Report on Santa’s Workshop

Debbie lost her house in the Cedar Fire. And she organized the AWESOME Santa’s Workshop that was held Friday.
And as people were coming, I told them they were in charge of the NEXT one when I lose my house! :)
So proud of Debbie and her volunteers. It was GREAT!!!!

Subject: Would you ever believe…

I have been trying to figure out how to put in words today’s ministry. I wonder if this is how people felt when I walked into their doors four years ago. This week as I talked to people I didn’t know from all over the county, we received daily drop offs from people who just saw our flyer, and I saw our church in the paper and in internet newsletters, I really wondered if I knew I was doing. The blessing was that we had such a great team to carry this out.

Then yesterday we set up. OMG! There was more stuff than we had room for. People were driving up constantly and bringing more boxes. Let me tell you, I was exhausted as we finished at 9:00. I counted our gifts cards and we had over 90 to hand out. The rain kept pouring.

Then I remembered something. God had called me to do this. I distinctly remember that. I just asked God for something to do to help the fire victims. God is the one who led me here. And we were praying for this event-not just me. I was not in this alone.

This morning at 9:30 people started coming. I was pushing everything as the last thing I wanted to do was pack up all this stuff. By 10:30 we had about 60 families. Kids were doing crafts, the stuff was being carried out in box loads. Families were smiling. Our volunteers were having a blast! We had volunteers from the community, other faiths, you name it. By 12:00 almost everything was gone. I ran out of gift cards. But families stayed to do crafts and to eat lunch. Santa was there to talk to the kids and adults alike. Gifts were being wrapped so Christmas was ready for them. All the prayer squares were taken and most of the bears, As many just wanted the prayers. We ended the day early and cleaned up as there were hardly no items left. We cleaned up by 3:00. Today we ministered to about 90 families and 75 kids. Praise God!

I want to thank everyone for all their HARD work. I know how you felt as we were setting up and it seemed like an endless amount of ornaments. I know clean up is not fun. I also want to thank you for your donations. They went to good use. One boy told me how his basketball was a mess and he picked out a new one. People said thank you. Sam asked me what I said to people. I just said to them, “Don’t worry, it gets better”.

Thank you for helping all those families and helping me to personally find a way to give back to the community what they gave me in the Cedar Fire.

Blessings,
Debbie Hallmark
Youth Minister
Community Church of Poway

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