Children from Cradock Baptist with some of the stuffed animals collected for the children in Atlanta.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (ABP) -- Rob Edwards, pastor of Cradock Baptist Church in Portsmouth, Va. admits a recent mission project that resulted in the collection of over 750 stuffed animals for Georgia flood victims began in an unconventional way -- only possible by today’s technology.

During the week of Sept. 21, parts of the metro Atlanta area received over 20 inches of rain, creating flash flooding with thousands of people losing their homes and their possessions. While Edwards knew his congregation would not be able to send a mission team to the area, he knew members would be eager to respond and bring hope to flood victims there.

Through a social-networking-media campaign, Pastor Edwards had been following the launch of a new church plant in downtown Atlanta, the Courageous Church. Although he had never met him, he knew Shaun King, pastor of this contemporary congregation, through his blog posts and Twitter feed. Several days after the flood he saw King was posting immediate needs during recovery efforts there.

One posting that stuck with Edwards was over 2,000 children had lost all of their toys in the flood. “I called Shaun to find out if anyone else had picked that specific need,” he says.

No one had.

So Edwards began to spread the word in Virginia that kids in Georgia were going without toys. He Twittered, put it on his blog and the church’s website. He sent emails to two large local associations of churches -- Portsmouth Baptist Association and Norfolk Baptist Association -- to share the need with their member congregations. And he called a friend who operates a shipping store and he agreed to get the toys to Atlanta.

In just over a week, more than 750 stuffed toys were collected and sent to the Courageous Church and HopeATL, an organization assisting flood victims.

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Barbara Francis writes for the Virginia Baptist Religious Herald.

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