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!

Butler Elementary School students, AISD, donated 650 pounds of food through Mission Arlington to families in need for Thanksgiving. This gift, and other like it, truly lifts our spirits.

Covered with Prayer

An important and deeply-held belief which permeates the Mission Arlington^® family is that our place “runs on the prayers of the people.”  We believe that we are “over our heads” when it comes to the tasks at hand, and especially when it comes to providing authentic help that people need.  We have family gatherings six days each week to hear a devotional based on Scripture, to worship, and then to pray. We have prayer partners, and we stop every day at 10:00 a.m. to pray for individual congregations and the work of Mission Arlington^® in general.  We have asked all who love and support this place to join us every day at 10. Our conviction is that

Mission Arlington^® belongs to God. This isn’t our story, but His. He had plans in place for this Ministry and for all who work here long before it happened. He started this mission, sustains us moment by moment, and He holds our future in His hands. (Link here)

Our heart has been to trust God for his provisions, and not to superimpose modern corporate strategies onto our work.  For this reason, we don’t have full-time grant writers or marketing campaigns or fund raisers. (See more about our approach here.) We have invited people to join us daily in prayer for this place, and we have committed to leave our work in his hands, which is where we believe that it belongs. For nearly thirty years, we have been surrounded by and covered with the prayers of the people. 

Lifted by Love

Yet, without organized strategies or marketing campaigns, this community has risen up to support this important work, all without anyone having a need to bring attention or credit to themselves. Independently of us, and with the force of strong convictions – individuals, families, civic groups, corporations, schools, churches, and so many more are out in force collecting food for Thanksgiving, or here giving their time so that other people in a moment of need can be ok.

Often, we don’t even know that people are giving like that until they show up on our doorstep with car or truck-loads full of food.  They spend their money. They spend their energy. They give their time, and use their personal influence with others to collect what someone else needs – people that they don’t even know.  We are honored, amazed, humbled, and brought to tears by what we see each and every day.  The generosity of this beautiful community overwhelms us.

Thanks to each of you who pray for us and this ministry. Thanks to each of you who give in multiple ways to help us help others.  We truly are covered with prayer and lifted by love, and we couldn’t do it any other way.

To God be the Glory!

Viewed from a second story window, volunteers build Thanksgiving boxes. More than 5,000 of these boxes filled with Thanksgiving food will go out on Thanksgiving morning.

It is a quiet Sunday morning at Mission Arlington^®, as Sunday mornings usually are. The crowded streets you can see in the picture to the left are now empty. The Mission family is out across the community teaching the Bible in 349 locations today, so the offices downtown are calm. These peaceful mornings often follow beautiful, but busy Saturdays. Yesterday was no exception.

A Reflection of our Community

Over a thousand volunteers poured into downtown Arlington yesterday to help us get ready for Thanksgiving day.  As the community lends its shoulder to our wheel, the beautiful observation to make is that it is also the very same community which first provided the food.  Not only do you give it, so that we can give it away, but you help us get it ready too.  Our story here is also your story.  We can help so many, because you make it possible. Truly we are “twice-blessed” – once when we receive it from you, and once when we give it away to people in need. Thanks to each of you who pray, give, and help. Your support means so much.

How does it work? A common question people ask is “how so much food gets put together for Thanksgiving Day?” Our first answer is that whatever good happen here only does so by God’s Grace. That’s the plain and unmistakable truth about this place. We could never do this on our own. However, since so many of you have been involved in helping, we thought we would share with you a little bit about the process.

How food is put together for Thanksgiving

Two girls from the Father-Child YMCA day at Mission Arlington help to sort Thanksgiving food.

Sorting Donated Food: For the most part, when people give food, it is unsorted. This is especially true when the food comes in through a drive of some kind.  First, food has to be sorted into “like kind.” All the green beans, corn, etc. are put together in their own box. Yesterday, the YMCA Arlington hosted their annual Father/Child volunteer day. Food Sorting was their task. More than 100 parents and their children came to sort the food. Mission Arlington^® clears a parking lot, and puts up tables shaped to form a large “U.”

Unsorted food is moved across the lot into boxes which are individually labeled. By the time two other groups joined (Burgin Elementary School and Dallas Baptist University Students), this huge team had sorted thousands of pounds of food. They also filled two box trucks full of Thanksgiving food.  This Thanksgiving food was then taken to another place on the Mission Arlington^® campus to go through another process.

