Members of Zion Baptist Church, in Henderson, Kentucky, take helping others in need very seriously. Families can receive spiritual guidance as well as generous donations of useful items for their every day lives. Reaching out to others is what the church members call “servant evangelism,” and the church takes great pride in it.
Located on the border of Kentucky and Indiana, Zion Baptist Church is one of several churches in Henderson, a city of 27,000 people. “Zion is a warm, friendly Southern Baptist church where the Bible is believed, taught, and preached,” explains Reverend Gary Cobb, minister of evangelism at Zion Baptist Church. “Jesus Christ is lifted up in everything we do.”
Although they try to meet the needs of all who come through their doors, Rev. Cobb and his helpers can’t always provide the large quantities of items needed. They distribute as much as they can without putting a strain on the church budget. Their outreach program provides items like shampoo, flower seeds, small gift items, and materials for the church preschool, Sunday school, youth ministry, and other programs.
Generosity Abounds
1991 was the year that Zion Baptist Church discovered an organization that could provide them with the items they needed in the most cost effective way. NAEIR, the National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources, located in Galesburg, Illinois, accepts donations of new, overstock inventory from U.S. businesses and redistributes those goods to churches and other nonprofit organizations. Everyday household items, office supplies, school supplies, gifts and other amenities are available to members of NAEIR. Zion Baptist Church found a place where they could better serve the children and families in need.
NAEIR’s membership program can help limit expenses when there is little to work with. Churches that choose to participate in NAEIR’s program pay dues ranging from $495 to $595 per year, plus shipping and handling, and the merchandise itself is free. Members can request what they need from 200-page catalogs, special offer fliers, and from an online web site, NAEIR e-xpress, at www.naeir.org.
Rewarding Endeavor
The items that Zion Baptist Church has been able to receive have been a God-send. Some of those items include office and school supplies, furniture, Bible study guides, songbooks, posters, sheeted paper, Christmas cards, toys, clothing, stickers, personal care products, disposable tableware, and food service supplies.
Items for children and teenagers are top priority for Zion Baptist Church. They provide what they call “survival kits” as part of their outreach program. Those go to children at local hospitals, pregnant teenagers at a local ministry called “Martha’s Place,” and women and children at a local shelter. “ We couldn’t do this if it were not for NAEIR,” says Rev. Cobb.
The church and its grounds take a lot of maintenance, so Earl Jones, who is in charge of maintenance at Zion Baptist, reviews the NAEIR catalogs for items such as light fixtures, paint brushes, hand tools, fasteners, wallcoverings, vanity tops, vacuum cleaners, and even a heat pump and furnace.
Zion Baptist Church believes its mission to carry out the evangelism efforts of The Great Commission has been helped by the resources they receive from NAEIR. Rev. Cobb explains, “We spread the Good News to people on the street, telling them that God loves them. You should see the look on some of their faces when they get a nice word like that!”
NAEIR has accepted and redistributed over $2 billion worth of donated goods over the past 26 years, and many churches and other nonprofit organizations rely on NAEIR for supplementing tight budgets. According to Gary C. Smith, president and chief executive officer of NAEIR, “Our members receive an average of $18,000 worth of new supplies each year, which is roughly a 30-1 return on their dues investment.”
Since 1977, the American businesses that made donations of their excess inventory to NAEIR, have done so to clear out warehouse space, avoid liquidators, and to realize an above cost federal income tax deduction.
NAEIR, the National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources, is a not-for-profit distributor of supplies to churches and other nonprofit organizations. NAEIR operates a 10-acre warehouse full of $100 million worth of inventory from its headquarters in Galesburg, Illinois.
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