Treasure Box Ministry


In 1996 my wife Reida and I, were involved in a Western Reserve Grace Brethren Church project that took a shoebox and filled it with toys and school supplies, added a five dollar bill and a tract, then gave it to a needy unchurched child in the inner-city of Cleveland. The excitement with the project grew the next few years as well as the number of children in need. In 1998 we were able to take over the project when one of the leaders moved away. Under the banner of Village Grace Mission Center we were able to enlist the help of the Christian Motorcyclists Association Cleveland Chapter, the "Messiah's Knights” who in turn got their local church members involved. One problem that we had was that the Treasure Box Ministry was growing too fast because there were so many needy children and I didn’t know how we would be able to get all the resources we needed. That fall while watching the Movie - Miracle on 34th Street, God placed a line from that movie on my heart. It was a definition of faith, “Believing in something when common sense tells you not to”. This reinforced that I needed to have faith and rely more on God. Since then we have been able to surpass all expectations of the project and God is so great, that every time we needed help, more churches have joined together with us and helped the Ministry.

 

The Results in 1999 – 128 children reached
The Results in 1999 – 257 children reached
The Results in 2000 – 585 children reached
The Results in 2001 – 735 children reached
 The Results in 2002 – 1533 children reached
 

Fullerton Elementary
Union Elementary
St. Stanislaus Elementary
Broadway Housing Coalition
Slavic village Development Corporation
Straightway Bible Fellowship
Mt. Sinai Alternative School
Mt. Sinai Baptist Church program


Churches involved

Shepherd’s Grace Church – Medina - www.shepherdsgrace.com/
Western Reserve Grace Church – Macedonia - wrgbc@aol.com
Wooster Grace Brethren Church – Wooster - www.wgbc.org/
Ellet Grace Brethren Church – Akron – www.pyett.net/egbc/
Grace Community Church – Orville - www.grace-community.com/
Minerva Grace Brethren Church – Minerva - www.fgbc.org/minervagbc/
Grace Church (North and South) – Norton/Fairlawn - www.graceohio.org/
Southern Hills Community Church – Strongsville - www.southern-hills.org/
Millersburg Grace Brethren Church – Millersburg - www.fgbc.org/millersburg/
Homerville Grace Brethren Church – Homerville
Chatham Community Church - Medina
Thompson United Methodist Church – Thompson
Heritage Baptist Church