The girls in the Challenge Baton Rouge group served the needy in their community by making “Blessing Bags” for the homeless. Emily Froeba, a theology teacher at a nearby school, spoke with the girls about her experiences working with the homeless in Baton Rouge. Her stories were very real and close to home. She helped the girls to realize that people who are homeless are people, who have a name and a story. Most importantly, she showed them how we can meet Jesus in homeless people and they can meet Jesus in us. The girls filled 100 backpacks with much needed items like fleece blankets, warm socks, etc. They also included a list of area shelters and soup kitchens and a hand decorated card letting them know that we were praying for them and that they were loved. We challenged the girls to pray for the person who would receive each bag while they were filling them.
The card included the following message: You may be down on your luck right now, but let this little bag remind you that you are WORTH SO MUCH. There are people who CARE ABOUT YOU. There is always HOPE. You are BEAUTIFUL. JESUS can always sustain you. I will be praying for you! I hope that you have a lovely day! “I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back home. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeramiah 29:11 . The girls delivered the bags to the Sisters of Charity at St. Agnes who took the bags with them that very afternoon when they went out to minister to the people living under the interstate and in the streets.