(January 2, 2013) Few things are as heartwarming as children giving to others and enjoying themselves while doing it. At an early age children can learn the value of living a life of service; giving comes naturally. Faith Like A Mustard Seed was created to nurture and grow a child’s natural love for giving to the community.
In two short years, the children and families of Faith Like A Mustard Seed participated in close to 100 community service projects – and the list keeps growing!
Kids of all ages, from pre-school to teen, meet weekly and monthly to do various projects in the north Texas area. They wrote messages in Bibles for inmates at the Collin County Detention Center, collected school supplies to fill 50 backpacks for the Collin County Assistance Center, made diaper cakes for new moms at pregnancy centers, made pillows and blankets for the homeless and made giant apple cobblers to serve 80-plus people at a free community meal in Wylie, just to name a few.
“There’s always a person, a group or an organization that needs help,” said founder Robyn Bray. “The kids love knowing they’re making a difference.”
One of their favorite projects is making sandwiches for the SoupMobile. In 2011, they made 1,675 sandwiches for the homeless.
Robyn started Faith Like A Mustard Seed while being a stay-at-home mom (she’s a teacher at Wylie East High School now). The group meets at Our Savior Lutheran Church in McKinney and draws in children from all over the north Dallas area. They often visit Hillcrest Nursing and Rehabilitation Center during off-school time, visiting with residents, conducting an Easter Bible Study, working on puzzles and singing.
“It’s fun to see kids start off nervous or unsure and now, children that have been coming regularly have a heart to show God’s love and are not afraid to meet people who are different from them,” she said. “If they see a need, they bring it to the group.”
Faith Like A Mustard Seed also exposed the kids and families to a lot of local but also international ministries like Soles 4 Souls, an international group that collects shoes and ships them all over the world and to disaster areas.
To fund the ministry, Robyn makes travel-size pillows, blankets, photo frames and color bags (with crayons and paper) and sells them at the Crafter’s Co-op store in downtown Wylie and at local craft shows.
“I frequent the downtown Wylie area and one day I walked in to Crafter’s Co-op and started talking with Terry Lancaster, the owner. She’s been incredibly supportive,” Robyn said. “Everything seems to work out; you can definitely see God’s hand in it all!”
At the store, there’s a photo book with pictures of the ministry at work. Local churches also donate funds to support the ministry.
“We buy project supplies, like gifts for the busy bags for children undergoing medical treatment at the Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders at Children’s Medical Center, school supplies to fill backpacks, food for the SoupMobile sandwiches, Bibles … whatever we need for our projects and events,” Robyn explained.
Photos are also online at the Faith Like A Mustard See website, FaithLikeAMustardSeed.webs.com, where you can also find information about supporting and joining the ministry, purchase pillows and blankets or make monetary donations.
“Each week the kids of Faith Like A Mustard Seed find ways to spread the love of Jesus by planting SEEDs that Serve, Encourage, Energize, and Disciple. From visiting with the elderly, cheering up the sick, cheering and providing for the troops, to taking care of animals, Faith Like A Mustard Seed has a heart for service. We hope you will be called to serve too!” Robyn said.
“…if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20
Need an idea? Here are just some of the events and projects of Faith Like A Mustard Seed.
- Animal Shelter Visit and Toy Donation
- El Dorado Retirement Center Game Day
- Fire Station 11 Dinner
- Crossing Guard Christmas Bags
- Christmas Caroling, Secret Santa Cards and Gift Bags
- Gifts and cards for kids at Children’s Medical Center at Legacy
- Hillcrest Nursing and Rehab Visit (holiday decorating, working on puzzles and singing)
- Messiah Lutheran Shut-In Cookie Delivery
- God’s Food Pantry (Plano, TX)
- Warm fuzzies for friends
- Oak Point Nature Preserve Trash Pick-up
- Nature Photo Cards for children featured by MakeAChildSmile.org
- Donations and feeding horses at ManeGait Therapeutic Horsemanship
- Construction Worker Appreciation Cookies
- Teacher Appreciation Photo Frames
- Mother’s Day Wind Chimes
- Father’s Day “Because of You…” Books
- Welcome Home A Hero at DFW Airport
- SoupMobile (1675 ham sandwiches made for the homeless to date) SoupMobile.org
- Children’s Book Drive
- Vacation Bible School Thank You letters
- Prayer Journals
- Thousands of grains of rice donated through FreeRice.com
- School Supply Project (50+ backpacks filled with supplies for needy children)
- Operation Christmas Child (40+ Christmas boxes sent to kids all over the world)
- Popsicle Praise (100s of free popsicles distributed to families at a park)
- Letters and Care Packages to Troops (AnySoldier.com)
- 7000 Bracelets for Hope, Global Genes Project (globalgenes.org)
By Blue Ribbon News guest columnist Jamie Engle, a freelance writer and crafter living in North Texas.
Visit Jamie’s Etsy store at etsy.com/shop/JamiekinsCreations and email her at jamie.engle9@gmail.com.
Photos in this story courtesy of Faith Like A Mustard Seed.
To share your good news and events, email editor@BlueRibbonNews.com.
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