San Antonio church collects, fills backpacks for 525 South Texas children_80904

Posted: 8/06/04

San Antonio church collects, fills
backpacks for 525 South Texas children

By Scott Collins

Buckner News Service

PROGRESO–Elementary school children in Progreso are going back to school this year with a heavy burden, thanks to the Fellowship at Westcreek in San Antonio.

In less than seven months, members of the new church collected more than 525 backpacks and delivered them to the South Texas community as part of a recent weeklong missions project sponsored by Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Texas and Buckner Children and Family Services.

The church, which is less than a year old, averages between 50 and 60 on Sundays.

But members passionately embraced the challenge of providing a backpack filled with school supplies for every elementary child in Progreso, according to Pastor Ken Noles.

He and his wife, Brandie, initially presented the idea of collecting 100 backpacks. But a visit to Progreso early in the process revealed that about 500 children attended Progreso Elementary School.

Armed with that information, Pastor Noles returned to his congregation, and with his wife, upped the goal to five times the number of people who attend the church.

That's when church member Julie White came forward and said she felt God's call to be the point person for the project.

“At that point, it wasn't just our vision, it was the whole church's vision,” Brandie Noles said. “Everybody got behind it 100 percent.”

As momentum for “Operation Backpack” picked up, she said, children took collection boxes to their schools, members canvassed their neighborhoods door-to-door and Boy Scouts distributed flyers seeking donations of backpacks, school supplies and money.

Along with organizing the drive, White took on the responsibility of converting cash donations into school supplies.

“Part of God's providence is that just after we decided that God was leading us to bring 500 backpacks to the Valley, a local business put backpacks on sale for $5,” the pastor said.

Noles estimates the value of each backpack and supplies at about $10.

The project served as a catalyst for the new congregation, Noles said. “It galvanized us,” he said.

“It brought us together around a common goal, and everyone began to mobilize around this particular thing. It drew us together as a fellowship. It also turned our focus outward, because we were seeking input and support from people way outside our church.”

Noles added he knows of at least two families that have become involved in the church specifically because of Operation Backpack.

“This has been the most meaningful thing aside from the launch of our church that The Fellowship at Westcreek has done,” he said.

Noles added that Operation Backpack is not an end in itself.

“We kind of see it as a means to an end, because what we're doing is providing a inlet into that home to sometime down the road go in and share with them why we did this.”

White, who became the driving force behind the project, said she felt God spoke to her heart and instructed her to take the lead.

“I have the gift of loving children and the gift of motivation,” she said. “I felt like it was my job to get behind the church family and get them motivated.”

White added that her work on Operation Backpack was extremely satisfying and gratifying. “It's proven to me what goals I can set and what I can accomplish whenever I have God at my back. I can do just about anything. After doing this, I am convinced I can do just about anything.”

At times when she became discouraged or doubted the success of the project, White said, “God sent somebody through for me each and every time. It's been a joy and a blessing.”