Sister in Faith group creating store

HATTON - The Sisters in Faith Group at Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church will welcome five local families to their Bethlehem Store on Saturday.

These families will be served brunch, be able to shop for Christmas gifts for their children and then wrap their gifts. The families have volunteered their time at various events at Pleasant Grove UMC this year.

The Sisters in Faith group has been praying and dreaming about opening a Bethlehem Store in Hatton since last December. After reading the book, "Christmas is Not Your Birthday" by Michael Slaughter, the group tasked themselves with how they could build relationships with families in Callaway County who are experiencing difficult times. On Saturday, that dream will become a reality as Sisters in Faith opens the door of the Bethlehem Store for the first time.

"While the Bethlehem Store may seem like the culmination of this endeavor, it's really the starting point" group leader Cindy Feutz said. "The relationships built with these families over the past few months won't stop at the close of the Bethlehem Store on the afternoon of Dec. 9. It is our prayer that these relationships will continue and that these families would know that they have people praying for them and cheering them on along their journey."

The people of Pleasant Grove UMC have embraced this ministry launched by the Sisters in Faith group by helping raise funds to purchase the items available in the Bethlehem Store.

"We are excited about how this ministry is already affecting the lives and service of the people of Pleasant Grove UMC, and we look forward to how God uses this ministry to affect lives in Callaway County and beyond in the future," said the Rev. Paul Klepees, pastor of Pleasant Grove UMC.