Christian Service Mission (CSM) closed out 2016 with great results to God’s glory. We collaborated with more than 150 partners and thousands of volunteers who were involved in a variety of community activities that improve the health— both physically and spiritually— of those in need. The Gospel changes people’s lives, and we have witnessed great changes this year.Working through Christian Community Development strategies, we have seen thousands reached for Christ through evangelistic activities and benevolent outreach. Many, in turn, have joined churches, become better neighbors, and been encouraged by the demonstration of the Gospel lived out through our partners and volunteers. We’ve broadened our outreach beyond the seven communities we traditionally serve to reach out into surrounding areas in the North, East, West and South (NEWS) in a larger effort to work with all our partners to bring the GOOD NEWS to those in need.
We continue to develop communities through gardening, food outreach, home rehabilitation, student activities, and education. Our six community gardens are supported by volunteers and seed donations, providing community togetherness, learning, and fresh and accessible produce. Two thousand pounds of produce was harvested from the CSM garden center alone! We distributed 750,000 pounds of food to our partners, and at Thanksgiving, 3,200 people received a frozen turkey or ham and a box of all the ingredients needed for cooking a Thanksgiving family meal. These groceries were delivered into the recipients’ homes by volunteers. At Christmas, we delivered toys to 400 happy children and holiday groceries to 275 families.
During the summer we took 152 inner-city students to camp at Kids Across America (KAA) in Missouri, where they had the opportunity to experience amazing camp activities plus deep discipleship. Our CSM sponsored events saw 1,500 women honored at a Mother’s Day luncheon and at many other nursing home locations. Through our Housing Ministry, we roofed and/or painted 36 homes, improving living conditions and neighborhood property values, built a new home for the Jackson family where their original family home stood until destroyed in a storm, and rebuilt a nearly condemned home for Mr. Dodson. All of this was done by 5,579 volunteers who donated 31,961 hours of time, valued at $631,649!
Our focus at the CSM headquarters in 2016 has been to evolve from a warehouse filled with resources to a campus with opportunities for education, training, and resource management. We have a unique and large space for special volunteer and community events, which requires logistics and facilitation. Thanksgiving, Christmas and partner events can be hosted here, involving hundreds of volunteers at one location. During this past year our campus transformed from a large warehouse to a Ministry Center that includes: urban gardens, aquaponics, hydroponics, bees, a skill training woodshop, education space, with potential for even more.
Our campus ministry grew alongside our new partnership with eMeals through Cooking Well cooking courses, workshops and clubs. These cooking initiatives bring small groups together around hands-on healthy cooking and nutrition education to better answer the “how do I get a healthy dinner on the table?” question. The program creates an environment conducive to making new friends, instilling leadership skills, and providing our partner churches with opportunities for deeper relationships, one-to-one discipleship and community engagement.
CSM is setting a course for the future to see Birmingham transformed. Our commitment to connecting abundant resources with desperate needs through our partnerships ultimately connects people with our Great God. As this vision has come into focus, we have clear direction for making a significant impact on the city of Birmingham from the unique position God has given CSM. Thank you for your partnership with CSM through donations, volunteering, prayers, and support. We look forward to 2017 and how God will continue to transform us and this community.
