Churches send LifeBoxes as ministry to military
 - LifeBox encourages overseas military - Boxes filled with positive resources - LifeWay, Baptist associations cooperate on effort |
 - Lonely leatherneck loves his LifeBox |
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NASHVILLE, Tenn., 1/17/08 -- What if you never received mail or the only mail you received was for adult entertainment?
For some soldiers serving far away from home, mail time is one of the most looked-forward-to times of day. For the ones who only get one of the thousands of magazines sent by adult-oriented publishers, it’s a day to remember how lonely they really are. For the ones who get LifeBoxes from their home churches or associations, however, it’s a day for praise and celebration and a continued commitment to their Christian values.
LifeBox project
In the fall of 2006, the church resources division of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention began working with Baptist associations to create LifeBox.
For example, 22 churches in the New River Baptist Association in Jacksonville, N.C., packed and mailed more than 800 LifeBoxes to deployed soldiers from their area for the 2007 Easter Sunday LifeBox mailing goal.
Sandy Bain, the association’s director of missions, said, "I can’t remember a time when the churches of the New River Baptist Association have been as excited as they have been with the LifeBox project. … Many of our churches are having ‘Packing Parties’ with GAs, RAs, youth and adult Sunday school classes. Needless to say, there is an excitement in the air."
A LifeBox is packed with items such as a personal note to a service member, gum, tube/crew socks, small candies, stationery supplies, homemade goodies and wet wipes, plus a LifeWay magazine. Christian music CDs and books also are appreciated.
"LifeBox is a way that LifeWay can work with local churches and Baptist associations to make a positive contribution to our Armed Forces personnel," said Rhonda Buescher, director of LifeWay’s magazine advertising and circulation. "LifeBox is a simple way to offer a good alternative to secular magazines that are readily available. Christians serving in the Armed Forces have said that mail and Christian magazines are greatly appreciated, and now we have an opportunity to have a positive impact on their lives through LifeBox."
Buescher said congregations and associations are encouraged to send LifeBoxes to men and women connected to their local churches. "Almost every church has someone who is serving in the military. But for those churches who do not have a personal connection, some chaplains have requested to receive the boxes to distribute to their units. What a tremendous ministry this is to those serving in the Armed Forces and to their families. What a tremendous opportunity this is for Sunday school classes, women’s ministry groups, men’s ministry groups, student ministries, church choirs, children’s missions groups, VBS and college campus ministries."
How LifeBox works
Churches and interested community organizations donate money to their local Baptist association to pay for magazines and postage for flat rate mailers.
Associations order HomeLife, Christian Single, Journey or Stand Firm through LifeWay’s network partnerships area at a special discount for this project.
Associations enlist churches to participate. Collection points are designated at associational offices or churches.
Churches and interested community organizations collect the LifeBox items and deliver them to one of these collection points. Addresses of individual military personnel or chaplains are collected from churches or from Web sites that house names of military personnel who wish to receive mail.
Personal notes are written and packed with other items in a flat-rate mailer.
Some additional LifeBox project options for churches, families, or ministry groups within churches, including providing Christian magazine gift subscriptions for family members of the deployed, are suggested in the FAQs located at LifeWay.com/LifeBox.
Churches and associations will need to mail their boxes about three weeks prior to targeted receipt date. Holidays are an especially meaningful time for military personnel to receive packages, but they are appreciated anytime.
Working together
"We are so pleased to be able to work with many of our Baptist associations to make LifeWay magazines available to our service men and women," Buescher said. "The mission of LifeBox is to fulfill the dream of a Southern Baptist Army officer. A devoted husband and dad, he realized his responsibility as spiritual leader in his home included not reading certain secular publications easily available in deployment. Being accustomed to receiving LifeWay’s distinctly Christian magazines, such as HomeLife and Stand Firm, at his church, he wanted to find a way to receive those magazines while deployed as a commitment to his family values.
For more detailed information on LifeBox, along with the list of FAQs for churches and associations, go to LifeWay.com/LifeBox. Look for an article about LifeBox in the May 2008 issue of HomeLife magazine.
LifeBox is a voluntary ministry organized and promoted by Southern Baptist associations and LifeWay, with key input from Southern Baptists serving in our Armed Forces and from an advisory team made up of directors of missions. This ministry is voluntary and has no official connection with or approval by any of the United States Military Services.
About Polly House
Polly House is LifeWay's corporate communications specialist and editor of Facts & Trends. She came to LifeWay in 1999. Polly and her husband, Sam, live in Nashville, and are the parents of Tyler and Travis, both college students. They are members of Crievewood Baptist Church. Polly can be contacted at polly.house@lifeway.com.
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