Curious what a Serve Day at CSM looks like? (Video)

Watch this video of Shades Mountain Baptist and Greater Shiloh Baptist volunteering at CSM and see how fun it is to serve! 

Shades Mountain Baptist and Greater Shiloh Baptist Serve Day

Watch these volunteers in action and experience a Serve Day at CSM!

Coming Together: A Note from Tracy Hipps

We have seen great growth in our ministries and the impact we are having on the city as we align ourselves with God's agenda as ambassadors of holistic reconciliation. Our theology is strong, our relationships with the churches we serve is continually getting closer, and our ministries are reflecting reconciliation, or "coming together," as their top priority. 

This month we partnered with the City of Birmingham who collected over 6 tons of canned goods from the City Courts. This food will feed thousands of families and will give opportunities to share the love of Christ with so many. We also watched two churches come together to serve together in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And this summer, we are bringing 10 organizations together to go to Kids Across America camp. Over 150 inner-city youth will experience this life-changing week. "Coming together" is on God's agenda and on ours. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Brings Two Churches Together

In a collaborative effort between two pastors and members, Holy Trinity World Outreach Ministry and Ardent Church brought volunteers together to help us accomplish a variety of tasks. Together this group was able to help us organize over 1,000 donated canned goods, prepare our CSM garden for the growing season, sort and catalog warehouse items for distribution, and work to help clear the area in the back for projects. What better way to honor Dr. King than to join hands together, black and white, and work to better the community of Birmingham. Thank you Holy Trinity and Ardent Church for being an example of reconciliation to us all and for your help at Christian Service Mission!

Operation Feed My Friends, Forgive My Fines

Birmingham Municipal Court's new program "Operation Feed My Friends, Forgive My Fines,"collected over 6 tons of canned goods during the holidays. Participants could have their parking fines forgiven by bringing in canned goods to the courthouse and all the canned goods were donated to CSM! We are very excited about the opportunity to share this food with our communities in need. Thank you to all who brought in canned goods and to the court employees who worked so hard to make this program a great success!

A Non-Traditional Opportunity to Donate

Have you been looking for a non-traditional way to donate to Christian Service Mission? Here is your chance.

We are currently seeking donations of used cars (that still run preferably) for a few of our partners.  You will received a write-off on your taxes, and we take care of all the paperwork!

Please prayerfully consider supporting us in this way.

Volunteers from Redeemer Lutheran in Damascus, Maryland, Take a Home from Foundation to Shingles in a Week

At the beginning of January, our friends from Redeemer came back to see us. This group has been coming to partner with us twice a year for the last 4 years and continue to be faithful to our relationship with them. These wonderful people spent five days with us in Pratt City rebuilding a house. On Monday (day 1) there was nothing on the property other than a large concrete foundation slab. When they left to go on Friday (day 5) we were putting shingles onto a finished roof!

For the latter part of the week, we were also joined by our friends from the Care Center. Two of the guys from the Care Center Ministry, Chase and Aaron, came to help us put shingles on the roof and also blessed the group with some lunch time gospel music! It was such a blessing to have three partners working together on one site to make a difference in our community! Thank you Care Center and Redeemer for your long standing relationship and God bless you all!

Canterbury UMC Serve Day

Canterbury United Methodist Church Serve Day

On February 7th we had the privilege of hosting a group from Canterbury United Methodist Church.  This group brought over 100 volunteers for their youth discovery weekend and they worked in the warehouse to help us organize our canned goods and dry goods, they worked to help inventory and set aside resources for our upcoming initiatives and they helped us to prepare our warehouse for the Spring season of gardening and serving the communities of Birmingham.  Thanks so much to the students of Canterbury UMC and their leaders for coming to help us out!

Mountain Brook Girls' Bible Study Raises Money to Help Feed Students in Need Over the Holidays

Mountain Brook Girls' Bible Study Raises Money to Help Feed Students in Need Over the Holidays 

On December 8th, this group of girls came from Mountain Brook to CSM to help us pack 175 of our Compassion Packs for kids at Forest Hills Middle School in Fairfield. These packs go to local schools to help supplement students' diets during their time away from school. any of these students depend on their school's meal plan to provide their nutrition on a weekly basis and when they are away from school for the holidays, they may not be properly nourished.

Thanks to these girls raising money and helping to put these packs together, there are 175 students in Fairfield that will be provided with a great supply of breakfast and snack foods for the Christmas holiday! Sandra Hardy, a member of Urban Hope Community Church and one of our partners in Fairfield, said that "your generosity is impacting hundreds of families in Fairfield" and that "the school was very appreciative of this kind gesture and the students were excited".  This is just another example of how, through Christ, the Christian Service Mission has been able to connect resources to needs!  Thank you girls from the Mountain Brook girls' Bible study and thank you Urban Hope for your involvement and partnership with CSM! Compassion Packs sponsorships are $5. Contact CSM to sponsor kids in need!

Toys and Christmas Meal Deliveries Help Spread Hope to Those in Need this Holiday Season

Toys and Christmas Meal Deliveries Help Spread Hope to Those in Need this Holiday Season

Volunteers sorted cans, organized toys, filled bags, and carried meals into homes for Christmas. This season is about the love and hope of Christ as our Savior and being able to generously give special meal items or help a parent fill a child's wish list is just one of the ways we can encourage fellow Christians or open the door to share the gospel with someone new.

Every year, we watch God provide more than enough through partnerships with churches, individual donors, and volunteers who make it all happen. We are so thankful to be able to spend this special time of the year with so many! At CSM, we hope you had a wonderful time with family and friends celebrating the birth of Christ and enjoying the specialness of it all.

What Will Last: A Note from Tracy Hipps

What Will Last

A Note from Tracy Hipps

What will last is our purpose and calling here to invest in the underserved. We have served thousands of people this last year and it has been an honor to serve for the Lord. In the last month, I have watched two very special people go home to the Lord: Ms. Sturdivant and Ms. Arrington. The Lord allowed CSM to serve them over the last 4 years with our hands and our hearts. It was a privilege to see them blessed by the Lord for their years of being a light in this world and they were a blessing to us through their steadfast prayers. Attending both funerals was a moving experience because the Lord has used both of these people to shape our purpose here: to serve the least of these.

What will last is the security we have in our Lord and Savior. The work we do is to increase the capacity to see lives changed for the gospel. The gospel message is the gas that powers the car or the wind that gives the sail the ability to move. The gospel is what inspires us to continue on each day "connecting resources with needs" because we know the true need is to know Him and then to make him known. The lives we have had the privilege to serve and the impact He has had is for eternity.

What will last is not the homes we have built or the gardens we have grown or the churches we serve or the people we have mobilized. What will last are the lives that have been changed and transformed through these relationships. The staff and volunteers at CSM are to make Him known. The Lord has produced this fruit The Lord has provided these opportunities to see lives changed.

What will last is not the connection to thousands of families or hundreds of partnerships but the one true connections we have in Christ. We are servants of the most High God and willing vessels to be used in whatever way He needs for us to be. What will last is Christ invading our lives so He can serve with our hands, walk with our feet, speak with our lips, see with our eyes, hear with our ears, think with our minds, and love with our hearts. To me, that is what it means to live as Christ. That is what will last.

What will last is for us to be last and for Him to be first. I am in awe daily here at CSM to serve the Lord and make Him known. Your investment is for the future that will last for eternity with Him. Thank you for another year of serving the Lord to the "least of these."