Building of Boxes: After food is sorted, it is moved to a separate location.  Groups set up an assembly line where the boxes are filled with Thanksgiving food, everything a family needs (besides the turkey) for a Thanksgiving Day meal.  The turkey will be added to the box on Thanksgiving morning.  Yesterday, due to the volume of help, we were able to put together hundreds of Thanksgiving boxes.

We could only do this, because of the generosity of the people who gave the food, and because of the multitude of people who came to sort and organize the food.  We were tired when we went home last night, but it was the “good kind of tired.”  The community support was truly satisfying in the deepest of ways. Each of us went home to “thank God for his provisions and for you.”

Food for the soul

As with everything we do, our heart is to connect people to the Lord. Food lasts for a moment, but a relationship with Christ is eternal.  Our prayer and hope is that the work we do together on Thanksgiving Day will have lasting results.  Thank you so much

You can make a difference!

If you would like to know more about how to help, click this link.  If you would like to know more about the Thanksgiving Food needed, and/or our Christmas Store coming up, click this link.

Coble Middle School students putting together Thanksgiving boxes on the same Saturday in 2014.

You hear people talk about “total commitment” in a variety of ways. People will say, for example, “I’m all in,” when talking about their desire to reach a deeper level of commitment to something important in their world. Or, they might say, “I’m all ears,” meaning that someone is giving you their complete attention. We have various ways of saying that we are going to do something “with our whole heart.”

The mission family’s total commitment

On the way out of the mission offices last week, one of our Bible study leaders was talking about their efforts to make sure that everyone in her area who needed it, would receive a Thanksgiving meal from Mission Arlington^®.  Her comment was that she and her team were going “the whole nine yards.” Their intent was to make sure no one was missed, and they were fully committed to talking with every household in the neighborhoods right around the church.

However, when this Bible study leader stopped to explain, it was clear that her comment meant more than just “every household.”  Her desire was to have genuine conversations with each family she met, to ask them about their prayer needs, and to pray with them before she left.  The reminder for all of us that day was that Mission Arlington^® has always been a “ministry of ones.” In the next few days, you will hear that God has provided for large numbers of people leading up to and on Thanksgiving day, and it will be true.  As important to us, though, isn’t the large numbers, but that each life receives personal attention and care.  We want to go the “whole nine yards.”

The commitment of the community

Texas Health Resources family is “committed to community” They are serving at Mission Arlington® through the holiday season.

Yet, there is another way of looking at this, because it isn’t just the Mission staff and/or family that feels this way – but it is also the heartbeat of our community.  As this day unfolds, 1,000 people will come with their family or a team of some kind to help us prepare for Thanksgiving.  On Thanksgiving day, it will take 6,000 volunteers to help us deliver Thanksgiving food to 23,000 people.  Why would people give up their Saturday to serve, and why would so many people make their way throughout the city on Thanksgiving day when they could easily stay at home with their own families.  The answer is that this generous, giving community has always gone “the whole nine yards.”

Because you give the turkeys and the Thanksgiving food, we can give it away.  Because you come throughout the month of November to serve – even on Saturdays – we can have the food ready to go out on Thanksgiving morning (It takes multiple sorting processes to get it ready).  Because you come and bring yourself, your family, and/or your team, we have an army in place to deliver the food to people.  We are truly thankful for you throughout this season of Thanksgiving.

A commitment to authentic help and hope

Yet, there is one more part to this work.  People who receive not just the food, but the hugs and the kind words from you when you deliver it find their physical needs met for the moment. They are able to eat Thanksgiving food with their own families around their own kitchen table, and no one ever has to know that the food came from us.  Our hope and prayer, however, is that your hard work to make Thanksgiving work in people’s lives meets more than just a physical need. Our prayer is that it lifts the hearts, treating people with dignity and respect, so that they feel genuinely cared for. Even further, our desire is that through this kind of love and help, that people will see Christ himself among the crowd.  We hope this for those of us delivering the food, and we hope this for those who receive it. It’s more than just food on Thanksgiving day.  We want to go “the whole nine yards.”

To God be the Glory! We are grateful for you.

Children make a difference at Mission Arlington. Pictured here, a child helps sort Thanksgiving Food earlier this month.

