Men's Society picked up items and packed container for Fr. Andy's Parish in Zambia
July 15 through August 15, 2009

Men's Society picked up some items to be shipped to Fr. Andy's Parish in Zambia. They stored items in a container in the parking lot.

To all the men and women who helped to move a small mountain, Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

It is amazing what can be accomplished with some effort. The pictures in this page are from volunteers in action moving the contents of Father Andy's future church to the Giles staging areas. Lot's of sweating, grunting, and muscle brought these items on the first leg of their journey.

Packing the Final Container on August 15 - Wow. It started with one box at 8 am. In a few short hours, ending at 11:59 am, we loaded it all. We had a lot of guys and gals gathered in the church parking lot to load a 40 ft. shipping container to be sent to the home parish of Fr. Andy in Chipata Zambia.

Everyone was lifting, grunting and sweating to make this extraordinary feat happen. At one point we sent an 8 year old into the tiniest crevice so we could hand him more boxes and not waste an inch. I think we remembered to take him out.

The contents were coordinated by different ministries over some time. The Helping Hands and other groups have put in tremendous efforts to pack and store the donations for months. The Men’s Society has financed the shipping costs through the sale of shares to the parish community which once again showed their tremendous generosity in this challenging economic climate. In the course of four weeks you raised over $16,000 all of which will cover the costs of shipping and buying items to send to the Chipata diocese in Zambia. The container will arrive in Zambia by mid October 2009 after traveling over 10,000 miles.

The generosity has been incredible. In four hours, you loaded over 600 boxes including computers, clothing, books, kitchen supplies, food items , 16 pews, an altar, 4 huges sculptures, an exercise bike?, and at the last minute a new mountain bike.

On behalf of those who will receive this precious cargo - Thank you! On behalf of the Men's Society - Thank you! We have all made a difference with a little enthusiasm. Together we just moved a small mountain. Let's try for something bigger next.