Operation Kindness (City Impact)

The Operation Kindness Ministry (OKM) provides God's Word as well as physical comfort items to soldiers deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq via care packages shipped to contact chaplains.

OKM also provides support to wounded in action soldiers (and their families) who pass through the area military hospitals. Volunteers can contribute their time to these and other related ministries described below.

"Carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."
Galatians 6:2

Patriotic Weekend Celebration: July 5, 2009
(note date change; NO service on Saturday, July 4)

Join us as we honor current and past Service Members

Sunday, July 5 MBC will honor current and past Service Members. A special Operation Kindness Ministry video will be shown.

***JUST ANNOUNCED***

Because July 4 falls on a Saturday this year, MBC will NOT hold its regular 6:30pm Saturday evening service.

INTERNET CAMPUS (www.mbclive.org) ONLY : In addition to the live 9:00 am, 10:45 am and 12:30 pm services, the Fourth of July weekend service will be rebroadcast on Monday, July 6 at 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm EST. These additional times will help accomodate our troops serving overseas.

           THREE OPPORTUNITIES IN JULY TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR OUR TROOPS
Sunday July 5, at both the Tysons and Loudoun campuses, Operation Kindness Ministry (OKM) will have small American flags in the lobby following each service. These flags will include a tag with a suggested item for either the OKM care packages or for our Wounded in Action.
     [OPPORTUNITY #1]Take a flag, purchase the suggested item, and bring the items to the OKM booth any weekend in July. For a complete list of requested care package items  go to the PACKING TEAM page; for items requested for our wounded service members and their families see the WIA page.  Keep the small flag as a reminder to pray for our service members every day.

     [OPPORTUNITY #2] And, while you are at the flag table, take a moment to write a postcard note to our service members.  Did you know that one of the things our troops have told us they most enjoy receiving are the letters and cards they receive in our care package?

For those who prefer to make a financial contribution, "Buy a Box" is an alternative to purchasing items. Make your $60 check payable to McLean Bible Church, add OKM in the memo section. Place in the weekly offering, a lobby offering box, or mail to the church at PO Box 9300, McLean VA 22102. Your contribution will purchased the contents of one care package (comfort items and spiritual materials).

[Note: At the Tysons campus, items may also be left any time in the gray OKM collection bin next to the stairwell adjacent to the MBC Cafe.]

     [OPPORTUNITY #3] Then... join the PACKING TEAM in the The ROCK, MBC Tysons, on Tuesday, July 14 as we pack the first of the Patriotic Weekend donations. See the PACKING TEAM page for details on our Monthly Packing Night.

As soon as the 2009 OKM video is available for posting, we will post it on this page. Past OKM Videos are posted below.

OKM 2008 video (1:51 minutes, 15.1 mb)

OKM 2007 video (2:50 minutes, 13.5 mb)

MBC Internet Campus: Spread the Good News to our Service Members

Help us further the ministry of Operation Kindness by sharing this link to MBC's Internet Campus
http://www.mcleanbible.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=17257
The Internet Campus features live streaming of the music and message. Along with online worship experiences, you can connect with other campus attendees in "the Lobby" before and after the service.

Packing Team

The packing team packs care packages for our deployed troops every month using donated items including printed spiritual material, snacks, toiletries, socks, sport equipment, etc. (see specific requests below). Packing Team page has more information.

Packing Nights are usually held the second Tuesday of every month at 7:00 pm in The Rock, first floor, MBC Tysons campus. Mark your calendars for the scheduled 2009 Packing Nights (January 13, February 10, March 10, April 14, May 12, June 9, July 14, August 11, September 8, October 13 and November 17).

Donations Team

A vital facilitator, the donations ministry coordinates receipt and storage of incoming material donations and procures additional comfort items for packing night. Take a look at our Donations Team page for more information.

Many thanks to all who contributed items and made monetary donations during our summer Operation Kindness promotion. All of these items were packed and shipped by August to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In order to continue this vital spiritual ministry we need a continuous flow of items for our monthly Packing Nights.

OKM collects these items and accepts donations throughout the year. Just bring them to our OKM GRAY BIN next to the stairwell by the MBC Tysons Cafe.

Prayer Team

Our Operation Kindness (OKM) prayer team plans, coordinates, and prays over prayer concerns and the needs of our soldiers, their families, and OKM volunteers. View the Prayer Team page for more information.

Wounded in Action Team

The Wounded in Action (WIA) volunteers coordinate with U.S. Armed Service liaisons in the Washington area to facilitate support to wounded soldiers and their families arriving at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center. Take a look at our Wounded in Action Team page for more information.

Correspondence Team

Volunteers write one-on-one letters/emails with deployed troops who are connected to MBC.

