Pumpkin Patch Outreach
Every October Bethlehem Church's front lawn is decorated with hundreds of pumpkins. Over $18,000 in pumpkins have been sold in a single year. Proceeds from the pumpkin patch benefit bring a double blessing. Farmers on needy Native American reservations have a place to sell their pumpkins and funds raised are used to support Bethlehem Church youth mission trips. Youth have gone on mission trips to impoverished areas of Chicago and Atlanta and to the Heifer Ranch in Arkansas. Heifer provides farm animals to poor parts of the world. Our pumpkin patch ministry has been featured in major newspapers and magazines, and a photograph of the patch was picked up by the Associated Press, see picture below, and featured in many newspapers across the country. The pumpkin patch was introduced to the Bethlehem family in 2003 by the creative spirit of Ellie Sanders, an associate pastor who served Bethlehem Church and passed away in 2004. The pumpkin patch is a wonderful living memory of a great servant of Christ. Mark your calendar for this very special annual event!
Unloading the pumpkins to get ready for the pumpkin patch sale
A partial view of the pumpkin patch
A photograph of our pumpkin patch that appeared in a newspaper from the Chicago area
At the end of the pumpkin patch pumpkins are composted in the field in the back of the church. In this field pumpkins have started growing from the leftover pumpkin seeds.
