I wanted to write again this week about a place I’ve written about before: Cookson Hills Center. Cookson Hills Center is a place I heard about at church all the time, as a kid growing up in Eastern Oklahoma. Nestled in the hills near Lake Tenkiller, the Center supports one of the two poorest zip codes in this entire nation, serving the low-income people of Cherokee, Adair, and Sequoyah Counties. The Center has been led by Rev. Meri Whitaker, a missionary from the General Board of Global Missionaries, who arrived at Cookson over 30 years ago in her high heels and business suit, only to learn that what the people there really needed was someone who could sport Mule Hide boots and wield a Skil saw. Pretty soon, she was transformed.

The Center now offers programs for all ages. They have built a daycare center and a senior center, both of which provide nutrition that would otherwise be missing from the diets of these two vulnerable groups. They also have built a health resource center, which hosts free dental clinics, eye clinics, health fairs, Alcoholics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous and other addiction resources on a weekly basis.

Their annual Christmas store, a place where local residents may pick up Christmas presents for their families for free, served 257 families last year. Their recycled rubber welcome mats continue to be a big hit with churches all over Oklahoma who desire them for fundraising, and this enterprise employs a handful of ex-offenders who could find no other job. A donation of a silk screening machine and several kilns has allowed the Center to give jobs to several people who now have begun to produce communion chalices and patens for sale.

Without the Cookson Hills Center, this particular area of Oklahoma would be sadly lacking in services, and frankly, in hope. This mission is one of the many United Methodist agencies that we support with our apportionment dollars, which is part of what your pledge to our church pays every year. I just wanted to remind all of you who read this how important your giving to St. Stephen’s is, and to emphasize that many cents on the dollar of what you generously give go to life-affirming agencies far beyond our walls.

Thank you for remembering to turn in your pledge amount and for your faithfulness in giving!