assigning each doll a scripture and a name. The dolls currently line an entire shelf – ready for moms and dads to pick them up for their children;

civic groups, neighborhoods, and so many more, have toy drives, gathering gifts for the store;

Employees in some companies provide resources from their checks each month, then employees purchase toys and send them on ahead. So many of you drop by with Christmas toys every day.

These are just a few examples of the sacrificial, generous giving of this community.

We are humbled to serve our Lord in this time and place. Your generosity moves us here every day. We give credit to our Lord for the way He puts all of this together, and we are thankful for you.

The opening of Mission Arlington’s annual (free) Christmas Store is “just around the corner.”

It is interesting to observe in our culture the various ways that people prepare for Christmas. There are Christmas “countdowns,” “tips for simplifying and getting organized,” “ideas about getting ready,” “ultimate Christmas guides,” and so much more. We haven’t linked to the sites online in this article, because often the connections lead its readers to advertisements, self-promotions, or gimmicks of some kind.  Add to this the discussions of “Christmas Creep,” and “Christmas too soon” conversations, and it is no wonder that people feel stressed  in this season. Holy days have become holidays after all.

On the other hand, there is a sense at “Mission Arlington^® that it is Christmas here every day and not just for a season, but all year long. The star which tops our main offices reminds us daily of the “Bethlehem star” which pointed the way to the Christ child.  On one hand, we remember the kind of people we are supposed to be.  On the other hand, we see incredible gifts, donated generously and freely, given to people in need. Because it is “more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), we watch the smiles which start from deep within the heart on the faces of those who give. We also experience here each day the expressions of thanks, tears of joy, and hugs of appreciation from those who needed precisely what was given – not for extravagance, but for every day living.  Truly the spirit of Christmas, if not Christmas itself, lives in our place each and every day.

Preparation for the CHRISTMAS STORE begin each year on December 26th.  We receive new and/or nearly new toys all year long in preparation. Teams of volunteers work periodically throughout the year to get the “Store” ready, and more intensely as Thanksgiving passes and Christmas looms. This free “store” allows parents to choose the gifts for their children, and have them gift-wrapped, then carried to the car.  Each adults coming through the store also hears the Christmas story, told in multiple languages from Luke chapter 2.  Our Christmas Store still needs a few more toys in it, of course, but in general, we are ready to go.

This is an exciting time at Mission Arlington^®.  We have turned the corner from Thanksgiving toward Christmas. We are so pleased to be walking this journey together with you.

6,000 volunteers gather at Mission Arlington prepared to deliver Thanksgiving food to people in need. (You can only see 1/2 of the line here.)  Six thousand (6,000) families received food, representing 25,017 people, our largest Thanksgiving Day delivery ever.

On Thanksgiving Day, a few staff arrived around 1:30 a.m. to begin moving trucks (filled with turkeys) into position. Others arrived a little later to begin blocking parking lots, setting up rope lines, distributing signs, sign-up sheets, and name tags.

Some volunteers began arriving way before the appointed 8 a.m. start times, ready to get going, and eager to be first in line.  At 7:30, Bible study leaders, and other volunteers gathered with Tillie to pray for the day.

Putting hot meals into Thanksgiving plates, to give out to the community.

At 8:00, Ms. Tillie spoke to the burgeoning line of volunteers, thanking them for the gift of their service. A little bit after that, the doors were opened, and the lines began to move. By this time, the number of people who had come to help deliver food had swelled to over 6,000 people. As you can see from the picture above, it was an extraordinary sight.  The day was cool, but the rain held off, and people seemed to enjoy being together as they waited.

People received the names of two or three families, with maps attached. They followed Bible study leaders to various locations, or just went out on their own to make personal deliveries of food to people in need.  Volunteers out back unloaded turkeys from trucks and into cars making deliveries, and lines of cars flowed smoothly through the mission out into the community.

About 10:00 a.m., the process switched from turkeys and Thanksgiving baskets to hot meals.  Restaurants had prepared and pre-cooked Thanksgiving food. Volunteers put this food, including slices of turkey into a delivery box, and volunteers took the meals out to the people.  The final piece to the morning was a sit-down meal at the mission, for people who had no where else to go.

All in all, it was an extraordinary day.  One volunteer said when she arrived at the mission, even through the crowds, she could feel God’s peace.  Other volunteers told us that they appreciated how quickly things moved, and/or how organized the whole event was.

Our perspective, as the Mission Arlington family, was one of Thanksgiving.  With the cold and potentially wet weather, we knew it was possible that we wouldn’t have enough help for the day. Yet, thousands came to help.  At one point earlier in the month, we were concerned that we wouldn’t have enough food to meet the need. We shared the need with the community, and Turkeys and Thanksgiving food began to flow into the mission, giving us just enough.

In the end, we had enough food for 6,000 families. 25,017 people received food on Thanksgiving day.

Mission Arlington^® , simply put, is a mirror – a reflection – of our community. We only give away what you first give so generously.  We can only “give away” what you have provided, because, like an army on the move, you showed up to deliver the food.  What is just as beautiful is the way you cared for the people as you gave out the provisions. This is an extraordinary community.  We believe that there isn’t another one anywhere just like it.  We are truly humbled and blessed to serve alongside of you here.

All glory to God!

Shop at “Amazon Smile” and support the work of Mission Arlington^®

Advertisements and estimations about Black Friday have been proliferating for some time. The day after Thanksgiving is often promoted as a “day of unbelievable deals” and a great day to begin shopping for Christmas.

Amazon.com is perhaps best known for pioneering online retail in the U.S., owning an influential 25% share of the domestic e-commerce market. According to some sources, heading into “Black Friday,” the retailer is “poised to put even more space” between itself and its competitors.

