This year, a group of half a dozen ladies have worked on the second Tuesday of each month on this project. They include: Ruth Molstad, Pat Stangler, Beth Boelsen, Frances Groen, Mildred Peterson, and Betty Templeton. Sharon Sheldon does her work from home. Two others, Opal Miller and Elsie Kleven, have also been longtime contributors to this ministry, which donates rolled bandages made from ripped bed sheets to Covenant mission hospitals in Congo.
Covenant missionaries have long used these bandage rolls as a staple for helping to heal injuries and bind wounds in a region that lacks many necessary medical supplies. In recent years, hospitals have had special needs for the bandages as supplies were limited following years of civil war.
During the past year, the First Covenant ladies have completed 1,124 rolls of bandages, which weighed a total of 359 pounds. The rolls were sent in four different boxed shipments to New Windsor, Maryland, where the boxes were packed into barrels to be sent by boat to Congo, earmarked for the Covenant Church of Congo (CEUM).
“It started way back in our little church (on Maple Drive) many years ago,” says Molstad, who has worked the longest on this project with Opal Miller and Mildred Peterson. “This year, we really wanted to do it. When we went on a mission trip to Minneapolis, we heard that the bandages were really needed and the program had almost been abandoned because of a lack of interest. When we found out (about the need), we decided to do more.”
The contingent also sent 13 layettes (small blankets, jackets and bonnets), which are given to new mothers in the Congo hospitals. Kay Hult made the layettes.
For more information about this ministry, call Molstad at 424-5516.
