Summer Camp: the Gospel and a quilting bee

International (GAiN) – Summer’s nearly here and it’s time for Gospel camp, but it’s probably unlike any you’ve seen before.

Global Aid Network (GAiN) is smack-dab in the middle of Quilt Camp this week…running till Friday.

You might be wondering ‘What is Quilt Camp?’  It’s a week set aside for quilters to come together at GAiN’s Logistics Center in Mount Joy, PA and jump into a marathon quilting bee.

The ministry needs help preparing all stages of quilts to be completed during GAiN’s June Mission Packing Project.  Quilters bring 2 yards of new, 100% cotton quilting fabric to help with supplies and everybody grabs scissors or needles to help.

Next question: What are all these blankets for?  With the scope and size of the global refugee crisis, GAiN , the humanitarian aid arm of Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ International), is trying to meet the physical need, but they are overwhelming.  GAiN’s ministry partners, indigenous Christian workers in the Middle East, continue to bring help and hope.

Refugee kits containing meals, clothes, a blanket, and other needed supplies help ease the burden of homelessness.  And along with each tangible expression of kindness comes the good news: “Jesus loves you!”

The aid they send includes shoes, food, vegetable seeds, clothing, medical supplies, tents, school supplies, and other necessary items-to refugee camps, hospitals, orphanages, and schools in needy communities around the world.

That’s a lot…and it doesn’t arrive magically.  Someone has to pack it.

Enter: You.  Last year, around 1,500 people met at the GAiN Logistics Center in Pennsylvania in June, rolled up their sleeves and started getting things ready to ship.  Stories about who these supplies were going to were told.  Prayer moments turned into prayer movements.  Everything done with the names and faces of friends yet to be met.

That’s what opens doors.  Over and over, we hear the same stories about the question asked most often when a refugee receives a kit from a total stranger … ‘Why?’

There’s still time to get involved.  Registration is still open.  If you want to join us in sharing the warmth of God’s love in the toughest places, there are several simple ways to help.

• Give a yard of fabric that can be used to sew more quilts. (Here’s a quick link: http://ow.ly/ZKTa0)
• Like to sew? You can make a quilt or blanket and send it to our Logistics Center.
• Host a blanket drive at your school or church.
  (More info: http://bit.ly/GAIN-Blankets)
• Make a week of it for family vacation and help pack the containers
• Pray over the teams that will be acting as the hands and feet of Christ
• Ask God to provide opportunities to share the hope of the Gospel