WESTERVILLE, OH – Lifeline Christian Mission offers a unique opportunity for groups of believers to actually participate in one of their mission projects. Lifeline’s vision is

Pray. Give. Go. These are the most typical ways that faith-based outreaches suggest that individuals, families, and churches can participate. And there is nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all. In fact, you will find those opportunities available on the Lifeline Christian Mission website. It makes sense. It’s just that Lifeline offers an additional way to physically participate as the hands and feet of Jesus in their ministry.

Lifeline Christian Mission primarily conducts multiple ongoing projects in Latin American countries, including Haiti, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, and Cuba. Their reach extends significantly farther, however, by providing nutritious meals for use not only in their own projects but also for dozens of other ministries with boots on the ground in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the other countries in Central America.

In 2018, Lifeline distributed 14.4 million meals around the world!

The ability to do that was due, at least in part, to more than 48,000 people here in the U.S. who participated in packing those nutrient-rich meals. That’s where you and I come in.

Lifeline organizes events at which we can participate in the packing and packaging of the meals to be sent to the mission field. Each event is customized to best accommodate the group that will be doing the work. The packing events can be conducted at one of Lifeline’s centers, in a community building, a church, a parking lot, or a driveway. Groups of all sizes can package meals together. Each event is staffed with experienced Lifeline teams and trained volunteers and can range in size from packing a few boxes to over a million.

The meals are rice-based, specially-formulated, and shelf-stable. Each package contains enough food for six meals of rice and vegetables or rice and beans and contains about 75% of a child’s daily requirements.

Teams pack 216 meals (36 bags) into one box. Sixty-six boxes are loaded onto each pallet. The pallets are then loaded into 40’ containers that hold a grand total of 285,120 meals. The containers are shipped around the globe to trusted FBOs that distribute the meals through their own ministries.

Groups gathered to pack meals can have as few as eight people. From there, the sky is the limit. Lifeline has worked with more than 9,500 people at a single event. The number of meals to be packed depends on the size of the group and the amount of time allotted. Lifeline knows how to figure that out.

The church or other group holding the event is responsible for the location, tables, electricity, meal packing and clean up, and promotion for the event. Each organizing group provides the funding for the ingredients, bags, boxes, the cost of shipping.

Lifeline provides the supervisory staff, the bulk ingredients, packing materials, and equipment and facilitating the shipping.

You may be asking yourself, “Can we do this?” The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” All it takes is a willing spirit, raising the funding, and contacting Lifeline. It doesn’t matter where you are, Lifeline says, “If we can get the materials and equipment to you, we’ll be there!”

As their website says,

It’s challenging to coordinate a group event that accommodates everyone.

Someone is too young or too old.

Someone needs to sit. Another person can’t sit still.

The group is too small or too large.

We understand your frustration. We can help you bring everyone together.

There are very few things that are comparable to packing meals, boxing the packages, palletizing the boxes, and shipping them all off, knowing that you have done something tangible for children and families who most need what you have done. It’s more than a meal. It’s a way to share Jesus’ love.

Check out this short video of a very large, recent meal packing event with Lifeline.

Read more news on Faith Based Organizations, Poverty Alleviation, and World Missions.