How do you get kids involved in missions? The answer came to Heywood Washburn in an unusual place — some 35,000 feet above the Earth’s surface.
“I was on an airplane flight thumbing through a magazine when I saw an ad for a company that pays cash to recycle old cell phones,” the 75-year-old retiree said.
It was an idea that may help rank Washburn’s church, Calvary Baptist, among 2005’s top 100 givers to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, a designation they have held for several years.
Washburn volunteers much of his time with the children’s ministry at Calvary, located in Tupelo, Miss. As a Royal Ambassadors (RAs) leader, he was hunting for a project to help teach Calvary’s youth about missions and the importance of giving. “If we don’t keep missions on the forefront,” Washburn said, “it’s too easy to spend money on ourselves.”
A few weeks later, Washburn had a plan. Working in conjunction with AmericanCellPhoneDrive.org, the organization he had read about during his flight, Washburn set up a drive of his own at Calvary. Special drop-off boxes provided via the Web site were placed around the church, and Calvary’s RAs and Girls in Action began asking family, friends and neighbors to sift through their junk drawers and surrender old cell phones.
While the kids started collecting, Washburn helped get the word out to Calvary’s congregation using fliers and the church’s e-mail newsletter. Two months and 75 phones later, the children were ready to package up their salvaged loot and send it off, postage paid.
When the check came back, Washburn wanted the church to know the kids had been successful and to inspire the adults to follow their lead. He arranged for the money, a total of $217.75, to be presented to Calvary’s pastor, Bryant Barnes, during Sunday services.
“The kids called it a challenge to the church,” Washburn said — a way to kick off Calvary’s giving to the annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. (BP)
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