Last month, a group from Byron United Methodist Church went to the Reserves Airport in Minneapolis to witness the send-off of 500 pairs of shoes, 100 bicycles, and 1 million meals that its members helped collect. A plane heading for Afghanistan had flown in to pack the donations.

A Byron UMC confirmation class project, "Souls for Sharing," collected 500 pairs of shoes; a bike project organized by Byron UMC member Isaiah Crossfield collected 100 bicycles; and the 1 million meals were packed through Food For Kidz. All will go to refugee camps in Afghanistan.

A C-5 Air Force plane loaded all the supplies, which the Minnesota Reserves had wrapped onto eight-foot pallets the weekend before.

Providing needed assistance to brothers and sisters in Christ across the globe is one way that Minnesota United Methodists live out God's call to heal a broken world.