Today is veterans day, a day to remember those who served in all branches of the military to defend our country. Since 1776, 48 million Americans have served in the armed forces. Many of us across our community have people close to us who served. Some gave their lives, making the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

The University of Texas at Arlington, our neighbor, has a full day of events happening, designed to honor military men and women, starting with a 6:30 a.m. reveille, an 11:00 a.m. dedication of the newly remodeled Vet Lounge, and a 2 p.m. address by UTA’s President Vistasp Krbhari and State Senator Konni Burton at a reception for UTA veteran students.  Other events are happening across our community as well.

Veterans day is  a special day here at the mission. Many from the family of volunteers and staff here have loved ones who either are serving currently or have served in our military.

On Veterans day, we want you to know that all of our services and ministries will be in operation. We are grateful for all those who will take the day off tomorrow to honor our veterans.  Our privilege on this day is to “stand in the gap” for those in need, so that families in our community can receive help.

Many in the community are mobilizing today to help us help others. For example, UTA’s Sigma Gamma Rho’s Sorority is hosting an event at UTA. Admission to the event is “free to all students with a canned good” which the Sorority will in turn donate to Mission Arlington^®.

Cub Scouts separating out Thanksgiving food late one night early this week.

You can help at Mission Arlington^® today!

1. If you are free to lend a hand today, why not come downtown to spend a few hours serving with us?  We’ll be here from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. We could use the help, and it would be a blessing all around to “shoulder the load” together. Plus, working here is just plain fun.
2. Or, if you can bring by some Thanksgiving food  (or other donations)as you are out running errands, that would be great too.
3. If you can’t come down to help in some way, then some might want to give a little to help others.
4. Others may just want to take some time on this day to pray, a great gift for our work.
   

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At Mission Arlington^® we also honor Jesus Christ on this day who gave his life on the cross more than 2,000 years ago, so that all men could have peace with God. On this special day, we are reminded of Christ’s words in the Gospel of John: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13).

Thank you for all you do to make a difference in our community. We are blessed today as we honor veterans by serving alongside you. We are a grateful people.

100 students from Arlington Collegiate High School rest from their day of labor at Mission Arlington to take a look at the Mission Arlington’s “Christmas Store” as it takes shape

As the Summer ends and the Fall begins, Mission Arlington^® looks towards the start up of after school programs (in 40+ locations), the transportation of children to and from school, and the kickoff our new and growing sports (baseball and wrestling) leagues.  Our first big event for the fall was our large, free Fall festival which happens on or around Halloween each year. The  festival was a huge success again this year, drawing 3,000 children (with their families), more than ever before.

As the Festival concluded last week, however, the full attention of the Mission Arlington^® family pivots to the holiday season – Thanksgiving and Christmas.  The truth is that we work on the these two holidays all year long.  (For example, we begin collecting, separating, and sorting  Thanksgiving food each year on the day after Thanksgiving. In the same way, we begin preparing for Christmas on December 26th.)  Having said that, we have now “turned the corner” and “shifted into a higher gear.” It is “full speed ahead” as we head into the holidays.  You can sense the excitement all around as we move into this final season of the year. It truly is, as the Andy Williams Christmas song declares: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

We begin this season of Thanksgiving each year by being thankful for you. Because you give, and because you volunteer, and because so many of you pray, we can be here to help, and we can have food to give away on Thanksgiving day and toys for Christmas morning.  This week, among many other conversations and encounters, we spoke to a man whose job had downsized the hours he could work. He was trying to make ends meet. He was working hard not to ask for help, and wanting to do things right, yet he had not eaten in three days.  He also didn’t have money to buy laundry detergent.  What a blessing it was for us – on your behalf – to provide the food and the detergent he needed for that moment.  We were also able to pray for him, and we will continue to stay close.

Two students from Arlington Collegiate High School help sort food in preparation for Thanksgiving.

Already, so many of you have been having food drives – as individuals, as families, as different groups from all over the community.  Others have come to help sort and separate the food, or the Christmas toys.  Pictured with this article are a group of students from the Arlington Collegiate High school. A hundred of them came last week to organize books for the Fall festival, and to get food into position for Thanksgiving morning.  Texas Health Resources groups have been coming to help, and student groups, church groups, and teams of all shapes and sizes have been here to make a difference – all so that someone who is less fortunate will have the provisions they need for their family.

We are grateful every day to be part of such a generous, caring community of people. We thank God for you, and for the privilege we have of serving along side of you every day.  As we have turned the corner towards the holidays, and year’s end, may God provide the wind beneath our wings.  May he use each of us to support those in our community who just need a little extra help to get by.