TEXARKANA, Texas - First Baptist Church Moores Lane donated approximately $63,000 to local elementary schools on Monday as part of their program Operation Jerusalem.
Operation Jerusalem is in its third year of existence at FBC. Its purpose is to use the church's overage in offerings to pour funds into local schools in the area.
Emily Sarine, an administrative assistant at FBC who has a hand in the program, said the operation is based off of a message from a biblical verse - Acts, Chapter 1, Verse 6.
"Jesus is telling his disciples right before he goes into heaven to go out and to baptize and tell others about him," Sarine said. "They go into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the end of the Earth, and Jerusalem would be their city. Our Jerusalem in Texarkana. So, how can we just share the love that we've been given with our community? We wanted to give back to the schools so the children could benefit from that cash."
FBC has around $100,000 available to grant money to schools as is needed annually, for them to use as they see fit. On Monday, they donated a total of $63,000 to 21 elementary schools in the following districts: Texarkana; Texarkana, Arkansas; Pleasant Grove; Liberty-Eylau; Red Lick; Leary; Trinity Christian School - $3,000 for each school.
Liberty-Eylau ISD had two school principals present for a luncheon where checks were presented to them.
L-E's Director of Communications Matt Fry said the much-needed funds will be used for student incentives and literacy programs.
"For us, it's huge," Fry said. "Budgets are always tight in school districts, plus this allows our campuses to do things that are different and innovative. It was really cool to hear all the different schools talk about how they use the money in different ways. We used it for some student incentives - behavior, attendance - and that kind of stuff. We also used it for some literacy programs, with buying books for classrooms."
Fry said what's unique about it is there is no catch. FBC is just committed to investing in the youth in Texarkana.
"The good thing about it is they don't have any kind of strings attached to it whatsoever," he said. "There's stuff on campus that you need, and $3,000 can go a long way on an elementary campus. You'd be surprised how well they can stretch that money."
Sarine said this program is just one way FBC implements its mission of uplifting those in the community.
"The heart of FBC is loving God and loving people and sharing our story," she said. "And the people of Texarkana are our people. So, whether you belong to our church or not, we just believe that God loves you, God is for you and we want to show you that any way we can. Texarkana is such a wonderful place to live, and we want to be a part of it and spreading that goodness as much as we can."