Communications Team

As the voice of Operation Kindness, the Communications Team manages coordination with church staff on a number of issues including bulletin and service announcements. In addition, the Communications Team is responsible for logo designs, posters, handouts as well as maintenance of the Operation Kindness web site and coordination and management of OKM information booths prior to packing night. View our Communications Team page for more information.

Care Package Needs

Spiritual Care

Bibles, tracts, personal greetings, letters.
Christian books such as Four Pillars of a Man's Heart: Bringing Strength Into Balance; The Heart of a Tender Warrior; and You, the Warrior Leader: Applying Military Strategy for Victorious Spiritual Warfare

Soldier Care

Toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, shaving cream, shampoo, baby wipes, lotion, insect repellent (non-aerosol), sunscreen, lip balm, mosquito netting, boot socks, toilet paper (individual rolls)

Food

Snacks, jerky, gum, cookies, candy (not chocolate), powdered drink mix (small containers), coffee (brick packs)

Entertainment

Outdoor and indoor games, puzzle books, writing paper and envelopes, pens, CD players, CD’s, DVD’s, batteries (especially AA)

Please bring care package items to the gray bin (marked Operation Kindness Ministry) under the second floor stairwell next to the MBC Tysons Campus Cafe.

Volunteer

Operation Kindness is involved in outreach to reach others for Christ by sending care packages which include a gospel message to troops who are deployed as well as ministering to the needs of injured troops who have returned home. If you would like to help sponsor this ministry financially, make your check payable to McLean Bible Church, put "Operation Kindness" in the memo line and mail to City Impact, McLean Bible Church, PO Box 9300, McLean, VA 22102

How can becoming an Operation Kindness Ministry volunteer can impact your life?
Read this ministry testimony from the leader of our Wounded in Action team:

Ministry Testimony
I started writing this testimony to tell what working with Operation Kindness Ministry means to me. It evolved into my unintended autobiography. For to describe what this ministry means to me, I must tell you how I came to be here. I was raised by Christian parents in church and grew up knowing and loving God. It was always important to me to find and do God's will for my life. But I wandered aimlessly at times, being deterred from finding my purpose by life's trials and Satan's snares. After a failed marriage, I became totally immersed in providing for and raising my son as a single parent, but remained in church and committed to seeking God.
During my single parenting years, I made my first trip to Washington, DC, for a friend's wedding. It was 1995. When I first set foot on the mall, walking toward the Smithsonian Castle, I became overwhelmed with ... a feeling of, a sense of ... destiny. It was very strange, but very clear - I was sensing, smelling, hearing, "destiny" all around me. It was so overwhelming, I stopped walking and stood still. I wasn't sure what He fully meant; but I knew God was saying "your destiny or future is here." I was confused. Being raised in and living in the Deep South, I had no connections to Washington, DC, and had never thought about moving here. But after that trip, I had a growing desire to live here. So I began praying about moving to DC. I made other trips here and seven years later when my son finished high school and joined the marine corps, I decided it was time to step out in faith and make a move toward my destiny. Although God had not yet revealed to me my purpose, I remembered his message about destiny in DC, and knowing that He guides and directs us by planting desires in our heart that don't go away over time after being submitted to him in prayer, I left my job, house and family in Mississippi and moved to DC.
Weeks after I arrived in DC, the U.S. military stormed into Baghdad. Although my only child was in marine corps boot camp, I did not notice a connection between the conflict in Iraq and my purpose for moving to DC. It was not long until my son was in Iraq. By that time I had found McLean Bible Church and was busy helping Operation Kindness collect and pack donated items for deployed troops. It was my passion and my therapy. Every time I tossed an item into a care package, I felt a little bit closer to my son.
Now Operation Kindness also ministers to wounded troops and their families in DC. We go to the hospitals and Fisher Houses and take them gift bags and serve them meals; we go and sit with their children in the waiting room or Fisher House. We transport them to and from airports and other local places, and deliver food, drinks, spiritual material and other necessary items to them; we take them out for meals and shopping; we invite them and sometimes bring them to MBC services, and anything we can do to encourage them and make their burdens a little lighter.
I have sat in ICU waiting rooms with the parents and wives of severely wounded troops and prayed or wept with them. When I look at them, I see me. You never forget what life is like when you have a loved one deployed to the war zone. Recently, I went to the hospital to meet and talk with the wife of a soldier in ICU. I took her to dinner and we spent 2-1/2 hours talking. Her husband is a triple amputee and suffered other extensive injuries. He had almost died twice that week in the hospital. We prayed together for him. Later she took me into his ICU room and asked me to pray for him. As I was leaving, she looked at me and said "Thank you, you really helped me." I went home that night and laid down on my bed and said "God, I know why I'm here. Thank you."
Shirley Garris, Wounded In Action Coordinator, Operation Kindness Ministry

To sign-up, please fill out this Volunteer Form
and contact us via email