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Statesboro pastor fuels Appalachia relief effort
Project will contribute more than 27,000 bags to children
Appalachian backpack JohnWaters6 W
Dr. John Waters, pastor of Statesboro First Baptist Church, encouraged local churches in the Ogeechee River Baptist Association, along with Southern Baptist churches across Georgia, to donate backpacks for needy children in the Appalachian area. More than 27,000 backpacks with toys, clothes, school supplies, hygiene items and Bibles will meet some of the needs of impoverished children this Christmas. - photo by FRANK FORTUNE/special
Local churches that are part of the Ogeechee River Baptist Association, as well as Southern Baptist churches throughout Georgia and beyond, will contribute more than 27,000 backpacks this Christmas filled with clothes, toys, school supplies, hygiene items and Bibles to needy children along the Appalachian mountain range. A project that began three years ago as a small effort to bring hope to the hurting greatly expanded when Dr. John Waters, the pastor of Statesboro First Baptist Church, got behind the initiative. "When John Waters got involved, it took on a whole new life," said Bob Barker, national missionary with the North American Mission Board and director of Appalachian Regional Ministry and Mississippi River Ministry.
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