CCHO is celebrating 50 years of ministry! Throughout 2019, we will be sharing stories of the lives that have been forever changed by the work God has done through our family of ministries (CCHO, Encourage Foster Care and Encompass Christian Counseling). Today, we’re honored to hear from Lashley Hess, the VBS Director for Meadow View Church of Christ in Frazeysburg, OH. Lashley and her church recently blessed CCHO and the children in our residential program on two separate occasions. Read story #35 in our 50 Stories for 50 Years of Ministry series to learn more about the generosity of this special church family.
As a first-time VBS director this year for Meadow View Church of Christ, I was asked to choose a mission to support with our VBS donations. My associate minister suggested that I look into CCHO as a choice and was told our church may also be planning a mission trip there at the end of the summer. The thought of donating material items to an organization and then blessing them once again later in the summer with a work day was very exciting.
I started off with an open mind and went to CCHO’s website. As soon as I read the mission of CCHO, I knew exactly who our VBS would be sponsoring! Not only was I excited to help CCHO but I knew our VBS kids would be excited as well, thinking they would more easily relate to an organization that helps other children.
Instead of just raising money alone, we asked CCHO what material things we could collect. We were given a list of items needed to make care packages for the CCHO residents, and each day kids would bring in items on the list. Then, at the end of each night of VBS, we would show a large teeter-totter scale, with the girls on one side of the scale and the boys on the other side. The scale would tip to whichever side brought the most items that day, and the gender that won each night got to put their names in a drawing to give mud baths at the end of the week. The children could also choose which adult to put their monetary donations toward each night, and my husband and I ended up being the “losers” (or winners, depending on which way you look at it), so we got that mud bath on the last night of VBS. It was so much fun to watch the children get so excited over all of the donations we were able to raise!
We brought a few of the VBS kids from church with us to drop off our donations at CCHO. We were able to deliver enough supplies for a year’s worth of care packages and we raised enough to purchase 18 portable DVD players for the home! The staff’s excitement when they received these items was so amazing to witness. It definitely blessed our congregation to get to help them out and know we have made a difference!
Then, last weekend, we were able to complete that Mission Trip work day! It was so amazing to be on campus and learn more about CCHO and all of the wonderful things they do. We did some generalized cleaning and maintenance around the property, and we also built a fence. It was a day full of a lot of hard work, laughter, and relationships strengthened within our own team.
Two things from the trip stick out most. One was an excited little girl riding by on a horse during therapy and waving at our group with all of her might. The other was something that was said to us by Dan Franks, who hosted us that day. “This is home for these kids. It means a lot to them for people that they don’t even know to come and spend an entire day working to make it better for them.” This trip has certainly blessed each one of us and we are looking forward to the next opportunity to come and serve. We are all very thankful for this opportunity to help out such a wonderful organization!
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