Love Packages is needing some help again — this time with space to store biblical materials before they are loaded and shipped across the world.
Jason Jenkins, manager of the Decatur branch of Love Packages, said the organization runs on faith in the Lord to deliver what they need, and this time is no different. Love Packages collects donations of Bibles and biblical literature from individuals and publishers and ships them to people in need around the world.
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Jenkins said right now they are in a space of about 6,000 square feet, and that is on the small side for what they need. However, they didn’t have much choice when the rent tripled on the side of the warehouse where they had 10,000 to 15,000 square feet to work with. That is the size they really need, he noted, but right now they are in a month-to-month lease, and that gives them the ability to look for land to build on or to look for a warehouse to buy for use as a permanent place.
They are looking for a warehouse that has a loading dock and is big enough to use part of it for the biblical literature waiting to be shipped. And they’d like to see the other half made into men’s and women’s dorm rooms, bathrooms and a kitchen for the volunteers who stay overnight to help with packaging and sending off the containers.
“Right now the volunteers come for a week and have to pay for hotel rooms, which can get expensive,” Jenkins noted. “This way they don’t have to worry about that cost if we have a place for them on site.”
If they can find about 2 to 5 acres of land, he noted, they could build what they need because Love Packages would supply all of the material, and Carpenters for Christ or Campers on Mission would come help build it. He said he is grateful for the good relationship he has with those two volunteer organizations.
Distribution
Every week Love Packages receives 8 tons of materials dropped off from semitrucks or U-Hauls. After it’s dropped off, Jenkins goes through every piece of it so people overseas will receive books that are in good condition.
The materials go to countries where 25% of the population speaks English, which is mostly India along with several countries in Africa. Those areas get a lot of the materials because all of the books are in English, and they will be able to use them right away, Jenkins said.
Love Packages ships 20-ton containers out each week directly to groups like Samaritan’s Purse and Youth With A Mission that can receive them and get them distributed. The materials include Bibles, Sunday School packets, books by renowned Christian authors and materials donated by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and other churches and organizations.
Jenkins noted the 400 to 500 volunteers who come every year help with repairing books, cleaning them, strapping them in sets and packing them up to put in the containers. He stressed it is not really possible to do this work well without volunteers giving their time during the summer and at other times when they are able to come, but if the volunteers have to keep paying for hotels it affects how long and how often they can come.
More warehouse space would allow this organization to continue putting the Word of God into the hands of people in nations that don’t have access to it.
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