Friday Finish - Giving Hope - Archery Tops Tourneys - Baskets Bring Smiles - Santa's Helpers Deliver

December 12, 2025

What Gives You Hope?

Red Bird Mission, founded over a century ago, has been a beacon of hope for people living in remote mountain communities in southeastern Kentucky. The mission’s establishment was a testament to the collaborative efforts of caring individuals, including local families, Christians from other regions, and local authorities. Their shared vision was to foster family growth and create a better way of life in a region that was both challenging and beautiful.

Education and healthcare emerged as the cornerstones of hope, providing the communities served by Red Bird Mission with the means to thrive. Today, through local, national, and sometimes international partnerships, the mission continues to offer hope to those residing in these hills and hollers.

The challenges faced by the communities are evident in the increasing number of people seeking food assistance at Red Bird. Many are struggling to make ends meet and are desperate for a few days of sustenance until other aid arrives. Additionally, dozens of individuals have been seeking free health and hearing clinics, driven by their desire for better health but unable to afford the services or travel to the towns where health centers are located.

Red Bird Christian School attracts students who dream of careers that can serve others and provide a standard of living beyond poverty. These students are inspired by the mission’s vision and are committed to making a positive impact on their communities and the world.

Red Bird Mission is a place where those serving and being served find support and care.

Hope manifests in diverse forms for each individual who visits Red Bird Mission. It can be a food box that alleviates hunger, diapers and a “sippy” cup that ensures health and growth, a repair to a septic tank or a roof that creates a healthy living environment, or a career that can contribute to the well-being of a community and the world.

Recently, a man in a food line at Red Bird was asked,

“What gives you hope?” 

Without hesitation, he replied, “Christ!”

It is the birth of Christ that we celebrate at Christmas. It is His birth that infuses Red Bird Mission with hope and the motivation to ensure that their neighbors not only survive but also thrive. The staff on the front lines work tirelessly each day, offering smiles and cheer to all who come to the mission. They embody the very essence of hope.

With over 11,000 people served annually through our programs, the sheer number of people we reach is staggering. But what truly sets us apart is the generosity of our donors, who turn their hope into reality.

As we approach this season of hope, we are reaching out to all our partners once again to join us in spreading hope. Will you make a year-end gift today to combat hunger, improve family health, or make a positive impact on our communities? You can give online now, scan the QR code, or mail your gift in the enclosed envelope.

Every gift, whether financial, in kind, volunteering, or prayers, matters. It’s the collective impact of these gifts that brings hope to the people who come to Red Bird Mission. As we celebrate this Christmas season, let us remember the Christ Child’s gift of hope and embrace it in our own lives.

Please consider a donation today.

Give Hope at Red Bird

Archery Team Tops Tournaments

At Red Bird Christian School, people know the sound of basketballs on hardwood, cheer chants echoing through the gym, and volleyballs slamming over the net. Those sounds are part of who we are. But now I’m ready to shake things up a bit and introduce a whole new sound to the Red Bird community: the soft thud of an arrow on a bullseye, the world of NASP (National Archery in Schools Program) archery.

In archery, the only competition you are truly facing is yourself and your own mind. Every shot is a chance to quiet the noise, use your mind power to find your “sweet spot,” and get a little better than you were the arrow before. There are no benches, no substitutes, no kid who only sees “playing time” at the very end. Every archer gets a lane. Every archer gets coached. Every archer matters.

Our NASP Archery team is the first of its kind in Red Bird Christian School history and second year of competing. We walked into our first weekend of the new season on Saturday and came home with a 1st place and a 2nd place team title. Aiden Smallwood (11th grade), Keira Walker (11th grade), Braxton Asher (8th grade), and Marcus Adams (5th grade) each brought home individual titles in their age divisions. We didn’t just bring home trophies; we brought home history.

Our team carried in the first-ever trophy to display in the Red Bird Christian School trophy case that reads “Red Bird Christian School Archery” across the front. We presented that first place trophy to our principal, Jennifer Wilder, and our archers stood there soaking in the spotlight they had earned. In that moment, every long practice, and every correction was worth it, because our students deserved that admiration and that celebration of their hard work.

The trophies are new. The heart that earned them has been there all along. Every single second‑year archer on our line shot a personal best tournament score. On paper, that means our team has improved. On the shooting line, it means something deeper: our kids are learning how to beat the loudest opponent they will ever face—their own doubts. RBCS Archery is still the “new kid” on campus, but we are already writing our own chapter. We are proving that excellence does not have just one body type, one personality, one sound.

Baskets Bring Smiles

The good folks of the DeWall Senior Center, Elderly Ministries staff, and a crew of volunteers came together Tuesday to assemble 200 Christmas fruit baskets for seniors across our area. Baskets included a variety of citrus fruit, apples, pears; a lap quilt, prayer shawl or afghan; Christmas cards that our DeWall Center participants created; Aging Services informational brochure; a handmade ornament; hats and gloves; and a Daily Bread devotional.

Staff and volunteers packed the baskets with care, and my friends and coworkers Kelton Adams and Pino Brock volunteered to deliver them. This is what Kelton had to say:

“Heading to the DeWall Senior Center, I planned to help assemble fruit baskets, but the baskets were already done, so I helped deliver them instead. My phone quit on me, so I relied on a paper map and written directions. Between potholes and wrong turns I managed to find 10 of the 12 homes and met people like Virgil and Wanda. Their smiles proved how much small kindnesses can matter.

I have a lot of respect for those who travel those rough roads every day to bring meals and a little slice of joy. Sometimes the detours we take end up showing us our own way and the good people along it.”

Santa’s Helpers Deliver

Our friends in middle Tennessee at Murfreesboro United Methodist Church (UMC), Cookeville UMC, and St. Mark’s UMC are once again stepping in like a family for our kids. On Wednesday, Early Childhood Development Preschool through 8th grade received gifts and 9th through 12th grade received gift cards. This year they didn’t just bring Christmas gifts and gift cards for our students; they also packed food boxes with everything for a holiday meal, right down to the frozen turkey.

These churches have taken on the role of “Santa’s Helpers” for years, and they do it with so much pride and tenderness. For a lot of parents in these hills, that means one less bill to juggle and one less night lying awake wondering how to make Christmas happen. As cars pull through to pick up the gifts and food boxes, you can feel the relief and gratitude. To know every single household—preschool through 12th—left with a holiday turkey, a full food box, and a gift is nothing short of a miracle for our hills. It takes the pressure off families, lets parents breathe for a minute, and lets children just be kids for a little while longer. We are deeply grateful for the students and volunteers who help carry boxes, load cars, and smile at every family that comes through. Their helping hands are part of the gift being given, too.

Santa’s helpers not only bring gifts and boxes of food then leave, they also love to make crafts, smile, and laugh with our little ones during their annual Christmas Party. I hope those souls know just how much these visits mean. What they are building is a ripple — a steady, patient giving that reminds our community how to care for its own. Those parties, food boxes, wrapped presents, and frozen turkeys; they are lessons in love that sink deep into our hearts.