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"The Campus Commission"
June 8, 2009
Oakdale Covenant Church, Tuckeer, GA
Catherine Gilliard took the assignment and used her $100 to survey college students about how the church could minister to them. Gilliard discovered that students wanted the church newsletter, weekly sermon tapes, postal mail and devotional materials.
As a result of her survey, Gilliard launched what she calls "The Campus Commission." It is a ministry to college kids who are away form their home churches. She is sending out quarterly care packages that will give seven students "physical and spiritual food, including cakes, cookies, stamps, spiritual materials, CDs and other items. Her idea is already catching on as two other churches within the Southeast Conference have heard about the idea and are implementing it in their own ministries.
The rest of the Gilliard family has also received enjoyment from using their $100 assignments for God's glory. Deric Gilliard, Catherine's husband, has used his money to invite homeless people to lunch and to get to know them better. The Gilliards' 11-year-old daughter, Veronica, decided that kids in her neighborhood would benefit from a mobile library that carried Christian books and videos suited for her age group, among other things. She prayed before asking her mother's friends for help to make her vision came true.
Thus far, Veronica has collected $1,200 for the project, along with Christian videos, CDs and books. She is also planning on adding an element to the assignment - visits to battered women's shelters and hospitals to read to children. The authors of The Kingdom Assignment have heard about Veronica's efforts and her story is slated to be part of a second book documenting efforts made by other churches and individuals who have taken the assignment. But even if a second book doesn't come out, Veronica has learned some valuable lessons, her mother said.
"She (Veronica) had to pray about something she was going to do and, after she decided what she wanted to do, she mailed letters (to family friends) and then had to wait," said her mother. "It was a good exercise for her. She asked me during the next two weeks if I thought anybody had gotten her letters. When she got her first letter back (for $100) she thought she was finished. But every day, things kept coming and kept coming and she got excited about going to the mailbox.
That's what has happened to many others," Gilliard continued. "People have launched projects and then waited and waited for God to respond. And it's been awesome to watch people's faith in knowing that God has a plan for them to be involved and, if they were obedient, that God will make it grow farther than they had imagined. Because as it keeps going, it becomes something that's far beyond you and you know God had something better in his plans." |
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