Sabbath school for the children of Wasatch Hills is more than just singing songs and reciting memory verses. It includes outreach projects that encompass their local community and the world.

Children’s ministries co-directors Christina Anderson and Karen Bray, along with their Sabbath school staff, Brenda Bates, Aloha Kuhr, Brenda Watson, and Yvonne Webb, chose a project relevant to current events this year. “We wanted to show our love and support to our troops,” says Anderson, “so we came up with the idea of sending Christmas care packages to our service men and women in Iraq.” Leaders presented the idea to the congregation Sabbath morning, Dec. 2, along with a list of the needed items.

Wasatch Hills has two children’s divisions, Little Sprouts, ages 0 to 4 and the Jubilee Class, ages 5 to 12. The excitement for the project spread from the children to their parents, to their friends and ultimately to their neighborhoods. The children received a list of items they were to collect with the goal of filling as many boxes as possible.

Once the parents got the list, they began running photocopies and giving them to their friends and neighbors. The list was also included in the church bulletin each Sabbath in December, and it wasn’t long before the items began to pour in. “The excitement of the children for this project was overwhelming,” Anderson says. “Every year, I present a project for the children, but this year’s project was the most rewarding.”

On Dec. 30, the two divisions and their leaders packed box after box with a personal note of encouragement, appreciation and love written by members of the congregation to the soldiers. At the final count, the children had filled 27 boxes. “We then had to ask the congregation for donations to help pay the postage,” Anderson noted. The money came in quickly, and the boxes were divided between the Army, Marines and Air Force and sent USPS Priority Mail to the representatives of each unit.

Pastor Bernie Anderson received an e-mail Feb. 11 expressing thanks for the care packages. “I was just writing to say thank you so much for the care packages sent by the children and families of your church," wrote Sgt. Brenda Pineiro. "My Marines and I were real grateful. It is nice to know that we are being supported by our fellow Americans. We feel truly blessed. So again, thank you and God bless.”

The children were thrilled to get a big “thank you” from the Marines and are already looking forward to their next mission project.