We have been blessed with additional churches and participants in our Hope Box campaign.  If you have boxes to deliver at a collection site, you have until March 14.  If you are going to participate, please go ahead and contact either Tanya Walls at (336) 963-2987 or if you are in Virginia, please contact Mike Dodson at (540) 825-6614.  Thank you so much for your willingness to bless the children of Appalachia.

To be sure, this has been a winter to remember for those of us across North Carolina.  However, this is nothing in comparison with the horrific winter that the folks of eastern Kentucky have had to experience.  Several snow storms followed by heavy rain resulted in flooding and now mudslides.  The forecast is even less favorable this week as the already hyper-saturated ground is scheduled to receive an additional 3 inches of rainfall.  Roads have been washed out, homes have been destroyed, and some are still without water going into a second week.  If there has ever been a time when the people of this area need hope it is now.  If you have not considered making a Hope Box before, please do so now.  There is contact information available on the website as are directions for making a Hope Box.  If you would like to read more about the natural disasters currently facing eastern Kentucky, we offer this article concerning a mudslide that has occurred just blocks from where several of our teams will be staying this year.  Please pray for the people of Appalachia and for those who are already on the ground serving them.  http://harlandaily.com/news/home_top-news/152217324/Mudslide-wreaks-havoc

2016 has the promise of being our largest year yet for Hope Boxes.  By God’s blessing, we anticipate going from 8,000 boxes last year to over 17,750 boxes this year reaching students in 47 schools across southeast Kentucky and Wise County, Virginia.  We recognize that this is going to be a huge undertaking, but we also know that God would not have opened this door for us without a plan already in place as to how He would accomplish this task.  We invite you to join us on this journey by your or your church making Hope Boxes or even planning to be part of a team this year.  We will be deploying 11 teams across 8 counties March 21-April 1.  If you have any questions about making a box, please contact our deployment coordinator, Tanya Walls, at hope.tw11@yahoo.com or by calling her at (336) 672-1376.  Henry Blackaby has stated that to experience God, we should find where He is at work and join Him there.  God is at work in Appalachia and we pray that you will join Him there soon.