This year, the Bible Labs program was a great blessing to the students of the Tri-City Seventh-day Adventist School in Saginaw, Michigan, and to the community at large. Bible Labs offers an opportunity for the youth to be involved in constructive activities, meet the needs of people, and it promotes positive relations with area residents.

Charlotte Anderson's students sang in nursing homes and became involved with the local Veteran's Hospital. She reports, "The students in the lower grades really enjoyed making valentines for the veterans at the VA Hospital. They also made wooden art projects for nursing home patients, with the help of Wilbur Rickel."

The students in grades 5-8 made a surprise visit to the home of Joyce Hunt in St. Charles, Michigan, while she was away. Her husband had died eight months earlier, and it was difficult for her to maintain the property alone. The students raked her yard, scrubbed lawn furniture, distributed mulch around flower beds, washed her driveway, and left flowering plants for her. Audrey Burns, a project coordinator, commented, "What a great group of young people with which to work. I have never seen a pickup load of landscape bark unloaded in such a hurry. They formed an assembly line, unloaded the truck, and spread the chips around the existing shrubs and plants."

Joyce was very surprised and pleased upon her return to see all the students had accomplished. She has a great love for young people and had such praise for them for their kindness to her. Her brother-in-law said everyone within 90 miles knew about it since Joyce was on the phone telling them about it.

Brandon Lamphier, a seventh-grade student admitted, "At first it seemed that it would be a drag, but it turned out to be a blast, and we had a chance to do some good!"

Brandon Goodfellow, a sixth-grade student commented, "It was more fun than I thought it would be."

A month later, the same students helped Midland Adventist Community Services Center staff get ready for an annual coat give-away program. Students and staff unpacked a mountain of coat boxes, put the coats on hangers, and placed them on racks according to categories. All the work had to be completed in two hours or less. Some students didn't think it was possible, but Connie assured them they could do it. At 12:00 noon everything was completed. They had unpacked all the boxes and were hanging up the last coats!

Mikaya Merrills, grade six, reflected, "It was a lot of fun to help people, and I thought it would be very boring, but it was not."

For their hard work, Reid Tait and the Center's staff provided students with pizza, juice, fruit, health cookies, brownies, and expressed many times, "Thank-you for your help!"

Connie stated, "The students really enjoyed these Bible Labs projects. They had a lot of fun helping others." The students look forward to monthly Bible Labs projects.

Robert C. Quillin is the Saginaw Center Road Seventh-day Adventist Church pastor and the local church communication leader.