Haiti Relief Effort

by Trey Gay

On January 17th, a Sunday school class at Mt. Juliet church of Christ asked what could be done to help those in Haiti who have been affected by the recent 7.0 earthquake. The office staff researched that question the 18th and 19th and learned of some congregations we knew, who were participating in gathering "buckets of love" for church of Christ missionaries in Haiti. The eldership confirmed that they would like for the Mt. Juliet congregation to be involved on January 20th - just 1 day after the initial idea was presented to them. Members of our congregation were called and buckets were donated, printing services were provided (thanks Teresa!), the local Lowes in Providence offered to participate (thanks Robert!). Sunday morning, January 24th, the relief effort was introduced to the congregation at 8 am and 10:15 am with a total of 100 buckets scattered throughout our auditorium and foyer. By 1 pm as we were all leaving the building, 3 buckets were already filled to the brim. At 2 pm, Grif called to say the local Dollar Tree and Wal-Mart were "crawling" with members of the Mt. Juliet church of Christ. Isn't that wonderful?! At that moment, I thought to myself, "not only are we helping people in Haiti, we are also stimulating our local Mt. Juliet economy!" People of our community saw our "light" shining that day as we purchased goods for the needy. Our church office has received calls since Sunday from people who observed our members "purchasing goods for those affected in Haiti". At least 2 people outside of our congregation asked if they could participate in the giving and dropped off goods at our church building. Isn't that great?! I spoke with one individual who asked if she could volunteer for events such as this at our church building in the future.
Several meetings occurred on Sunday afternoon so I didn't see the auditorium until about 5:55 pm. Walking into the auditorium that afternoon is one day I will never forget. So many donations were purchased and dropped off at our building that ALL 100 buckets were overflowing by Monday morning. On Monday, January 25th, one of our "bucket providers" (thanks James!) brought in 20 additional buckets. By Monday evening, they, too, were all full. We left the building somewhere around 8 Monday evening and over 120 buckets were packed full of the items the missionaries had specifically asked us to provide. We're expecting donations to continue through Wednesday evening and we are so excited to continue filling buckets of love for those who need them most.
In 8 days, a thought of "what can we do?" developed into 120+ five gallon buckets sitting on our stage, packed full of items the Haitians need for the most part. The amazing part of this story is you filled the buckets in less than six hours. Thank you, Mt. Juliet! It is very clear that you are sharing a portion of what God has provided to you.
What a wonderful day. Thank you to everyone who participated. It was a tremendous success and we give all of the glory to God. Let us proudly keep our lights shining so that those around us may be curious and ask, "What can we do to be a part of this next good work?"
Matthew 5:16 - "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in

January 31, 2010



Haiti Relief Effort by Trey Gay On January 17th, a Sunday school class at Mt. Juliet church of Christ asked what could be done to help those in Haiti who have been affected by the recent 7.0 earthquake. The office staff researched that question the 18th and 19th and learned of some congregations we knew, who were participating in gathering "buckets of love" for church of Christ missionaries in Haiti. The eldership confirmed that they would like for the Mt. Juliet congregation to be involved on January 20th - just 1 day after the initial idea was presented to them. Members of our congregation were called and buckets were donated, printing services were provided (thanks Teresa!), the local Lowes in Providence offered to participate (thanks Robert!). Sunday morning, January 24th, the relief effort was introduced to the congregation at 8 am and 10:15 am with a total of 100 buckets scattered throughout our auditorium and foyer. By 1 pm as we were all leaving the building, 3 buckets were already filled to the brim. At 2 pm, Grif called to say the local Dollar Tree and Wal-Mart were "crawling" with members of the Mt. Juliet church of Christ. Isn't that wonderful?! At that moment, I thought to myself, "not only are we helping people in Haiti, we are also stimulating our local Mt. Juliet economy!" People of our community saw our "light" shining that day as we purchased goods for the needy. Our church office has received calls since Sunday from people who observed our members "purchasing goods for those affected in Haiti". At least 2 people outside of our congregation asked if they could participate in the giving and dropped off goods at our church building. Isn't that great?! I spoke with one individual who asked if she could volunteer for events such as this at our church building in the future. Several meetings occurred on Sunday afternoon so I didn't see the auditorium until about 5:55 pm. Walking into the auditorium that afternoon is one day I will never forget. So many donations were purchased and dropped off at our building that ALL 100 buckets were overflowing by Monday morning. On Monday, January 25th, one of our "bucket providers" (thanks James!) brought in 20 additional buckets. By Monday evening, they, too, were all full. We left the building somewhere around 8 Monday evening and over 120 buckets were packed full of the items the missionaries had specifically asked us to provide. We're expecting donations to continue through Wednesday evening and we are so excited to continue filling buckets of love for those who need them most. In 8 days, a thought of "what can we do?" developed into 120+ five gallon buckets sitting on our stage, packed full of items the Haitians need for the most part. The amazing part of this story is you filled the buckets in less than six hours. Thank you, Mt. Juliet! It is very clear that you are sharing a portion of what God has provided to you. What a wonderful day. Thank you to everyone who participated. It was a tremendous success and we give all of the glory to God. Let us proudly keep our lights shining so that those around us may be curious and ask, "What can we do to be a part of this next good work?" Matthew 5:16 - "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in January 31, 2010	Mt. Juliet Church of Christ 1940 N. Mt. Juliet Road P.O.Box 248 Mt.Juliet, TN 37122-0248 (615)758-2274 Fax:615-754-2351 Email Worship Services: Sunday Early Worship: 8AM Sunday Bible Study: 9:15AM Sunday Late Worship: 10:15AM Night Worship: 6PM Wednesday Bible Study: 7PM