Across the nation: She’s a Girl Scout for life

FLORIDA
MANGO
The CIA used a hip-hop theme to reach out to inner-city youngsters at a recent church camp in Oklahoma.
No, not that CIA — but rather the Christian in Action college group from the Bay Area church near Tampa.
With the name Camp God-Unit and the theme “Get Jesus or Die Trying,” the group worked with children ages 6-14 from public housing projects in Tulsa.
“At least 20 of the kids … had at least one parent in prison,” said Lynn Stringfellow, campus minister and camp director. “The purpose of the theme was for the kids to recognize something in their world that they immediately recognized could be used for God’s glory.” By week’s end, five campers were baptized.
IDAHO
MERIDIAN
Forty-four people obeyed the gospel during a recent We Care Ministries campaign in Meridian. organizers said.
Eighty-two campaigners, organized by the West Monroe, La.-based ministry, traveled from 17 states to work with the 300-member Linder Road church. As part of the campaign, evangelist Larry West spoke at a “Victory Sunday” assembly.
For more information, see www.wecaretoday.com.

MICHIGAN
CADILLAC
In a way, Hurricane Katrina helped fix the Cadillac church’s leaky roof.
Strapped for cash and manpower, the congregation’s 50 members didn’t know if the roof would withstand another snow season or how they’d manage repairs, the Cadillac News reported.
That’s where a crew of 14 willing workers from the Sunshine church in Portsmouth, Ohio, came in. The Ohio church members had traveled to the Gulf Coast to help after Katrina and enjoyed it. So when they heard the Cadillac church, about 475 miles from Portsmouth, needed help, they decided, “Let’s head north.”
About 15 Cadillac members worked with the volunteers to get the job done.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
NASHUA
More than 100 church leaders from 30 New England area congregations attended the recent Elder Link Northeast conference at the Nashua church.
The congregation hosted the seminar for the third year. “Elder Link is not just for elders,” the Nashua church bulletin noted. “It is a day of learning and encouragement and deals with practical church matters using biblical truths.”
OREGON
BAKER CITY
While the Baker City church was remodeling its newly acquired building, a man showed up and offered his help. “I’ve handled a shovel before,” the man told minister John Goodyear.
The man ended up working on the project for six months until he found a regular job and moved away, the Baker City Herald reported. His name: Gabriel.
The congregation, which had met in a rented facility for 15 years, now has a permanent home. An open house was held Sept. 9 at the renovated white structure that in the past housed Methodists, Seventh-Day Adventists and Pentecostals.
TENNESSEE
CHATTANOOGA
Now that his 12 years as Hamilton County sheriff have ended, John Cupp will have more time for ministry. The 75-year-old East Brainerd resident preaches and is an elder at the Tyner church.
Bobby Wood, chairman of the county’s Republican Party, praised Cupp for ridding the department of scandal.
“I think his greatest mark will go down as his integrity,” Wood told the Chattanooga Times and Free Press.
NASHVILLE
After Hurricane Rita a year ago, Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort sent truckloads of food and supplies to the Jasper, Texas, church.
To show their appreciation, 60 Jasper members gave up their summer vacations to work at the relief agency’s warehouses in Nashville.
“We just felt we needed to pay back,” minister Bobby South told The Jasper Newsboy. He described packing boxes at the warehouse as an emotional experience: “You know you are literally putting food in the hands or shoes on the feet of people who need that.”
TEXAS
HOUSTON
The Bammel church celebrated the opening of its 18,000-square-foot youth center and 12,000-square-foot ministry center with a “Labor Day Bash.” About 800 people — half of them visitors — enjoyed free food and a concert by Acappella, minister Joe Stork said.
NEW BRAUNFELS
Saengerhalle, the self-proclaimed “coolest dance hall in Texas,” is undergoing a transformation.
The New Braunfels church bought the 12,000-square-foot building in July and is turning the dance floor, bar and neon signs into the congregation’s new home, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
“It used to be for the devil, but now we’re going to make it for the Lord,” church member Mary Johnson, 82, told the newspaper.
The congregation has swelled from 70 to 350 members in four years, outgrowing its 50-by-30-foot white-steepled church.
WEST VIRGINIA
CROSS LANES
The Cross Lanes church has a membership of about 40, according to the 2006 edition of Churches of Christ in the United States.
But on a recent Sunday, the congregation drew 17 first-time visitors, which minister Michael Ross said he sees as “wonderful progress.”
Some of the visitors were relatives of members, but Ross said that is still 17 first-time visitors.
“In case you can’t tell, I am extremely excited about that,” he wrote on his personal blog, www.beyondourbounds.blogspot.com.
Oct. 1, 2006