What started as one store manager's spark of an idea in 2007 has grown into a chain-wide ministry that staff and customers look forward to each year. Lifeway Christian Store Manager Sherry Parnell, who worked for the company for more than 24 years until her retirement in 2011, started the Christmas Stuffed Animal Donation program at the Southaven, Miss., store just outside of Memphis. But call it her idea, and she is quick to say it was all God — that He spoke to her out of a crisis her family experienced.
In 2006, Sherry's infant grandson, Will, was in the hospital during Christmas being treated for a serious illness. A year later, while decorating her home, Sherry was thanking the Lord for Will's health and being at home rather than in the hospital for Christmas. That's when the Lord reminded her, "But not everyone is." Thinking about other families who experienced what her family had been through brought tears to her eyes. She understood their pain and fear and how the holidays can magnify such struggles.
"The Lord is good at bringing good out of a bad situation," Sherry reflects. "If I hadn't known what it was like to be in the hospital during Christmas with my grandson, I wouldn't have known how much something like that meant. God put it in my heart to do this. It was totally Him."
Sherry shared her desire to do something for hospitalized children and their families with assistant manager Mary Gowen and other store employees. They decided to encourage their staff and customers to buy the store's stuffed toy bear to give to children spending Christmas at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, where Will had been treated.
After closing the store on Christmas Eve, Sherry and a few employees went to the hospital and personally delivered the bears to all the patients and families on every floor, totaling 167 bears. They could have gone at a different time, "but Christmas Eve is when it's hardest to be there," Sherry says, knowing that the timing would mean so much to the children and their families.
The next year more than 200 plush animals were donated. Grandson Will, a healthy 1-year-old, joined the Lifeway Christian Store staff to deliver the toys. The ministry has grown every year since. Families who received a stuffed animal while in the hospital come to the store to thank the employees — and purchase a few stuffed animals for others as well. "So the gift goes on," Sherry says.
Indeed it does. The donation program has expanded to all Lifeway Christian Stores. Each store partners with a local ministry organization to provide for children in need of a special gift at Christmas.
After Sherry retired, Mary became the Southaven store manager and has watched this ministry's outreach to customers grow daily. Opportunities to partner with churches, ministries, and community organizations have "just snowballed," says Mary. "We have been blown away by the generosity of our customers."
The Christmas Stuffed Animal Donation program has extended to other times throughout the year as store employees and customers alike suggest ministry opportunities to Lifeway. One of the most popular? Donating $5 Bibles to local ministries, including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, crisis pregnancy centers, prison ministries, homeless shelters, and community outreach to schools.
People driving by the Southaven store may see only a business, but its faithful customers and employees know it is truly a ministry. Every day there are opportunities to share hope and encouragement to anyone who walks through the door.
"I love the people. I love serving the Lord. This is my ministry. This is what I do. There's nothing more satisfying than telling someone about Jesus or helping them find their first Bible," says Mary.
Sherry agrees, "There are so many needs and so many people ... who have never heard the gospel. And if you get a chance to plant a seed, then why not?" Sherry says. "We can very easily miss opportunities, but if we're attentive to them, we can find ways to minister to people that might be out of the ordinary ... you need to go for it."