Church harvest funds for Syria support appeal

CAMPBELTOWN Community Church celebrated its harvest festival and raised £1,029 to support the Baptist Missionary Societies (BMS) work with Syria’s ‘forgotten families’.

The proceeds were largely collected from empty Pringles tubes that families filled with their loose change over the summer.

Pastor Chris Holden said he was absolutely ‘blown away and moved’ by the response of the Kintyre congregation.

He said: ‘At the end of June, I gave out Pringles tubes saying that they were free to anyone who wanted them, on the condition that once emptied, families filled them with loose change, and brought them back at our harvest festival in aid of this appeal.

‘It was very moving during the service to see children coming forward with their old Pringle tubes filled with money.

‘The plight of the Syrian refugees is obviously close to people’s hearts and, as a local Baptist Church, it has been good for us to support the wider work of the Baptist Missionary Society.’

BMS World Mission has been helping Syrian refugees since 2011, first with immediate relief – food, blankets, medical help – and then, alongside continuing relief needs, with longer term support for refugee families.

The money raised by Campbeltown Community Church will go towards educational support, safe learning spaces and relief co-ordination for refugee families.