The good folks at Amazon have created a way for your purchases to support various charities, beginning in 2013. When you buy online through smile.amazon.com, the tech giant automatically donates 0.5% of your purchase to a charity of your choice. It costs you and the organization nothing.  The only “catch” is that you must start your shopping through smile.amazon.com.  Buying through Amazon apps, Kindle, or through affiliate links won’t count.

When you shop through Amazon this holiday season, if you want to support the work of Mission Arlington^®, you can click the following link to get started: SUPPORT MISSION ARLINGTON THROUGH AMAZON SMILE.  You can also find the Amazon Smiles Logo at the bottom of our website’s home page.

One way that some people look at this gift is that “it doesn’t add up to that much.” While it’s true that the percentage donated back to the mission isn’t a lot, over time individual purchases adds up. When the number of people supporting Mission Arlington^® through AmazonSmile proliferates, the support adds up, and it does make a difference.

We are grateful for all the ways so many support his work here.  We do thank God for you.  Our prayer is that you and your family will be truly blessed through the holiday season to year’s end.

Thousands of volunteers gathered to help deliver food to families in need, Thanksgiving Day 2015

Thanksgiving Day at Mission Arlington

210 W. South St., Arlington, TX 76010 / Volunteer start time: 8:00 a.m.

As Thanksgiving morning unfolds, we look back on an incredible few days. For days, there have been lines of cars “out back” dropping off turkeys and Thanksgiving food. For days, there have been lines of volunteers inside, eager to get to work and to lend a hand with the process and the product of Thanksgiving.  For days, our we have had caring people “up front” listening with tenderness to people who would not have Thanksgiving unless you gave.  Their tears were real – both those in need, and those giving back. Truly this is a day of Thanksgiving.

There has been a beautiful “circle of love” enveloping our place. We have been surrounded and supported by the generous hearts and hands of this community.  As you know, our work here simply is a reflection of your support. When you give, we give it away. As this Thanksgiving Day gets going, our refrigerators are full of turkeys, and our shelves are fully stocked with food. Truly this is a day of Thanksgiving.

Very early this morning, trucks filled with turkeys began to roll out of parking lots into various positions around the mission. Tables and chairs were moved, signs were installed, and everything was put into position for this important day. Truly this is a day of Thanksgiving.

We know that by 8:00 a.m., rain or shine, thousands of volunteers will come to deliver the food. Many will bring their families with them, teaching their children the importance of giving. Some will help us load turkeys into cars. Others will put together pre-cooked hot meals, and still more will serve a sit down meal to those who have no where else to be.  No matter the weather, or the effort required to be there or to serve, spirits will be high. There is joy in giving and helping. Some of these volunteers tell us that they have come full-circle.  At one time, they were the ones receiving the turkeys, and today, they will be the ones giving back.  Truly this is a day of Thanksgiving.

At the end of this day, when all has been said and done, we will look back on this day with satisfaction.  All across our community, families will be blessed, and they will bow their heads around kitchen tables and say a prayer of Thanksgiving.  Once again, those of us who were able to participate in some way, will experience the quiet joy of knowing that our common effort made a difference in the lives of our neighbors. As we lay down our head, just prior to falling asleep, perhaps we too will say. Truly this has been a day of Thanksgiving.

To God be the glory!

So many people, families, and teams pour their hearts into Mission Arlington until it becomes a mighty rushing river of God’s love and mercy spread throughout our community.

Psalms 46:4 “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God.”

Viewed from a second story window, multiple groups of volunteers come together as one strong team, building boxes of food for people in need. These boxes will go out on Thanksgiving Day.

The scientific word for the places where two bodies of water merge together is called a “confluence.”  A confluence describes the way a smaller stream of water, or tributary, feeds into a larger stream, or river, known as the “main stem.”  For example, the Ohio river is a tributary which flows into the larger Mississippi river.

At other times, a confluence can be the location where two smaller streams or rivers merge to become the source of a new river. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for example, the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers merge to create the Ohio river.

As Thanksgiving approaches, it is evident to us that Mission Arlington^® is at the end of a “confluence of good will” which flows as a resource to meet the physical needs of people on Thanksgiving day. Working together as a community, as is evident here, supplies a type of synergistic energy, such that the end result is bigger than the individual input of each part.

We are watching it happen every day, all across our community. One post on our Facebook about a need for turkeys was shared by viewers 372 times, going to 22,831 people. Off Facebook, those people share with others, and also many people began to pray. In a span of one week’s time, we went from about 800 turkeys to 6,000. This isn’t humanly possible, but it happened.

In this past week, we have seen people purchase turkeys, then contact others to drive them down. Some, as they have purchased turkeys, decided to add water and chips and other Thanksgiving food. Volunteers who have been here through the years continue to come back, knowing that their help is crucial, but they have also spread the word out, using their influence to bring others with them. As a result, hundreds of people have been here every day, as a mighty force, lifting the load.  We are humbled, and amazed.

“Come thou Fount of Every Blessing” is a hymn written by the 18th century pastor and and song-writer Robert Robinson who penned these words in 1757 at the age of 22. There is a line to the lyrics in this great hymn which mentions “streams of mercy never ceasing,” referencing the ever-flowing love of God.  As your gifts flow into and through our place, we see the way God uses those gifts to provide strength, hope, and even revival, to individuals and families all across our community. The most abiding image of Thanksgiving for some of us is the one of families at their own kitchen table, surrounded by loved ones, giving thanks to God.

Only He could have put all of this together. No amount of energy or marketing could have resourced this work, nor turned the physical gifts of a Thanksgiving meal into a stream of  help into hope for real people in need.  Truly, from all of us, this calls for “songs of loudest praise.”

We are grateful for you. All glory to God!