When Pastor Tim Heffer and his wife, Meg, of Hidden Creek Community Church in Olympia, Washington, were returning from a short-term missions trip to Bosnia in 2009, they had one thing on their mind: SEEDS. After having asked an Alliance international worker in that country what kind of tangible help the Olympia church could offer the poor, weary, war-torn, Bosnian people, the worker replied, “Seeds. We have great soil, but we can’t get good seeds. Could you send us a packet of seeds?”
When Tim and Meg arrived back in Olympia, they put the word out to their church, their community and beyond. Within six weeks the church boxed up and shipped 7,000 seed packets that were distributed to villages in Bosnia with the potential of yielding more than 100 tons of food. But that wasn’t the end of the “Seeds of Hope” dream.
The church turned its attention to the poor in its own corner of the world. With land provided by a farmer in their congregation, the church created a 5,500 square foot community garden that, along with a beekeeping ministry and other initiatives, provides food for the needy in its community. Despite challenges posed by COVID and an arsonist attack that severely damaged its building this past August, Hidden Creek Community Church has helped more than 5,600 people over the past year through its food distribution ministry.
Read more stories like this in the 2020 Alliance Impact Report.